In some cases, medical professionals must carefully separate glued eyelashes or scrape adhesive from the surface of the eye.
COLORADO, USA — A growing number of patients are seeking care at UCHealth after accidentally applying nail or lash glue to their eyes, mistaking the adhesive for eye drops. Doctors warn that these mix-ups, while not typically causing permanent damage, can be painful and require medical attention to remove the hardened glue.
The mishap gained attention in November 2024 when a TikTok user shared her experience, explaining that she had grabbed a bottle of nail glue instead of eye drops. The viral video, which has been shared more than 41,000 times, shows the user’s eye being irrigated by a medical device.
UCHealth officials said its difficult to track how much these kinds of cases have increased since they are usually labeled as an ‘eye injury’ when the patients arrive at the emergency department. Dr. Richard Davidson, an ophthalmologist with UCHealth, said these incidents are relatively common and tend to occur in waves.
“There might be a couple of months where we don’t see anyone, and then all of a sudden, we may get two or three people with this type of situation,” he said. “There’s there’s a variety of ways we see it happen, but it is relatively common.”
The confusion often arises because some glue bottles and eye drop containers can be similar in size and shape.
“It’s amazing how many products look similar, and we can end up putting them in the eye by accident,” Davidson said. “Sometimes it’s eye makeup glue, sometimes it’s ear drops that are supposed to go in the ear and they go in the eye.”
Once the glue enters the eye, it hardens rapidly, making removal difficult.
“This glue dries in a matter of seconds,” Davidson said. “We really encourage you, if you can get to a sink, try and wash it out or take a towel and loosen it up a little bit because the quicker you act, the better.”
In some cases, medical professionals must carefully separate glued eyelashes or scrape adhesive from the surface of the eye.
“There are times when we have to cut the lashes if they’re glued together, and there are times if it’s on the eye itself, we have to gently scrape it or peel it off,” Davidson said.
Despite the discomfort, he reassured that most patients recover without lasting effects.
“It’s rare to cause permanent damage, but it can be very uncomfortable for the first couple of days,” he said.
To prevent such accidents, experts recommend:
- Read the labels out loud before use.
- Store eye drops separately from similar sized sized bottles.
- Use bright stickers to differentiate bottles.
- Leave eye drops in their original boxes that contain clear symbols that indicate their use.
“Just take the extra minute to make sure you’re putting the right drop in the eye,” Davidson said. “Do something to alert yourself that, ‘Hey, this is the adhesive. I don’t want to put it in my eye. ‘”