The fastest way to get an eyelash out of your eye is to blink rapidly several times and let your natural tears wash it out. If that doesn’t work, there are several safe techniques you can try at home, starting with the gentlest approach and working up from there. The key rule: don’t rub your eye, no matter how tempting it is.
Before You Start
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water and dry them with a clean towel. If you’re wearing contact lenses, take them out first. Trying to fish around for a lash with dirty fingers or over a contact lens is a recipe for irritation or infection.
Step-by-Step Removal
Work through these methods in order. Most eyelashes come out within the first two steps.
Blink it out. Take a deep breath, resist the urge to rub, and blink several times in a row. Your eyes produce tears specifically to flush out small debris, and an eyelash is often light enough to ride that wave right out. Give this a solid 30 seconds before moving on.
Roll the lash free. If the lash feels like it’s stuck behind your upper eyelid, gently pull the upper lid forward and down over your lower lid. Then look up, left, right, and down in sequence. This motion helps dislodge the lash and move it toward the center of your eye where tears can carry it away. You can repeat this a few times.
Use a damp cotton swab. If you can see the lash sitting on the white part of your eye or along your lower eyelid, moisten a cotton swab and gently touch it to the lash. The lash should stick to the wet cotton. Never touch the colored part of your eye (the iris or pupil area) with anything.
Flush with saline or artificial tears. Tilt your head back and squeeze a few drops of artificial tears or sterile saline solution into the affected eye. Blink to help the fluid move the lash. Cleveland Clinic specifically recommends using store-bought sterile saline rather than homemade solutions, since non-sterile saline can introduce bacteria and cause infection.
Try an eye rinse cup. Fill a small, clean cup with lukewarm filtered water. Lower your open eye into the cup and blink a few times underwater. This creates a more thorough flush than eye drops alone.
Use the shower as a last resort. Stand under a gentle stream of lukewarm water and let it flow over your open eye. Don’t blast it with high pressure. The sustained flow can dislodge a lash that’s really clinging on.
Why Rubbing Makes Things Worse
When something is irritating your eye, rubbing feels instinctive. But an eyelash pressed against your cornea (the clear front surface of your eye) acts like a tiny piece of grit. Rubbing can drag it across the cornea and create a scratch, known as a corneal abrasion. Foreign bodies in the eye account for 30% to 40% of cases seen in emergency ophthalmology settings, and improper removal techniques can lead to complications including corneal perforation and infection. A simple lash rarely causes that kind of damage on its own, but aggressive rubbing changes the equation.
When a Lash Is Trapped Under the Upper Lid
This is the most frustrating scenario because you can feel the lash but can’t see it. The lid-pull technique described above works for most people, but if the lash is truly wedged under the upper lid, you can try a gentle version of eyelid eversion. The basic idea is to flip the upper lid slightly outward: look down, grasp your upper eyelashes between your thumb and finger, and gently pull the lid away from your eye while pressing lightly on the upper part of the lid with a cotton swab. This flips the lid and exposes its underside, where you (or someone helping you) can spot and remove the lash with a damp swab. If this feels uncomfortable or you can’t manage it, flushing with saline while looking downward is a gentler alternative.
What to Use for Flushing
Your best options are artificial tears or a sterile saline eyewash purchased from a pharmacy. Both are designed for eye contact and won’t introduce harmful microorganisms. Tap water works in a pinch, but it’s not sterile and prolonged or repeated use can irritate your eye. Never use homemade salt-water solutions in your eyes, even if they seem clean. The risk of bacterial or parasitic infection isn’t worth it when a $5 bottle of sterile saline is available at any drugstore.
The Lash Is Out but Your Eye Still Hurts
It’s common for your eye to feel scratchy or irritated even after the eyelash is gone. A lash can leave a tiny abrasion on the surface of the cornea, and that scratch keeps producing the “something is still in there” sensation. Symptoms of a corneal abrasion include ongoing eye pain, watery eyes, blurred vision, redness, sensitivity to light, and swelling of the eye or eyelid.
Minor scratches typically heal on their own within 24 to 48 hours. During that time, try not to rub the eye, and use artificial tears to keep it moist and comfortable. If the pain and irritation aren’t improving after 24 hours, or if you develop blurred vision or strong light sensitivity, it’s worth getting checked by an eye doctor. If symptoms persist beyond three days, that’s a clear signal something needs professional attention.
Lashes That Keep Falling Into Your Eye
If stray eyelashes are a recurring problem rather than a one-time annoyance, there may be an underlying cause. Trichiasis is a condition where eyelashes grow inward toward the eye instead of outward, creating a constant scratching sensation and tearing. A related condition called distichiasis involves an extra row of lashes growing from the inner edge of the eyelid, causing pain, swelling, light sensitivity, and a persistent gritty feeling. Both conditions are treatable but require an eye care professional to diagnose and manage. If you’re pulling lashes out of your eye on a regular basis, that pattern itself is worth mentioning at your next eye appointment.