I have a microbead stuck in my eye, please help me get it out.

November 1, 2014 10:42 PM

So as it turns out, there's yet another reason to avoid plastic microbead facial scrubs aside from their environmental impact--they can cause a tiny piece of plastic to become lodged somewhere underneath your eyelid, where it's very difficult to get out. There aren't any walk-in clinics near me, so what are some things I can do to try and get it out now at home without blinding myself?

Things I have already tried that have not worked:

-flushing it out under the showerhead
-filling a cup with water and blinking into it as described here
-dripping contact lens solution onto my eyeball

I don't believe this is an emergency situation since I can't feel it when my eyes are open and when I blink, but it's definitely there and irritating my eyeball when my eyes are closed, which is highly unfortunate as right now I'm trying to go to sleep. If you can help me get this thing out and not have to suffer an irritated, sleepless night I will be eternally grateful.

posted by Dante Riordan to Health & Fitness (2 answers total)

Best answer: Grab your upper lashes and pull your upper eyelid out as far as you can then close your eye. The lashes on your lower lid will clean the inside of your upper lid. Works wonders.
posted by fshgrl at 10:45 PM on November 1, 2014 [56 favorites]

Response by poster: OMG. thank you thank you THANK YOU IT WORKED. this is a miraculous method and I will now shake my fist in impotent rage at all the websites I looked at that did not mention it.
posted by Dante Riordan at 10:50 PM on November 1, 2014 [27 favorites]