Why are my Eyelashes Falling Out
General

Top 10 Reasons Which Might Cause Eyelashes Loss and Natural Tips

Women and beauty go hand in hand. Both simply cannot think of existing without each other. These days even the metro sexual man is concerned about beauty and makes a consistent and sincere effort in grooming himself. Both women and men, these days are conscious and serious about how they look and appear. As far as look is concerned, the first look attracts the viewer’s consciousness towards the face, especially the eyes.

Eyes are an important feature of a human face. The size of the eye, eyebrows, and eyelashes, all contribute to the beauty of the face. Large eyelashes are a god gifted feature which enhances the beauty of the face, especially the eyes, manifolds. The large eyelashes are definitely hard to maintain in most of the scenario and do attract envious looks of others since many of us are suffering or at least think we are suffering from a condition where we tend to lose our eyelashes. The common question that arises in such a scenario is why are my eyelashes falling out? Let us try to find out certain causes of falling out of our eyelashes and basic solutions if any.

Why are My Eyelashes Falling Out?

In general, human eyelashes grow at a rate of approximately 0.15 mm per day and a fully grown eyelash lasts for about five to six months. After this period, the eyelash naturally falls and the new eyelash re-grows at the same place in about eight to ten weeks. While in normal conditions, the cycle of eyelash growth-fall-re-growth follows a rhythm. However, most of us, in the given scenario, face a problem of excess falling out of eyelashes.

This condition of falling eyelashes or absence of eyelashes is known as Madarosis in medical terms. This medical condition of Madarosis is not a disease but a medical condition which has certain underlying conditions or causes.

Top Ten Reasons Which Cause Falling Out of Eyelashes Include:

1. Natural Loss:

The body has certain natural cycles. Human eyelashes grow and fall off naturally. Thereafter, such eyelashes re-grow again. At times, environmental reasons also increase the pace of fall of human eyelashes. Some natural techniques to reduce the fall or sop it completely include avoiding improper and forced rubbing of eyes and maintain eye hygiene by avoiding touching the eyes with dirty hands.

2. Trichotillomania Tangle:

This is a psychological disorder where the individual suffers from impulsive control disorder and has an impulsive tendency to pull out his or her own hair, especially from eyebrows, scalp or eyelashes. At times, individuals suffering from this condition tend to pluck a large handful of hair at a time. Other individuals suffering this psychological condition pluck out each hair from the root.

3. Blepharitis:

This is a medical condition where eyelid and the eyelash follicle of an individual might suffer from inflammation causing burning and itching sensation in the area. These areas might experience sensitivity and this can result in redness of the area. Falling out of eyelashes can be an after effect of this condition. This condition might erupt because of bacterial infection, allergic reaction, blockage of oil glands on the eyelid, or parasitic infestation.

4. Thyroid:

Both hyper and hypothyroid conditions can result in falling out of eyelashes. Thyroid conditions can lead to making the eyebrow and eyelashes sparse since the hair becomes brittle, dry, and thin.

5. Alopecia Areata:

This is a medical condition which causes a disorder of the immune system leading to hair loss. In this condition, the immune cells target the hair follicle and cause hair fall and eventually hair loss.

6. Meibomian Gland Dysfunction:

This is a medical condition which affects the tear glands placed alongside the eyelids.

7. Psoriasis:

Psoriasis - Eyelashes Falling Out Causes

This is typically a long lasting autoimmune disease which creates a chronic skin condition. This often leads falling out of eyelashes.

8. Atopic Dermatitis:

This is another medical condition which gives rise to an allergic disorder leading to falling out of eyelashes.

9. Carcinomas and Chemotherapy:

Carcinomas are usually treated with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is known for it various disadvantages, of which hair loss and especially falling out of eyebrows is a common disadvantage. Chemotherapy affects the hair follicle which directly causes falling out of eyelashes. Such an effect can be short lived or have a long term implications.

10. Acne Rosacea:

This is a medical condition which causes redness of the face and majorly affects the cheeks, forehead, chin, and nose. Such condition also results in falling out of eyelashes.

How to Keep Eyelashes from Falling Out?

While most of the reasons mentioned above focus towards medical conditions which need to be checked and treated prior to checking the problem of falling out of eyelashes, there are certain natural techniques to prevent such conditions to occur. Some of these routines, practices, and techniques which should be followed sincerely in order to avoid any such situation include:

  • Avoiding tugging or pulling out of eyelashes
  • Avoiding overexposure of eyelashes to sunlight
  • Stopping or at least minimizing the use of eyelash curlers
  • Removing makeup especially eye makeup regularly
  • Using natural remedies to prevent falling out of eyelashes such as
    • Consuming green tea regularly
    • Using petroleum jelly over eyelashes
    • Using olive oil

Removing Eye Makeup - Eyelashes Falling Out Remedies

While beauty remains the key focus of our lives, there are certain health hazards associated with the overall concept of beauty. In fact, at times it is a chicken and egg story which moves in a vicious cycle of co-existing with each other. In order to maintain our beauty and groom ourselves, we tend to overdo certain extraneous activities rather than concentrating on our inner self.

While on one hand this tends to lead our internal body mechanism to become weak and fragile which does not support a healthy and a beautiful look and appearance, on the other hand too much concentration on beauty products and services can lead to a further loss of beauty due to the side effects of such products and services. The same is the case with eyelashes falling out. We all need to take care of our diet and lifestyles in order to help our eyelashes grow, fall, and re-grow at its normal pace and rhythm. Life’s rhythm can simply not be controlled by any activity.

Medically Reviewed By
Dr. Kaushal M. Bhavsar (MBBS, MD)Assistant Professor in Pulmonary Medicine, GMERS Medical College, Ahmedabad