A Woman's Eyelashes Got Infested with 100 Mites from Not Washing Her Pillowcase

In today’s horrifying news, someone is having a really, really, really bad day. Like imagine your worst day, and then triple it. Because as one woman found out recently, that whole wash-your-sheets thing your mother used to harp on you about in high school is, uh, pretty damn important. Unless, of course, you’re cool with having your eyelashes infested with hundreds of mites.

Yes, sorry, we’re sorry, but it’s true. According to The Sun, one woman discovered that the cause of her chronically red and itchy eyes when she finally went to the hospital and was diagnosed with blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelids, which, in her case, was also accompanied by hundreds of mites, with as many as 10 mites per lash follicle, giving her the look of dandruff. Yup. Yuuup.

But, just to freak you out a bit more, know that everyone’s skin is crawling with microscopic bugs and mites that you can’t see (fun fact: rosacea and acne can be caused by an overgrowth of mites, too). They only become a problem when you give ‘em a breeding ground, as this woman did by allegedly not washing her pillowcase since 2012, and sleeping on the same one every night. Or, if you don’t remove your makeup and wash your face at night. And if that doesn’t convince you to invest in a good face cleanser, I don’t know what will.

Thankfully for this woman and your sanity, mite overgrowth is pretty easy to treat, requiring some antibiotic eye drops and a lesson on clean linens. Just promise us you’ll wash your pillow cases tonight, okay? Thanks.