Question
“Hi Nordic Hair.
I shed quite a lot of hair (my lashes) it’s quite different from day to day!
The most I have lost per eye is 7 lashes and I don’t have lashes like before. I have contacted my health centre and had blood tests etc but apparently it was nothing more than hair loss in the lash lines. I don’t eat meat, eggs, liver, what I mean to say is that I might have low B vitamin-levels, but my health centre didn’t see that.
I’m really afraid of losing all my lashes and never getting them back and I don’t dare to wear make-up because of this.
Do you know what could be the cause? Have you met people with this problem?”
Response from Nordic Hair Clinic
If you live in Stockholm, it would be good if you could come in for an examination. It’s hard to answer your question about what it might be without seeing what it looks like and finding out more about when it started and how long it’s been going on and more. Losing only the lashes is very rare. As I understand you, you only lose hair in your lashes and not on your head?
My advice to you is to get a referral to a specialist doctor at a hospital near you. It’s hard to make a diagnosis when I can’t meet you and see what it looks like. If you could send me some pictures that would be great.
I also want to tell you that it is not normal to lose your eyelashes in the way you describe. Eyelashes grow for six months and then fall off is natural if new ones grow where the previous ones were. If they fall off and none grows back, there’s a problem. I will list the possible causes of lash loss.
It could be an infection or inflammation but then you should have noticed this. It becomes red and perhaps tender – it becomes very dry and you might see pus. There are rare infections that cause the lashes to come off.
Alopecia Areata (AA), also causes you to lose your eyelashes – but it doesn’t sound like you think you’ve lost much hair on your head – more than is normal – so we can probably rule out AA.
Tugging at your lashes, rubbing hard and often – could cause your lashes to come loose but they should grow back. Trichotillomania is the name of this disease.
If you have had blood tests and your iron and thyroid levels are ok – you can rule this out. Otherwise, these two factors are common in female hair loss.
Some types of medication can cause you to lose lashes, but you tell us that you have not been ill for the last year and have not taken any medication.
But again, somewhere there is a problem that you should check out. It is extremely rare at your age to lose your eyelashes and for them not to grow back in a short time, while you do not lose any hair on your head. Ask for a referral to a specialist and feel free to get back to me and let me know how it goes. Alternatively, come here next time you are in Stockholm.
