Eyelash extensions may cause ocular disorders

Ocular disorders such as keratoconjunctivitis and allergic blepharitis can be caused by wearing eyelash extensions, reports a new study in the journal Cornea.

The retrospective investigation, compiled by Dr Yuki Amano and his team, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, involved 107 female patients with ocular complaints caused by eyelash extensions. Each patient had visited ophthalmologic clinics between March 2007 and March 2010. None of the patients had a history of eye disease and were aged between 21 years and 60 years.

The findings revealed that ocular disorders keratoconjunctivitis caused by invasion of glue or removing agents occurred in 64 patients. A further 42 patients experienced allergic blepharitis caused by eyelash extension glues.

Three patients presented with conjunctival erosion due to eyelid-fixing tapes, 1 patient had allergic blepharitis due to eyelid-fixing tapes and 1 patient experienced subconjunctival haemorrhage due to compression during eyelash extension removal.

Eye drops and ointments were used to treat all patients and the eyelash extension glue ingredient that caused the most ocular damage was formaldehyde.

The study suggests that the ingredients of eyelash glue should be improved, along with the ophthalmologic knowledge of physicians.