Svetlana Avagyan is a 22-year-old woman from Armenia. For a few years now, she's had a very rare condition that makes her cry up to 50 crystal tears a day. It all started when she was at the dentist. She thought that she had just gotten something in her eye. When they saw that it was actually a crystal, they couldn't believe it.
Discover our latest podcast
Finding a cure
It causes her excruciating pain, but doctors have yet to come up with a cure. She initially received treatment from an ophthalmologist, but it stopped working. Her condition worsened and her tears started falling at a faster pace. 'Now my every day has turned to hell,' she said in an interview.
She has been treated by several doctors but none of them has seen this condition before. One doctor was quoted saying:
No one here has seen anything like this before.
In fact, at first, they didn't believe it and thought she had gotten the crystals in her eyes while working on her family's farm, but that was not the case. The condition continued to worsen, making the young woman's life very difficult.
Rare condition
Although her condition is rare, it's not the first reported case. A Russian ophthalmologist says that Satenik's condition is unusual but not unique. Crystal tears may be caused by genetic or infectious diseases. In fact, there is another case: a Brazilian teacher named Laura Ponce has been crying crystal tears for more than 20 years.
If you're not squeamish and want to see something unusual, check out the young woman's tears in the video.