Woman’s itchy eyes caused by 100 parasites in her lashes
A woman in China has shocked doctors after they found 100 parasites living in her eyelashes.
The woman identified only by her surname Xu visited a hospital in the city of Wuhan in the central Chinese province of Hubei complaining of itchy eyes.
She actually explained to doctors that she’s had red and irritated eyes for two years but had been treating the area with over-the-counter eye drops.
But a fortnight ago the eye problem suddenly got worse, with her eyes producing so much rheum that her eyelids stuck together.
It was her family that persuaded her to seek medical attention and when examined doctors were shocked to find more than 100 eyelash mites on her lashes.
According to Chinese media, they said that just one single follicle was home to a colony of 10 eyelash mites.
After finding out a little more about the woman’s hygiene habits, she admitted that she hadn’t changed and washed her bedding in five years.
She’d been using the same pillow case since 2012.
The combination of not washing her pillow case and a lack of air flow in Xu's bedroom had allowed the mites to build up to such a harmful level, according to doctors.
She was diagnosed with blepharitis (eyelid inflammation) and conjunctivitis (inflammation of the eye surface) were made, but has reportedly made a full recovery after treatment.
Two species of eyelash mite are found in humans, Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis, with some studies suggesting that almost every adult is infected with at least a few of them.
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