DD gets 'eyelashes in eye' at least once a week

[marytheresa]

Hi

I am a little concerned about my 5 year old daughter. At least once a week she maybe drawing, reading or whatever and all of a sudden she cries 'I've got an eyelash in my eye'. I have a look but sometimes I can't see anything. I dab it with a cold wet cloth or a cold gel pack from the fridge, then she'll calm down. She gets very distressed, and now she rushes and gets a tissue and dabs it with cold water herself. This evening the episode lasted for several minutes, where I thought the eyelash had fallen out then all of a sudden she would start to panic again, and say it was still inside her eye.

She had an eye check at school (all the kids were given an eye check) a few weeks ago and her eyesight is fine.

After this evening's experience I am going to take her to the GP.

She has got long eyelashes, but I don't think that should be a problem. Should it? I'm not an expert. I'm sure lots of kids have long eyelashes and don't have this problem.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had experience of this, or has just some advice.

I find the best way to remove an eyelash, or anything in the eye, is to gently pull the top lid down over the lower lid and then roll the eye around below the closed lid. Could you teach your dd to do this?

It is possible she has a mild infection in her eyelashes and they are irritating her eyes, she rubs and then the friction makes it feel like she's got an eyelash there. Eyelashes are amazing things, they have little parasites which live on them and eat the fatty deposits from the skin and keep them clean. Sometimes though the balance can go wrong and they can get over dry or overly greasy which can cause infections. My DS (much younger) has had a few problems with his - partly because he's always poking them.

Does she have any redness around the lashes inside or out? Any discharge?

Does it only happen at certain times (it could be an allergy)

GP is probably your best bet though :)

My dd suffers from allergies. Could it possibly be related? If you can't see anything in her eye. My dd used to have problems with her eyes everytime we sat down to read her school book, very strange. However since her life has progressed I have realized due to her multiple allergies this happens. I can bet my life on her eyes starting off if I just comb her hair in the mornings now being the pollen season as it sticks to hair. She is on antihistamines daily this time of year. But relating to her school books maybe she was triggered off by dustmite allergens or food traces on the books?