On the upper eyelid it is common to find between 3 and 5 rows of eyelashes while on the lower eyelid it is normal to find between 1 and 2. In the female population, dense and long eyelashes are associated with a youthful and sensual look. Over the years the number of eyelashes decreases as well as their diameter. The pharmaceutical industry is no stranger to aesthetic concerns regarding eyelashes and noticed a side effect of a medication used for the treatment of glaucoma, bimatoprost. Among the side effects of this medication is the growth of eyelashes . But it has others, such as eye redness and darkening of the dark circles.
In the United States, a pharmaceutical company (Allergan, the same one that produced the glaucoma drug called Lumigan) got to work and developed Latisse , which is applied to the eyelashes once a day, at night. And its use was approved by the FDA in 2011, which is the American authority that allows the marketing of medications for hypotrichosis (lack of eyelashes), although many people used it not to recover lost eyelashes but to increase the length and thickness of the eyelashes. themselves. Unfortunately it is not marketed in Spain.
But not everyone can use this medicine. In principle it must be prescribed by a doctor. In addition, there are certain contraindications to bimatoprost, such as it should never be used in people with active ocular herpes and should be used with great caution in patients who may have suffered from one in the past. It should also not be used if you suffer from uveitis or have suffered from repeated uveitis. It should not be applied in patients undergoing cataract surgery who have presented specific intraoperative complications (the Ophthalmologist will detail them) or in those who present inflammatory macular retinal pathology. That is, you must be strict and careful when using it.
For now it is not approved by the European Medicines Agency, but perhaps one day we will see that mascara is not the only option to give eyelashes a longer and more voluminous appearance…
But not everyone can use this medicine. In principle it must be prescribed by a doctor. In addition, there are certain contraindications to bimatoprost, such as it should never be used in people with active ocular herpes and should be used with great caution in patients who may have suffered from one in the past. It should also not be used if you suffer from uveitis or have suffered from repeated uveitis.
It should not be applied in patients undergoing cataract surgery who have presented specific intraoperative complications (the Ophthalmologist will detail them) or in those who present inflammatory macular retinal pathology. That is, you must be strict and careful when using it.
For now it is not approved by the European Medicines Agency, but perhaps one day we will see that mascara is not the only option to give eyelashes a longer and more voluminous appearance…