Mascara induced milphosis, an etiological evaluation

Abstract

Context:Eyelashes play an important role in one's personality and builds confidence. Now-a- days, mascaras are used very commonly as an eye cosmetic. Mascara induced loss of eyelashes has been evaluated in this study.Aim:The aim of this study is to determine the effect of mascara on eyelashes and to find an association between the usage of mascara and fall of eyelashes.Settings and Design:Cross-sectional questionnaire based study done on medical students.Subjects and Methods:Medical students were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire on mascara usage.Statistical Analysis:MedCalc 9.3.6.0 version.Results:A total of 128 medical students who used mascara were included in this study. Mean (standard deviation) age of the students was 23.7 ± 2.0 years. Nearly 31% of the subjects faced the eye problems. Eyelash fall was observed in 19%. Higher mean years of use of mascara (5.17 ± 3.8 vs. 3.19 ± 2.6, P = 0.027, t-test) influenced the fall of eyelashes in the subjects. Itching of the eye prior to fall of eyelashes was observed in all subjects (P = 0.0002, Fisher exact test). A higher percentage of eyelash falls was observed in subjects who used water for removal of waterproof mascara (27%).Conclusion:There is a significant positive association between long-term use of eye cosmetics like mascara and fall of eyelashes. Furthermore, use of water for removal of waterproof mascara was associated with a higher incidence of eyelash fall.