Whatever rumour brought you to this page... There is no reason to put Visine on nipples, and there's no reason to believe anybody's doing it. And it was never suggested on the TV series CSI that anyone does it.
Over 2 years ago, I noticed the search term "Visine on Nipples" turned up on another web site's referral stats. I thought it a funny fluke. But then when I blogged it myself. And from then on it seemed that every couple of months, I would find one day where I would get numerous hits to my site from the Google search for Visine on nipples.
Someone posted a comment to my blog entry that the term "Visine on nipples" came from an episode of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. So I then assumed that the surges from time to time were indication that the episode in question had aired in re-run. But then a few months ago, the hits to my site from that search query became almost consistent and regular. I now have multiple daily hits to my site from queries related to nipples & eye drops.
After searching various web sites & forums for why anyone would put Visine on their nipples, I learned that there was a modern urban myth type rumour going around on forums (message boards) & such, that they heard on a CSI episode that putting Visine on nipples will make nipples erect, and that it's used as a sort of "sex trick".
I felt fairly certain from the get-go that this probably wasn't true. I hadn't heard about this before, and Visine's been around for a long time. And it really didn't match with the way Visine works on 'red eyes'.
The internet is certainly repleat with intricate descriptions of sex tips & tricks, but yet not this one - outside of the CSI references. And nobody on these forums said they were actually using Visine on their nipples themselves.
Since my site was the top search result for this myth, I felt compelled to debunk it. And set out to do so in January 2005.
I'm not a doctor, biologist, pharmacist, nor a chemist. And I certainly wasn't going to do any home experiments. So I set out to prove it a myth by watching CSI on rented dvds, to confirm or explain the catalyst & perpetuation of this myth. I've since become a fan of the show, and have now watched every episode of the first 3 seasons, and the first 2 dvds of the 4th season. (This is a total of 20 dvds - about 60 hours worth of viewing. And I have more in my Netflix Queue.)
Contrary to what many people seem to think, no episode of CSI ever claimed that Visine (or any eye drops) would make nipples erect, and no episode ever claimed that this was ever known to be used as any type of sex trick.
And Visine is never mentioned by name on the show. (I guess Visine's not paying for any product placement.)
However, after watching the episodes which obviously inadvertantly started this rumour, I imagine that it was "vaguely suggested" if you didn't actually pay attention to the details of the show. I find this ironic, since the show is all about details - so one wonders why someone would watch and not pay attention to the details. But no matter...
If you want to know exactly what I have learned about the episodes which sparked this urban myth, I explain the truth of the CSI episodes below.
(Please be warned, the explanations contain SPOILERS on the plots of these episodes.)
In the "Pilot" episode, (premiere episode of the series), the plot involves "trick rolls". This is where women pose as hookers, drug their victims unconscious, and steal their belongings.
In the episode, the women hookers were putting a drug called scopolamine on their nipples, so that when the 'johns' would put their mouth on the hookers' nipples, they would wind up ingesting the scopolamine, which then knocked the men out. The 'trick' had an adverse effect for the hookers. It backfired, because the girls wound up falling unconscious after their robberies, because eventually the scopolamine was absorbed into their system through the skin on their nipples.
The crime scene investigator characters on the show found the drug hidden in eye drop bottles belonging to the suspect women hookers. They also found discolouration from the scopolamine on the women's nipples, and on the victims' mouths. Which is how the investigators deduced what was going on.
Nowhere in the episode was it suggested that there would be any sexual reason for them to be carrying eye drop bottles. Plus, this is prime time network television, so they never actually showed anyone putting eye drops on nipples in the episode.
A quote from the character Greg Sanders: "No, it's scopolamine. It's a chemical used for motion sickness. This eyedrop bottle's a front. One drop of this stuff and she's out cold."
There wasn't even any actual eye drops in the episodes. Just eye dropper bottles used as a container for the drug.
In the episode called "Revenge Is Best Served Cold" (premiere episode of Season 3), there is a reference to eye drops on nipples. Though again, nobody ever actually says "Visine on nipples" or "eye drops on nipples".
In the plot of this episode, a man playing poker for hours suddenly drops dead from unknown causes. Tetrahydrozoline, which is said to be the active ingredient in eye drops, is found mysteriously present in his drink. A woman poker player at the same table is seen on the casino's security cameras as having been putting eye drops in her eyes regularly during the entire time of the poker game. But there's no way she could've put her eye drops into the dead man's drink without the security camera seeing.
They then track the Tetrahydrozoline down to a waitress who brought the man his drink. The waitress admits she put her eye drops, (another brand than the woman poker player - but neither brands were specifically referred to as Visine). According to the woman, she put the eye drops in the old poker player's drink, to try to give him diarrhea. The character of Sara calls it "server's revenge". Nobody in the episode bothers to specifically debunk that urban myth either, but the characters sure seem to think that eye drops in a drink is potentially deadly - in some circumstances at least. But in the end, the story was that the Tetrahydrozoline in the eye drops was merely some sort of catalyst in the death of the old poker player, who had been giving himself lead poisoning for years by eating large quantities of chocolate from some part of western Africa where they drive cars that use leaded gasoline.
The part that references nipples comes when Greg Sanders is flirting with the character of Sara through the episode. And he's given the woman poker player's bottle of eye drops to test in the lab.
Quote from Greg Sanders (looking at a bottle of eye drops) "So we meet again. Lita Gibbons wasn't putting this on her nipples, was she?"
He said this to the character named Sara, and Sara responds as if he's made a sexual innuendo, when in reality Greg Sanders was simply making reference to the case in the Pilot episode (previously mentioned here), he even says "Sorry, old case." And if you listen to the "commentary" option on the dvd release, you can hear one of the writers (or the director?) confirm that. The character of Sara of course didn't understand the reference Greg Sanders was making, because the character of Sara was not in the Pilot episode, and not involved in the "trick rolls" case involving a drug dispensed with an eye drops bottle. And so of course she assumed it was a sexual comment simply because it was a comment about nipples, and a comment made to her by him (since he's obviously flirting with her earlier in the episode).
One interesting & amusing quote from the episode "Revenge Is Best Served Cold":
The character Grissom, upon another character mentioning the eye drops again, says, "Irrelevant. We've been chasing eye drops to death."
I know the feeling!
And if you wish to contact Pfizer yourself on usage of their Visine product , if the product can or is safe to be used on nipples: Pfizer | Contact
(Pfizer Consumer Products: 1-800-223-0182 - Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
I'm sure they'd love to hear from you about putting Visine on your nipples!
I think this is the only urban myth CSI actually started, but a few urban legends have been used in various episodes of CSI:
Urban legend of "Server's Revenge" (Visine being used as a quick laxative) was featured in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode called "Revenge Is Best Served Cold" Snopes.com - (Mickey Red Eyes)
Urban legend of a scuba diver found in a tree, burned in a forest fire was featured in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode called "Scuba Doobie-Doo" Snopes.com: Horrors (Corpus Crispy)
Urban legend about someone poisoned by wearing a used dress soaked with embalming fluid was featured in the CSI: New York episode called "'Til Death Do We Part") Snopes.com: Horrors (Dressed to Kill)
posted by Chloe | Monday 28 February 2005 12:55 AM
Life immitating art? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Drug ruse by prostitutes kills clients - Yahoo! News Half a dozen Mexico City prostitutes have been arrested for using eye drops containing a sleep-inducing drug to knock out and rob their clients, leaving at least five men dead, a newspaper said on Monday.
One central city district has recorded 17 cases this year including five deaths from the drug cyclopentolate -- a muscle relaxant used in eye examinations to dilate the pupil and blur vision.
"Once they are in the hotel it seems they slip a substance into the client's drink. Our data shows that they are using eye drops," local prosecutor Fernando Lopez told the daily El Universal.
Mixing eye drops, which are not meant to be swallowed, with alcohol can create a fatal mixture for someone with heart problems, experts say.
I suppose CSI may have gotten the idea from actual incidents reported somewhere in the world. Or the prostitutes got the idea from the Pilot episode of CSI.
But apparently they're NOT putting the eye drops on their nipples. And that's an important distinction!
Posted by Chloe | Wednesday 05 October 2005 12:47PM
Me and my girlfriend were trying to remember the TV show or movie where somebody used eye drops to give someone diarhea. It wasn't CSI--it was some other program. Anybody know? It's on the tip of my tongue and is driving me crazy.
Posted by Jake | Thursday 08 December 2005 1:16PM
EDITOR: WARNING: This comment contains dangerously inaccurate information that flies in the face of all scientific evidence.
..........................
I will let you know that eyedrops causing diarreha is not an "urban myth". it does work but takes a large quantity and any normal person should notice the drink looking like something that shouldnt be there is floating on the top of the drink
Posted by Dean A | Wednesday 29 August 2007 7:37PM
How many times does this have to be said for someone to understand it IS a myth, and a very very dangerous one!
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Visine Prank a drink spiked with it not only won't produce diarrhea in the one unfortunate enough to drink the concoction, but ingestion of the product is downright dangerous
and ........ Pfizer's cautions to users of Visine include, "If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away."
and ........ In 1996, a two-year-old child who ingested at most 2 to 3 mL of Visine eye drops became dangerously lethargic and unresponsive to every stimulus except deep pain. Thanks to prompt medical attention the child recovered, but not before enduring intubation and two days' worth of mechanically-assisted breathing.
and ........ In June 2006, five Wisconsin high school students trying to pull the Visine prank poured about a quarter of a bottle of the eyedrops into a classmate's water. The victim spent several days in the hospital recovering from reactions to the poisoning that included a dangerously low heart rate and blood pressure.
and ........ Revenge seekers still not quite convinced that a Visine mickey finn won't produce the diarrheal results they crave, or that the drinking of such a potion could potentially result in a life-threatening medical crisis in the object of their prank, should consider one final fact: the act of secreting noxious substances in ingestibles for the purpose of bringing harm to others is called poisoning. It matters not if actual harm results from the attempt � the act itself is enough to land one in the hoosegow.
There is absolutely NO evidence that Visine, in any quantity, would cause diarrhea at all, just a host of other dangerous medical conditions.
Comment Avatar icons by Gravatar.
E-mail addresses are required, but not displayed nor shared.
Please post comments relevant to this page only. For off-topic comments, questions, and discussion, please use this site's Message Board Forum. All comments posted that are spam, abusive, use phoney e-mail, or that do not relate directly to the page, will be removed.
Thank you for respecting this site, author & readers, and for helping stem the flow of ridiculously inaccurate hits from search engines.
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
(more)
There are some people you like immediately, some whom you think you might learn to like in the fullness of time, and some that you simply want to push away from you with a sharp stick.
Douglas Adams "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul"
Thanks for the link, terra.
Me and my girlfriend were trying to remember the TV show or movie where somebody used eye drops to give someone diarhea. It wasn't CSI--it was some other program. Anybody know? It's on the tip of my tongue and is driving me crazy.
EDITOR: WARNING: This comment contains dangerously inaccurate information that flies in the face of all scientific evidence.
Jake, it was referenced in Larry the Cable Guy's movie re: drops & dia.
