Turned-in eyelashes cause of teary, itchy eyes
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
Research done by a Honolulu ophthalmologist has found that a little-known eye ailment is especially common among people of Asian ancestry, but may not have been diagnosed or treated properly.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Dr. Jorge Camara, chief of ophthalmology at St. Francis Medical Center, said he began seeing more people with teary red eyes. Theycomplained that they felt there was something in their eyes, but a closer examination revealed no foreign substances.
Dr. Jorge Camara performed eye surgery on Kwang Hark Paik 10 years ago for a condition he is seeing more often: itchy eyes caused by eyelashes turning into the eye and rubbing on the cornea.
He determined that for many of them the problem was that their eyelashes were turning into their eyes and rubbing on their corneas, causing pain, tearing, itchiness and redness.
Camara's research is published in the most recent issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology and titled "Involutional Lateral Entropion: A New Physical Finding in Asian Patients." In rare cases, Camara said, the condition can cause ulceration of the cornea and threaten the patient's sight.
The president of the Hawai'i Ophthalmological Society said Camara's research has "great significance not only in Hawai'i but throughout the Pacific."
Dr. Susan Senft, an ophthalmologist practicing in Kailua, Kona, on the Big Island, said the eyelid condition, which she now sees in about five patients a month, may be much more prevalent then previously realized, but doctors didn't recognize the problem and didn't know about the surgery that could correct it.
"He's given us a new way to approach a problem that has been fairly common," she said.
Camara is hoping that his research will help call attention to the condition for people who have suffered from red, itchy eyes without knowing what caused it.
Often, patients who complain of the problem have been to several doctors and received eye drops or ointment, which can ease the problem for less-severe cases.
Camara said that the most severe cases require surgery, which involves removing the excess skin that causes the lashes to turn inward. He said the surgery is done on an outpatient basis, takes about an hour and is covered by medical insurance because it is not a cosmetic procedure but treatment of a medical condition. After surgery, the eyes appear to be opened wider.
Camara performed the surgery on Kwang Hark Paik about 10 years ago before he realized how often he was seeing the condition in older Asian patients. "I used to have teary eyes," said Paik, who even tried plucking out the lashes twice before pinpointing the problem.
Camara said because he specializes in reconstructive eye surgery, he sees the ailment in about five patients a day. But Camara has not studied how prevalent the condition is statewide or throughout the nation.
Camara said he believes that the anatomy of the Asian eye that makes it almond-shaped also makes it more likely to have the eyelid sag over and push the lashes into the eye.
Camara's study of 53 patients found the ailment most common in patients of Asian ancestry who are 60 or older.
