Eyelids & lashes

Looks like

A thin fold of skin with a stiffening plate and a fringe of lashes, blinking about 15 times a minute.

What it does

Spreads tears, wipes the eye clean and shuts out light and dust.

Keeping it well

Warm compresses and lid hygiene for crusting; a lump that keeps coming back in one spot needs checking.

Its parts

• Skin of eyelids
• Tarsal (meibomian) glands
• Right levator palpebrae superioris
• Tarsal plate of right upper eyelid
• Tarsal plate of right lower eyelid
• Left levator palpebrae superioris
• Tarsal plate of left upper eyelid
• Tarsal plate of left lower eyelid
• Inferior tarsus
• Superior tarsus

Related conditions

• Blepharitis & styes
• Cataract
• Conjunctivitis
• Corneal abrasion (scratched eye)
• Dermatomyositis and polymyositis
• Drooping eyelid (ptosis)
• Dry eye disease
• Hyperthyroidism & Graves' disease
• Keratitis (corneal infection and ulcer)
• Keratoconus
• Presbyopia
• Retinal detachment
• Retinoblastoma
• Sjögren's disease
• Squint & lazy eye
• Trachoma
• Trichinellosis
• Uveitis & iritis