Are these demodex? (pictures)

[Randolph]

[dryasadesert]

dont think so, that looks like posterior blepharitis crusting to me. Mites are microscopic. but I am no doctor.

[irish eyes]

Blepharitis I would say.

Take a look at the lids here - they look similar

http://www.visualdxhealth.com/adult/blepharitis.htm

[Randolph]

But, check out the second picture here:

http://www.eyeworld.org/article.php?sid=4381

[irish eyes]

I take your point about the second photo.

Are the photographs (you initially posted) of your own lids and lashes?

Up close, mine look like that; I have posterior and anterior blepharitis. The photo seems to show `misdirected' lashes - and not all of them following the natural lash line.

[Randolph]

I take your point about the second photo.

Are the photographs (you initially posted) of your own lids and lashes?

Up close, mine look like that; I have posterior and anterior blepharitis. The photo seems to show `misdirected' lashes - and not all of them following the natural lash line.

Yeah, unfortunately, those are mine.

You're right about the misdirection, too. A good number of them on both eyes turn away from the nose at an angle that brings them close to (or sometimes exactly) parallel with the lid margin. Also, at the very corner of both eyes I have a number of lashes that look undeveloped. They lack color, and seem to have a smaller volume than the normal ones and look dried up. Like something that's been left in the sun for too long. One of them seems to lack spring (is that the word) - it's like a dry leaf. I've been trying to get a picture of them, but because of their thinness and lack of color they don't are hard to see in the pictures.

What do you mean by not following the natural lash line? You mean more than one row?

Has any doctor ever brought up demodex with you?

[irish eyes]

Randolph - no doctor has ever brought up the idea of demodex. As my eyes have been scrutinised so often, I think it would have been diagnosed.

Mine is definitely dry eye, blepharitis and all the irritation & misery that goes with it.

The description of your eyelashes is very graphic; I too have lashes that are underdeveloped and thin. Some have no pigment. Some are little more than short strands of hair. You asked if I had more than one row - some now grow towards the inside of the eye and I have found a few stray rogues on the lid itself.

(Boy do my eyes sound wonderful - I had best stop praising them)

[Randolph]

The description of your eyelashes is very graphic; I too have lashes that are underdeveloped and thin. Some have no pigment. Some are little more than short strands of hair.

I wonder if that's a common symptom of bleph. Do you know what might be the cause of that?

You asked if I had more than one row

No, I was wondering what you meant when you said that the photo shows that not all the lashes are following the natural lash line

- some now grow towards the inside of the eye and I have found a few stray rogues on the lid itself.

Sounds familiar. Often I have to pluck out a lash because it's pointing towards my eye. I don't think it grows that way but just gets bent that way. Also, often times a lash or two from the top lid will stick to a lash or two from the lower lid, even when I open my eyes fully.

EDIT:

Hey, irish eyes, I searched the forum for demodex and, look what I found:

The crooked or white looking eyelashes are a sign of over-infestation.

Those doctors must have missed the demodex with you, or thought they weren't the cause of your symptoms (a lot of doctors seem to not buy into demodex as the cause).

I'm actually happy about this because demodex is treatable and we can, for at least a short period of time, have the faint hope that our troubles will go away.

Here's a success story for you: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...hlight=demodex , the poster says his eyes are "almost symptomless"!

[irish eyes]

Hi again Randloph

Loss of lashes
I would think this is because the eyelash follicles are damaged. I have gaps and then clumps of eyelashes in another spot. They fall out very easily; it's as though they are plants trying to survive in poor shallow soil. (There's a bit of biblical imagery for you!)

White lashes
I think this is known as poliosis - which simply means depigmentation of hair whether it is the scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes. As I have had problems with my eyes for so long now, I think it is a secondary condition to blepharitis. I honestly don't think that demodex is the issue - I only wish that it was so straightforward!

[Mimi84]

Hi.
I know this post is several years old but I hope to get an answer because I'm depressed. How are your lashes now? have they stopped falling please? THANKS