Ingrown eyelashes are a common condition in which eyelashes grow below the eyelid rather than outward. Certain eye conditions, such as blepharitis, may increase the chance of an ingrown eyelash. If your eyelashes fall out frequently, you may experience hair loss or an eyelid infection. Contrary to myth, eyelashes rarely fall behind the eyeball.
A layer of muscle and tissue blocks the front half of the eye from the back, and only with a tear in this lining due to severe trauma can this layer break. In fact, it's very rare for something to actually get stuck in the eye. The eye socket is REALLY good at removing waste fairly quickly. In fact, that liquid layer in the eye actually prevents dust and particles from coming into contact with the actual surface of the eyeball.
When you have the feeling that something is stuck in your eye, what you normally feel is the point where something comes into contact with the eyeball and causes a slight bruise on its delicate nerves, making it look like there is something in the eye. An eyelash stuck under the skin can easily be mistaken for an infected gland in the eyelid, called a stye. A stye looks like a pimple or a red bump. It usually drains on its own after several days.
If the pain is severe or the stye doesn't go away, antibiotics can treat the infection. You should not rub your eye, as eyelashes can cause a corneal abrasion, which will take several days to heal. Most of the time, when you feel an eyelash in your eye, it moves around the surface of the eyeball like an ice cube on a tile floor. In the lower eyelid, where eyelashes tend to grow downward, trichiasis causes them to grow upward, toward the eye.
It's usually no reason to start freaking out because the tear duct and nasal passage are connected, so the eyelashes will be removed from the system through the nose. The eyelashes on the upper eyelid usually grow upward, towards the forehead, allowing them to trap dirt and protect the eye. However, a person can easily distinguish a stye from trichiasis, which is characterized by a reversal of the direction of the eyelashes.
