Misdirected lashes can be a cause, a symptom, or a contributing factor in Dry Eye.
Some people’s lashes are normally misdirected. Lashes can be also misdirected due to diseases such as inflamed meibomian glands (meibomian gland dysfunction – MGD) or demodicosis. The demodex mites eat the roots of the lashes, and the lashes grow in different directions.
Misdirected lashes can cause ectropion or entropion — the lids turn outward or inward.
Misdirected lashes can collide with each other. When lashes collide with each other, especially if the lashes from the upper and lower lids collide, the eye may not close completely with each blink — a condition known as blink lagophthalmos. When the blink is incomplete, meibum is not effectively secreted, the tear film is not spread evenly over the eye surface, and the tear film may develop dry spots.