What Makes Healthy Eyelashes?

Healthy eyelashes serve to maintain and protect the health of the eye itself. Eyelashes are short, tough hairs that grow from the edges of your upper and lower eyelids. They act as a physical barrier to keep dangerous substances, such as debris and foreign objects, out of your eye. They also trigger you to blink reflexively at the slightest provocation. Keeping your eyelashes healthy can help to keep your eyeballs healthy.

Causes of Unhealthy Eyelashes

Unhealthy or thinning eyelashes can be caused by allergies, particularly allergic reactions to contact lens solutions or eye makeup. In addition, according to James F. Balch, M.D., the use of certain drugs, exposure to environmental toxins, hypothyroidism, eye surgery, a poor diet and nutritional deficiencies can also lead to thinning eyelashes or even the total loss of the eyelashes.

Suggestions to Improve Eyelash Health

To keep your eyelashes healthy, Dr. Susan Resnick, a New York City optometrist, recommends keeping your eyelids clean and free of debris. Resnick says, "That helps the lash grow to its fullest during its life cycle of three months." If you use mascara, she suggests using a water-resistant, not waterproof, type of mascara because it is easier to remove and gentler to the lashes. Sleeping in mascara can cause breakage and damage to the lashes, so removing makeup each night will keep your lashes healthier.

Replace Mascara Every Three Months

Replacing your mascara every three months can keep your eyelashes healthy by reducing your exposure to bacteria that can grow in the tube. Preservatives in mascara usually prevent the overgrowth of bacteria, but the potential for contamination increases with each use, according to Resnick. There are millions of live organisms on your lids and lashes, so each time you insert the mascara wand back into the tube, you introduce potentially harmful bacteria and contaminants into it. Damage to the eyelashes, the roots, inflammation, irritation, sties and pink eye can result using from old mascara.

For Thinning Eyelashes

For thinning eyelashes, Dr Balch suggests gently rubbing castor oil, linseed oil or vitamin E oil on your eyelashes and eyelids at bedtime. The oil helps to thicken the lashes and promote normal growth. He also recommends a regimen that includes vitamin A, vitamin B complex plus extra vitamin B-2 and B-3, plus 2 tbsp. of brewer's yeast daily. Vitamin A is needed for all eye disorders, the B vitamins help prevent loss of eyelashes, and the brewer's yeast is a good source of B vitamins, says Balch.