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How dangerous is getting an eyelash in the eye?

Hello,
A few weeks ago I got an eyelash in the eye and then it was under the lower lid and I tried to remove it but couldn't get it and then suddenly the eyelash was not visible anymore but I did not get it out!
This somehow scares me. I mean where did it go? I certainly did not get it out and yet it was not visible anymore.
What happens if an eyelash gets under the lid and then travels so far down that you can't even see it anymore?
Is it possible that an eyelash travels down so far that it never gets out again? This is really scary. Or could it travel to the back of the eye?
5 Responses
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The space around the eye is self limited by the conjunctiva.  If it were there and causing a problem you would have pain, redness and discharge. If you feel nothing and the eye seems normal you probably washed the lash out of the eye with your tears.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi, Steven. This just happened to me. I frequently get eyelashes in my eye, so I keep a hand mirror at my computer desk. I just had an eyelash fall into my eye, so I grabbed my mirror and started using my bottom eyelid to work the eyelash towards my tear duct for removal. As I was doing this I saw the lash get caught UNDER my tear duct and completely disappear from view! I know for a fact it did not "come out by itself" without me noticing. I was staring directly into the mirror when it happened.  I no longer have any pain in my eye AND I cannot see any trace of the lash even when pulling down hard on my lower eyelid and looking up. But the lash has to have gone somewhere! I have read in another forum that it can travel out through the sinuses, so I'm hoping that will happen for me without any complications.
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Avatar universal
Hello,
I had no foreign body feeling in the eye at all but I also knew that the eyelash didn't get out I only didn't see it anymore. Because of this I asked myself what happens if you get an eyelash under the lid and can't remove it because you can't even see it anymore? Is it possible that after some time it would dissolve or what would happen in such a case?

Such things always scare me when I have something in the eye and try to remove it and cannot remove it and then I suddenly don't see it anymore. This is scarier than when you don't watch your eye in the mirror and just rub it and then this it must have gotten out but when you watch yourself in the mirror and even though you feel like it's gone you know that it's not gone then this is a bit scary.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It is virtually impossible for something to actually get behind the eye, because both the eye and the inner part of the eyelids are covered by a continuous sheath of conjunctiva.  As Dr. O. states, it probably became dislodged on its own, or you may have gotten it out yourself without realizing it.  It is not uncommon to have a foreign body sensation that lasts for a day or two after the object is gone from the eye.

A similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago while I was cutting the lawn -- apparently a piece of dirt flew into my eye.  It was quite bothersome and it seemed I was unable to see it or dislodge it, so I ended up going to the ER.  Nothing was found although my eye remained irritated for a short time afterward.
Helpful - 0
711220 tn?1251891127
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It probably got out by itself.  Please see an ophthalmologist if you have irritation in the future in that eye.

Dr. O.
Helpful - 0
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