Eyelashes tend to fall off, just like normal hair does after it reaches the end of its lifespan. Sometimes they fall directly into the eye, causing cutting pain. Tears begin to flow, you want to blink frequently, and if the eyelash stays on for too long, the mucous membrane turns red. Getting any foreign body into the eye is dangerous because it can damage the cornea. If this happens, vision will deteriorate, since the cornea is a natural lens that should be transparent. How can you remove an eyelash from your eye without it damaging your vision?
Ways to remove an eyelash from an eye
There are several ways to remove an eyelash or other foreign body from the eye. They all require attention and caution. Handy tools can include a handkerchief, a cotton swab, clean hands and a mirror on a stand.
To the touch
An eyelash can get into the eye during the day, at home, at work, or at night while sleeping. Cotton swabs, a napkin and a mirror are not always at hand at the right time. What to do in such cases?
- To carry out the procedure, you need to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and dry thoroughly. All makeup will remain in place if you perform the process carefully without rubbing your eyelids.
- By feeling you need to try to understand where the eyelash is located. Using one hand, gently push the eyelid up or down. With a clean finger, run along the mucous membrane of the eyeball in the direction from the outer corner of the eye to the inner corner, try to move the eyelash to the bridge of the nose.
- The procedure should be repeated several times to advance the item to the end. The discomfort will go away as soon as the hair is removed from the mucous membrane. All you have to do is remove it carefully with your fingertip.
Cry
If you feel pain in the eye, you need to try to identify where the eyelash hits. The eye will begin to water. Without touching it, you need to blink often, close your eyes and let the tears roll out. Without extraneous actions, the eyelash will be washed out by the tear ducts, and the mucous membrane of the eye will return to normal.
Napkin
If you can’t remove the eyelash by touch or with a tear, a clean handkerchief or dry cloth and a mirror will help.
- Fold the napkin several times to create a sharp corner.
- With a clean hand, run horizontally across the upper or lower eyelid towards the nose. The eyelash will move and show its location.
- Use your fingers to pull back the eyelid skin. Using the corner of the napkin, looking in the mirror, you need to try to catch the eyelash without touching the material to the eyeball. The hair will stick to the scarf. So, the eyelash will be removed.
Tongue
An effective option for people who go on vacation in nature, on a trip, when there is no first aid kit, improvised means, a mirror and it is impossible to completely disinfect their hands. If you try to remove an eyelash that has gotten into your eye with dirty hands, you can cause an infection. Therefore, you should ask a friend or friend to look for a hair and lick the eyeball.
The partner will spread the upper and lower eyelids of the victim, find the eyelash that is interfering with viewing, and run the tip of his tongue along it. The hair will stick to the tongue and be removed from the eye.
Massage of the century
If a fallen eyelash hits the center of the mucous membrane and is not stuck under any eyelid, you can try to remove it by massaging the eyelids. If you try to grab the hair with your fingers, it may slip under the eyelid. Therefore, you should close your eye and, using massage movements, try to move the eyelash to the bridge of your nose along the edge of the eyelid.
The massage should be done carefully, with direct horizontal stroking from the outer edge of the eye to the nose. You cannot make circular movements, so as not to drive the eyelash under the eyelid.
When the hair is at the bridge of the nose, you can carefully grab it with a cotton swab without touching the mucous membrane to prevent cotton lint from getting into the eye. You can pull out the eyelash with a napkin or handkerchief folded in a certain way, as in the third option.
Cotton swabs
A hair that gets into the eye may remain under the lower eyelid and not reach the cornea. In such cases, removing it using improvised means will not be difficult. You should take cotton swabs and a mirror on a stand.
It is better to sit near a window where there is natural light. You can remove hair from the mucous membrane with your fingertip. You should first wash and dry your hands thoroughly. If an eyelash has slipped and moved under the lower eyelid, you need to carefully wrap the skin, apply a dry stick to the stuck eyelash and try to remove it. The wet hair should stick to the dry stick.
Massage
It is difficult to reach an eyelash if it has climbed under the upper eyelid. In order for the hair to fall down, you need to blink frequently. Does not help? This means you need to get a massage.
Using your fingertips, make horizontal movements from the outer corner of the eye to the inner corner along the upper eyelid. Repeat the movement several times until the eyelash descends onto the mucous membrane or under the lower eyelid. Then delete it as in the previous methods.
Washing
The massage did not help the eyelash go down, which means we need to move on to rinsing. The main stages of the instruction include the following:
- Scald a clean glass with boiling water, turn it upside down and let dry.
- Pour boiled water or saline solution into a glass to rinse the lenses. The liquid should be at room temperature.
- Place the container on your eye so that it is in the liquid and blink. This option will help remove foreign objects from any eyelid.
Eye drops
When an eyelash enters the eye cavity, tears are released. There are fewer and fewer of them, and dryness sets in. All attempts to remove the eyelash are in vain. This means it's time to use serious methods. Eye drops (moisturizing, anti-fatigue) are suitable in such cases. They must be instilled according to the instructions and, closing your eyes, wait.
Within minutes of waiting, the eyelash will move to the mucous membrane or under the lower eyelid. Open your eyes and try to remove the foreign object using a folded napkin, a cotton swab or clean fingers.
How to get an eyelash?
The mucous membrane of the eyeball is always susceptible to irritation when interacting with a foreign object. The response will follow instantly - the person immediately begins to blink frequently.
When foreign particles or dust enter the mucous membrane of the visual organ, lacrimation occurs. This is a reflex similar to blinking or closing your eyes. Thus, the foreign particle is simply washed away by the tear ducts. But sometimes outside intervention is needed.
Let's look at several ways to help remove a foreign particle:
- Cotton swabs or disks are the best means at hand to pull out a foreign particle from the eyelid. Most often, half of the eyelash gets stuck under the lower eyelid. To carry out the procedure, you will need a well-lit place and a mirror. The foreign particle is brought to the mucous membrane and then pulled out with a finger.
- The massage is carried out when the eyelash gets under the upper eyelid. First try changing the location of the hair. After this you can try to pull it out.
- If the tear reflex is not observed, you should try to induce it yourself. This uses chopped onions. The foreign particle itself will be washed away through tears.
- If all else fails, ask a friend for help. Usually it is not possible to pull out a hair when it is too deep behind the eyelid.
- Eye drops help induce tears. When the medicine comes into contact with the mucous membrane of the eye, it causes irritation.
- It's another matter if an eyelash gets on a contact lens. How to remove an eyelash from an eye? To do this, you need to remove the lens and rinse the eye itself. If the eyelash remains inside, it is pulled out with a cotton swab or disk. The lens is also thoroughly washed and then returned to its original place.
If an eyelash extension gets into your eye, you should try to pull it out as usual. Drops and a napkin will help remove eyelash extensions.
If an eyelash accidentally gets into your eye, don’t panic. 5 minutes is enough to remove it.
When an eyelash gets into a baby's eye, it usually comes out on its own. If it doesn't come out, try to wash it with saline solution. If it doesn’t help, remove it with a cotton swab.
If the problem persists
An attempt to remove the hair was unsuccessful: the eyelash hid under the eyelid and was not visible. Sensations of irritation of the mucous membrane and nerve endings will continue. They will be replaced by redness and pain. If a foreign object remains in the eye longer, inflammation may begin, which can lead to irreversible consequences in the tissues of the organ and cause partial or complete loss of vision.
You can add here mechanical damage to the cornea (scratches), which will bother you until it heals and cause the effect of a hair not being removed. You will have to carry out complex treatment with various drugs, antibiotics, which will relieve pain. If left untreated, dangerous eye diseases can develop.
For the treatment to be effective, an ophthalmologist will come to the rescue.
When there's nothing at hand
If you don’t have anything with you and your hands are dirty, you will have to proceed as follows:
- Close your eyes and massage them from the place where it cuts to the inner corner of the eye.
- From time to time, press the pad of your finger on the inner corner, opening your eyes. Sooner or later the eyelash will move there and it will stick to the finger.
- If there is nothing on your finger, continue the massage.
You can remove an eyelash by increasing the production of tears, with the help of which the eyelash will flow out on its own or move to the lower eyelid. To do this, you need to protrude the upper eyelid so that an empty space forms between it and the eyeball. Then look down and pull your eyelid there. With the flow of air, tears will begin to flow by themselves. You will feel a slight sting, but it will go away once the lash comes out. The procedure may take 2-3 minutes.
Contact a specialist
Standard situations with a hair getting into the eye and removing it using improvised means go without complications. If you cannot remove an eyelash from your eye yourself, you will have to go to the clinic to see an eye specialist. He will help you get rid of foreign material using tweezers and other professional devices.
You should consult a doctor if one of the symptoms appears:
- pain and burning appeared in the eye;
- the cornea is red;
- lacrimation increased;
- vision has deteriorated;
- there was pain when blinking;
- there were unpleasant painful sensations from the presence of an extra object;
- light sensitivity increased.
If you ignore the doctor, severe inflammation may occur with undesirable consequences.
How to remove an eyelash from an eye (video):
What to do if something gets under the upper or lower eyelid (video):
What happens if an eyelash remains in the eye?
If an eyelash gets into the eye and disappears, remaining in the cavity, the feeling of the presence of a foreign body will not disappear. Pain, irritation of the mucous membrane, nerve endings, and redness intensify. If it is not removed, an inflammatory process will begin, which can lead to irreversible tissue changes that cause vision loss.
Prolonged exposure to the hair leaves a deep scratch on the cornea, which will take a lot of effort to heal. Medicines will remove the symptoms, but ignoring the problem can result in surgery and the development of ophthalmological diseases. Sometimes a corneal transplant is required.
If, after using all the methods, you cannot remove the eyelash from your eye, you should seek help from a specialist. This will help avoid problems with vision and health.
Eye wash
If you are unable to remove the eyelash using the methods described above, try rinsing your eyes. A special rinsing solution (sold at a pharmacy) or ordinary chilled boiled water is suitable for this. All you have to do is pour the liquid into a bowl and put your face in it, and then blink your eyes while diving. The flow of water or solution will capture the foreign body and carry it away with it.
Attention! If you wear contact lenses, remove them before undergoing any procedure. Perhaps the eyelash will end up on the lens itself. Then all that remains is to rinse them in the solution and put them on again.
The cutting pain will go away soon after the foreign body is removed from the eye, although redness may remain for a day. You can remove it using special eye drops. If you were unable to remove the eyelash and the pain persists, contact an ophthalmologist or the nearest emergency room.
