Loss of Eyelashes. What causes my eyelashes to fall out

There are many different reasons why your eyelashes can start to fall out.  If you have itchy eyelashes and experience a lot of eye irritation, it could be demodex folluculorum - small, parasitic bug that lives on the skin of almost every human.

In small number, this microscopic mite is harmless. Even though most people have demodex parasites on the skin, we don't notice their presence. Needless to say, most people never heard of such thing as demodex.

Why demodex can affect the eyelashes to the point of falling out? One of the reasons is - food.  As odd as it sounds but this little skin mite eats sebum oil (skin fat) produced by sebaceous glands. It finds places on human body with the most sebum oil secretion and stays there.

The female demodex  lay eggs inside hair follicle, the eggs then hatches in 3 days. Eyelash mite has a short life, 2 - 3 weeks.  During the day, mites stays in hair follicles of the eyelashes. It is most active at night. Feeding on skin fat and cosmetics that women use on eyelashes, scalp and face. One of the reasons why,  women have more demodex problems than men. The eyelashes is not only places that can beaffected  with demodex. The scalp, facial skin and other parts of human body can be affected as well.

Even though demodex mites don't cause major health problems, you need to address the symptoms to your doctor.  The eyelashes won't start thinning and falling out without a reason. Substantial increase in number of demodex mites cause itching and irritation, these signs can be first  symptoms of eye demodicosis (uncontrolled growth of demodex). Ignoring the symptoms, postponing the treatment may lead to partial or complete loss of
eyelashes.