A 34-year-old man was struck in the left eye by a retractable washing line. Four days later, with the pain, redness, and light sensitivity getting worse rather than better, he went to the hospital.
At the slit lamp, doctors found multiple full-thickness holes through his cornea at the 6 o'clock position, all of which had already sealed themselves. One held an eyelash embedded in the back of the corneal tissue and reaching into the anterior chamber, the fluid-filled space in front of the iris. Three more of his own lashes had passed all the way through and settled in the drainage angle at the bottom of the eye. The rest of his lashes were normal.
Danielle Bernard-Deshong, Robert Cheeseman and Keri McLean of St Paul's Eye Unit, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, reported the case in Case Reports in Ophthalmological Medicine. They describe the mechanism as a high-velocity, dart-like trajectory, and note that only two previous reports exist of eyelashes driven into the cornea without an accompanying laceration. In one of those, by Casswell and colleagues, four lashes lodged in the cornea but never made it all the way through.
The Scan Traced Every Path
Gonioscopy confirmed the three loose lashes sitting in the angle. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography, a cross-sectional imaging technique, did something more useful. It showed the tracks themselves as bright, straight lines running through the corneal tissue.
Those tracks are the evidence behind the dart description. In a conventional penetrating injury, a foreign body rides in through an open wound. Here the wounds were tiny, self-sealing punctures, each one marking the entry point of a hair flung forward with enough force to breach a structure roughly half a millimeter thick.
His vision at presentation still measured 6/6 on the Snellen chart, though he reported it as worse than his normal. Eye pressure was 11 mmHg. There were inflammatory cells in the anterior chamber but no flare. He was started on topical antibiotic, steroid, and dilating drops, and surgery was scheduled for the next day.
Taking Them Out Was the Difficult Part
The operation was performed under sub-Tenon's anesthesia. Surgeons sampled the aqueous fluid for culture and genetic testing, made a stepped incision through the cornea, filled the anterior chamber with viscoelastic gel to protect the internal structures, and gripped the embedded lash with forceps.
Pulling it out triggered corneal decompensation. The cornea clouded over, and the view they needed to retrieve the other three lashes disappeared behind it. They got all four out regardless, irrigated the chamber, and injected an antibiotic.
The cornea had cleared by the next morning, and imaging confirmed the inner cell layer was intact. Cultures and genetic testing found no bacteria or viruses. Across three months of follow-up, his best-corrected vision came back to 6/6 in both eyes with no complications.
The team's recommendation for anyone facing the same situation is specific and born of the moment the vision vanished. Take out the free-floating lashes first, then go after the embedded one.
The Eye Tolerates Hair Better Than It Tolerates Metal
What happens to an eyelash left inside an eye is genuinely unpredictable, and the range is wide.
At one end, lashes have sat inert for decades. A 2023 report in Diagnostics described cilia that remained in the posterior chamber for 50 years before causing trouble, and the ophthalmic literature includes a classic series of six eyes that carried cilia for anywhere from six weeks to 32 years, several of them managed without surgery.
At the other end sit chronic uveitis, endophthalmitis, iris cyst formation, corneal endothelial damage and clouding of the lens, all documented consequences of retained lashes. A 1998 report in Eye helped establish that range.
That split is why management is contested. Some clinicians monitor and wait. In this case, the Liverpool team consulted several anterior segment specialists and, with the patient's agreement, opted to remove the lashes because of the active inflammation and the one still lodged in the corneal tissue.
Eyelashes reach the inside of eyes by other routes too. A recent report described artificial lashes in the anterior chamber of a 44-year-old woman after penetrating trauma, where they had torn the lens capsule and produced a traumatic cataract. Her vision was 20/125 at presentation and 20/20 a week after surgery.
Why the Delay Is the Lesson
The single most transferable detail here is the four-day gap. Micropenetrating injuries seal themselves. There is no gaping wound, no obvious foreign body, and vision can measure normal at the chart. What brought him in was pain, redness, blurred vision, and light sensitivity that kept escalating.
Blunt impacts to the eye from household objects rarely get treated as urgent. A bungee cord, a snapping cable, a recoiling washing line and a struck ball all deliver force to a structure that does not have much margin.
The practical version: any blow to the eye followed by pain, redness, light sensitivity or changed vision that worsens over the following days warrants an eye examination rather than a wait-and-see. The finding may be invisible without a slit lamp and, as this case shows, sometimes without cross-sectional imaging as well.
Key Questions Answered
What happened to this patient?
A retractable washing line struck his left eye, driving four of his own eyelashes through his cornea. One lodged in the corneal tissue and reached into the anterior chamber, and three passed through into the drainage angle.
How can an eyelash penetrate a cornea?
The report describes a high-velocity, dart-like trajectory produced by the sudden force of the impact. Each lash created a tiny full-thickness wound that sealed itself immediately afterward.
Why did it take four days to find?
The entry wounds were microscopic and self-sealing, and his vision still measured 6/6. He sought care because pain, redness, blurred vision, and light sensitivity kept worsening.
Is a retained eyelash always removed?
No. Management is debated. Some cilia have remained inert for decades, while others have caused uveitis, infection, iris cysts, or corneal damage. Here, active inflammation and the embedded lash prompted surgery.
Did he recover?
Yes. Best-corrected vision returned to 6/6 in both eyes with normal pressures and no complications across three months of follow-up.
What should someone do after a blow to the eye?
If pain, redness, light sensitivity, or blurred vision develops or worsens over the following days, get an eye examination. Serious findings can be invisible without specialist equipment.
