How to Prevent and Treat Ingrown Eyelashes

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An ingrown eyelash (trichiasis) is a common eye problem that causes eyelashes to grow abnormally. Instead of growing out, ingrown eyelashes grow inward toward the eye. Since eyelashes are usually very coarse, trichiasis can feel like a needle poking into your eye and may cause pain and irritation. If an ingrown eyelash is not treated, it can even damage your eye.

This article will go over the causes of ingrown eyelashes, how to remove an ingrown eyelash, and ways to prevent them.

Symptoms of Trichiasis
Verywell / Cindy Chung 

Symptoms of Ingrown Eyelash

Trichiasis can cause your eyelashes to rub against the conjunctiva and the cornea of your eye, causing pain and irritation. Constant irritation can lead to corneal abrasion. If the condition is untreated or chronic, inflammation and vision loss can happen. 

People with trichiasis may have symptoms like:

  • Foreign body sensation
  • Eye redness
  • Blurry vision
  • Watery eyes
  • Eye pain

Many people feel like something is scratching their eye or that they think there is a piece of sand in their eye.

If you have an ingrown eyelash and your eyes feel irritated, you should see an eye health provider to make sure you don’t get a corneal abrasion or infection.

Causes of Ingrown Eyelash

It’s not always clear what’s causing eyelashes to grow in the wrong direction (idiopathic). A person’s eye looks healthy, but the eyelashes just seem to grow inward instead of outward.  

A common cause of trichiasis is blepharitis (infection and inflammation of the eyelids and eyelid margin). When this happens, the hair follicles can get misdirected and trichiasis can develop. 

There are a few other eye conditions that can cause the eyelashes to be misdirected or grow abnormally:

  • Entropion: In this condition, the eyelid loses its normal elasticity and flips or folds in. This is more common in adults and is often related to age or being overweight.
  • Injury: If the eyelid is torn or injured, the position of the eyelashes may change and grow inward. This can also happen after surgical repair of an injured eyelid.
  • Distichiasis: In this condition, an extra row of eyelashes develops and grows inward, rubbing against the eye.

How Ingrown Eyelashes Are Diagnosed 

A healthcare provider can look at your eye with a special light (slit lamp) to see if your eyelashes are causing the irritation. Your provider will put a staining solution in your eye that can show any areas of damage. 

What Is the Difference Between Trichiasis and a Stye?

Although the conditions share some common symptoms—pain, swelling, and redness along the lash line—in trichiasis, the symptoms are caused by one or more eyelashes growing the wrong way (i.e., toward the eyeball).stye is caused by a bacterial infection in a lash follicle or oil gland.

Treatment for Ingrown Eyelash

If you do not remove an ingrown eyelash, it will continue to cause discomfort and may even damage your eye. You might be able to remove an ingrown eyelash on your own at home, or it might need to be done by a healthcare provider.

There are a few options that may be used to treat trichiasis. Your healthcare provider will decide which treatment option is best for you. If the initial treatment your healthcare provider chooses is not sufficient, they may decide to explore other treatment options on this list. 

  • Epilation: The first line of treatment is to epilate or “pluck” the misaligned or misdirected lashes with special forceps. At home, you could pluck out the problematic eyelash with tweezers.
    Research has found repeated epilation to be as effective as surgery in many cases.
  • Electrolysis: Electrolysis (classic electrolysis or radiofrequency electrolysis) uses an electric current to damage the hair follicle, preventing re-growth. Even still, recurrence may occur in up to half of patients who get this treatment.
  • Bandage contact lens: A soft bandage contact lens can be applied to the cornea to help it heal and protect it from eyelashes that haven’t been removed yet.

If epilation does not work or more than a few lashes are involved, there are some permanent treatments for ingrown eyelashes you might want to consider, including:

  • Laser treatment (ablation) 
  • Cryotherapy (often works for large areas of misdirected lashes)
  • Surgery (for severe cases, eyelid surgery can be done to treat trichiasis

Complications of Trichiasis

If left untreated, trichiasis can turn into a serious eye problem. A corneal abrasion can cause a lot of damage to your eye. If you get an infection, your provider may prescribe antibiotic eye drops and anti-inflammatory medicines to help clear it up and prevent further complications.

Prevention

You cannot always keep an ingrown eyelash from popping up, but in general, taking care of your eyes will help cut down on the chances of eyelashes getting ingrown.

Eye health practices that can help prevent ingrown eyelashes include:

  • Keeping your face clean
  • Avoiding touching your eyes and face
  • Keeping your contacts clean and not leaving them in too long
  • Using gentle, non-irritating products like face wash and shampoo

The life cycle of an eyelash is around three months. If you have trichiasis that is recurrent, schedule your eye health visits every two and a half months so that the provider can check to see if any new eyelashes are growing the wrong way.

Summary

Ingrown eyelashes are a common problem. If you have an ingrown eyelash and let it go untreated, you could have lingering discomfort and may even damage your eye. 

While you cannot always prevent it from happening, taking care of your eyes can help make trichiasis less likely to arise. If you get ingrown eyelashes often, see an eye health provider for an exam. They might be able to offer treatment that could keep them from coming back. 

8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Trichiasis symptoms and treatment.

  2. American Academy of Ophthalmology. What is trichiasis?.

  3. American Academy of Ophthalmology. EyeWiki: Trichiasis.

  4. Merck Manual Consumer Version. Trichiasis.

  5. American Academy of Ophthalmology. What are styes and chalazia?

  6. Review of Ophthalmology. Trichiasis: Lashes gone astray.

  7. Habtamu E, Rajak SN, Tadesse Z, et al. Epilation for minor trachomatous trichiasis: four-year results of a randomised controlled trialPLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(3):e0003558. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003558

  8. Kak, E. Argon laser as a treatment of trichiasis in Alwahda Teaching Hospital-Derna, LibyaOpen Access Journal of Ophthalmology. 2021;6(1):1-4. doi:10.23880/oajo-16000211

By Troy Bedinghaus, OD
Troy L. Bedinghaus, OD, board-certified optometric physician, owns Lakewood Family Eye Care in Florida. He is an active member of the American Optometric Association.