A 17yearold girl suffered an allergic reaction after eyelash extensions. Haley Fetzer’s eyes were swollen and she was coughing up phlegm. In an interview with the American newspaper Kennedy News, she said she was afraid to scare the children in her neighborhood because she had “zombie eyes”.
The procedure was carried out in July to impress classmates at the high school prom, but it appears to have gone awry. “Every time I blinked, a little bit of goosebumps came out of my eyes, I thought I was going blind,” said the young woman, who also felt a lot of pain in the area. As the condition worsened, she sought help to reverse the procedure and it took five weeks for her eyes to return to normal.
Eyelash lengthening can actually cause allergies, irritation, and even a stroke in severe cases. Before deciding on the aesthetic procedure, it is important to consult an ophthalmologist, since there may be contraindications.
Eyelashes serve to protect the eyes from foreign objects such as dust and even sweat from the eyelids. There are several glands in this region that are responsible for lubricating the eyes. Patients with a lot of oil should not stretch, as they have to follow a stricter hygiene routine and do not orientate themselves on rubbing the lash region during the procedure. Contact lens wearers shouldn’t stretch either.
What are the health risks?
“Most of the time, the yarn material used is synthetic, so not the same as natural eyelashes, and the glue used is a chemical product that can cause contact dermatitis (irritation). Eyelashes can clog the eye’s lubricating glands,” says Ludmila Corral, dermatologist and outpatient teacher Clinic of Dermatology and Trichology at HUOLUFRN (Onofre Lopes University Hospital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte).
Additionally, eyelash extensions or even false eyelashes with prolonged use can alter the normal arching of natural eyelashes due to the weight of the material and cause them to become misaligned.
“This can lead to brittleness and shedding of natural eyelashes, increase susceptibility to infection through trauma to the surface, and even lead to an eye stroke,” describes Carla Christina de Lima Pereira, ophthalmologist, PhD in surgical research in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Holy House Sao Paulo.
Other pathologies that can occur with the use of false eyelashes or stretching include recurrent inflammation such as blepharitis (inflammation of the outer edge of the eyelids), allergies, allergic conjunctivitis, among others.
“The risks of false eyelashes and stretching/lengthening are the same, but the lengthening has an aggravating factor of staying an average of 20 days and then comes the maintenance, which is different than an occasional use of false eyelashes,” points out dermatologist HUOL UFRN
treatments and care
Treatment is based on the diagnosis that caused the problem. The main thing, as a rule, is to remove the artificial eyelashes and do without them during the recovery period.
“The use of these products is a source of contamination for tears. At Lauro Wanderley University Hospital Emergency Departments we typically treat patients with eye injuries due to the presence of false eyelashes, such as conjunctival lacerations and even severe ulcers. I myself have had two cases of severe ulcers following a stretching procedure,” warns Pereira, an ophthalmologist who is also the director of ophthalmology residency at the UFPB (Federal University of Paraíba).
These complications can even lead to loss of vision. “This type of eye infection leads to loss of corneal transparency, and often a corneal transplant is required to restore vision,” explains the UFPB ophthalmologist.
Another important point is not to do the stretching alone and, above all, not to use unsuitable products such as glues of any kind. If you want to lengthen your eyelashes, go to a specialized professional and do the maintenance too.
“Nevertheless, if the person uses it too often, damage accumulates and we can lose up to 30% of the natural ones when removing synthetic eyelashes,” warns the dermatologist at HUOLUFRN.
*With information from an article published on 06/23/2022