Sanpaku eyes- things you must know about it
Throughout the history of mankind, humans have held some weird, out of the box medical claims for the human body especially for the eyes. One of them is acquiring sanpaku eyes. Sanpaku eyes is a Japanese term which means ‘’three whites’’. This means that the white portion of the eye which is sclera is shown above or below the iris of the eye as well. It is also referred as three whites.
This is an old Japanese concept and was introduced in English by George Ohsawa in mid-1960s. This is an old Japanese physiognomy. According to this concept there are two major conditions and people with such conditions have traits given below.
Sanpaku below
According to this concept, if the sclera is visible beneath the iris of the eye; it represents an imbalance in the person’s physical and emotional well-being.
Sanpaku above
If the upper sclera is visible above the iris then this is sanpaku above. These people are psychotics. These people have tendency towards aggression, impulsiveness, and a potentially dangerous or violent disposition which is an indication of an unstable or uncontrolled personality. It is also a concept that these people attract violence and accidents.
Sad eyes
Sanpaku eyes are also known as sad eyes because of the idea that we tend to relax our lower eyelids when we are sad, upset or tired.
Disney characters with sanpaku eyes
There are villain characters in the Disney like Jaffar in Aladdin, Ursula in The Little Mermaid and Hedes in Hercules which have large scleral show which indicates madness and hyper-expression due to characteristic eye features. This is not an attack on an ethnic group inheriting this feature. They might be drawn this way because that people may have strong feelings towards these features.
Celebrities with sanpaku eyes
The top famous celebrities who have sanpaku eyes are
- Aubrey Plaza
- Billie Eilish
- Jeremy Allen White
- Lisa
- Anya Taylor-Joy
- Alexa Demie
- Mila Kunis
- Diana Ross
- Johnny Depp
- Kristen Stewart
Anime with sanpaku eyes
It is not necessary that a character with sanpaku eyes is always portrayed as bad. The most trending heroic characters of anime who have sanpaku eyes are Goku and Naruto.
Medical terms for sanpaku eyes
In medical literature this is often refers as a scleral show and it refers as sanpaku eyes in pop culture.
Lower scleral show
The anatomical condition in which the lower part of sclera is visible below the iris is known as lower scleral show or inferior scleral show.
Reasons
Following are the medical and non-medical reasons for lower scleral show
Genetic make-up
It can be a genetic and non-medical reason. It is possible that one have inherited the train of facial structure which contributes to the amount of scleral show e.g. in lateral canthal dystopia the lower scleral show is visible.
Aging
With the passage of time, the skin and soft tissues around the eyes lose their elasticity and may result in saggy eyes. This can be the contributing factor for lower scleral show.
Medical conditions
It can be due to medical conditions e.g. ectropion, ptosis, thyroid eye diseases, facial nerve palsy and lower eyelid surgeries.
Taking consultations if necessary
If someone feels concerned for his/her lower scleral show then I is advisable to seek guidance from a cosmetic surgeon or an ophthalmologist. Make sure that you go to an experienced professional who can guide you properly because there are chances that someone might suggest you cosmetic surgery without any need. The age, genetics and the position of canthus can be the reason of scleral show.
Worth of taking right decision
The clinicians would recommend canthopexy or eyelid tightening or eyelid lifting procedure. The surgical correction of the scleral show may not be the right decision if one has genetic make-up for that. However, there is nothing wrong in making an appointment to know if there is an underlying cause.
Superior scleral show
If the sclera above the iris is visible then it is known as superior scleral show. It can also have the same reasons as for lower scleral show.
Superstition vs medical reality
There is no relation of such personality traits that were discussed for sanpaku below and sanpaku above. If you have such eye condition then this is not to be worried for personality trait. Good and bad things happen to all the people every day. It has nothing with your eyes traits. This superstition started in japan and even in japan this is not been taken seriously. This is a really good thing because the superstitions create false narratives in our mind. If one is very careful that some bad might happen to him then it is most likely that bad can happen to him.
Founder of EyesMatterMost- an optometry student who loves talking about eyes. I tend to cover topics related to optometry, ophthalmology, eye health, eyecare, eye cosmetics and everything in between. This website is a medium to educate my readers everything related to eyes.
