What is the best way to get an eyelash out of my eye?

What is the best way to get an eyelash out of my eye?

People often ring up Clinica London and tell us that they have an eyelash stuck under their eyelid. They typically want to know how they can get the eyelash out of their eye. You should not rub your eye, or the eyelash can cause a corneal abrasion, which will take several days to heal.

How to get an eyelash out without making a corneal abrasion

• Wash your hands and get a bowl of water.
• Open your eyes, and either pour a little bit of that water into the troublesome eye or put your eye into the water until the water touches the eye. Repeat several times.

If you don’t have water nearby you can:

• Blink a lot, and you may be able to produce enough tears to wash the eyelash out of the eye.
• If you are carrying lubricant drops, use the lubricant drops to flush the eyelash out. Lean your head backwards, look up at the ceiling, hold the lubricant drop bottle in one hand over the eye and if possible with the eye open, irrigate the eye with the lubricant drops. If not, do it with the eye closed. The drops will go in the corner of the eye between the eye and the nose. They will gradually open the eye, and the lubricant drops will seep on to the surface of the eye to wash the lash out.
• You can also gently use an eyelid wipe. Wash the surface of the eyelids and eyelashes, but with the eye closed if it is an eyelash that is partly falling out and partially sticking in the eye, this will help to remove it from the line of lashes and stop it sticking in the eye.