Love your false eyelashes? This doctor warns they are bad for your eyes

False eyelashes are bad for your eyes. Picture: Antonio Guilherme / Pexels

False eyelashes are bad for your eyes. Picture: Antonio Guilherme / Pexels

Published Aug 8, 2024

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There’s no denying that false eyelashes are a major trend right now.

From fine and wispy to dramatic and thick many women are opting to enhance their natural lashes with falsies.

While they might look really attractive, it’s not very healthy for your eyes says ophthalmologist Dr Will Flanary who says that he in fact hates them.

The doctor took to TikTok to share why he hates them and why they are so bad for your eyes.

“Let’s talk about vision function. These lashes are bisecting the pupil,” he says as he points out a pair of dense false eyelashes.

Dr. Will Flanary warns that false eyelashes are bad for your eyes. Picture: TikTok

He continues by saying that the person wearing these lashes is going to lose their superior visual field because they’re obstructed by the lashes.

“Also these eyelashes are so densely packed that they trap all the dead skin cells, the oily secretions and the dirt and debris. It just turns into this sebaceous swamp in your eyelid” he adds.

He then shows viewers what it looks like when you use a slit lamp, which is about 10 to 12 magnification,

You can clearly see all the sebum and, what he calls collarettes, building up at the base of the lash.

“Because of the volume of the fake lashes, it just builds up there. And your normal face washing and normal blinking is unable to clear that stuff out,” he warns.

He adds that all the gunk can cause irritation, redness, itching and swelling of the eyelids which causes discomfort.

@drglaucomflecken #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Dr. Glaucomflecken

He does warn that mascara can also cause all those problems but it’s just much easier to remove.

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