Asia Wire

Heavy Make Up Use Led To Worm Infection In Womans Eyelashes

A young woman discovered to her cost that make up can be bad for the skin after her eye lashes were infected with these wriggling, eight-legged larva that left her eyes itchy and swollen.

The young woman, identified only by her surname Wang, lives in the city of Changsha in the Chinese province of Hunan.

She admitted that she liked wearing heavy make up and it was never normally a problem, but she had taken it all off when she started getting itchy eyes that became red and swollen.

Doctor finds about ten mites wriggling on the roots of woman’s eyelash in Changsha, China. (AsiaWire)

When that did not solve the problem, she went to Changsha Aier Eye Hospital for treatment.

And she was horrified when, during the doctor’s examination, they found many wriggling, eight-legged worm like mites that were living on the roots of her eyelashes.

Li Kuanshu, a doctor of cornea and ophthalmology from the Changsha Aier Eye Hospital, said: “We plucked two eyelashes, and the two eyelashes had at least a dozen tiny worms, which belong to the adult Demodex folliculorum.”

Doctor finds about ten mites wriggling on the roots of woman’s eyelash in Changsha, China. (AsiaWire)

The doctor said it was a tiny mite which is only found on human skin, and that the roots of Ms. Wang’s eyelashes were infested with a severe Demodex infection caused by hundreds of the tiny worms.

The specialist added: “Demodex mites are parasites that can live in two places in our eyes, one is in the hair follicles at the roots of the eyelashes, and the other is the meibomian glands in our eyelids. So it can cause problems in several areas.

“First, it can cause mechanical damage and cause long-term inflammation of our ocular surface; second, some of its dead worms and secretions will cause the body’s immune response and cause long-term inflammation of our ocular surface.”

Doctor finds about ten mites wriggling on the roots of woman’s (pictured) eyelash in Changsha, China. (AsiaWire)

According to the doctor, the formation of demodex mites is related to the environmental hygiene around the eyes, especially for women who love makeup.

The doctor added: “If the area around the eyes are not cleaned up when removing makeup, it will easily lead to the breeding of demodex mites.”

The shocked woman said: “I usually like makeup. But this time round I just felt that my eyes were very itchy, and I always wanted to rub them, but it did not get better, and by the next day my eyes were swollen and sore.”

Doctor finds about ten mites wriggling on the roots of woman’s (pictured) eyelash in Changsha, China. (AsiaWire)

She said she was disgusted at finding she had an infection of the worm like mites and added she would make sure she kept her eyes cleaned properly after make up use in future.

Doctor Li Kuanshu advised: “We should always pay attention to the cleanliness of the eyes. Don’t always put on makeup for the eyes. We should change our daily habits to avoid excessive oil secretion and reduce the reproduction of mites.”

Demodex folliculorum, that are present on most humans, are interestingly not found on newborn babies but appear later probably from maternal contact.

Doctor finds about ten mites wriggling on the roots of woman’s eyelash in Changsha, China. (AsiaWire)

They usually cause little damage but if the numbers grow can cause problems as with the heavy make up using Chinese woman. Numbers tend to increase with age and almost all elderly people have them, although it is unknown why they are more present in older people.

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