This is why you should always remove your mascara before going to bed https://t.co/fMlZVzk7KU pic.twitter.com/OgKwfKrDfp — National Post (@nationalpost) June 6, 2018

SYDNEY, Australia -- An Australian woman apparently risked blindness due to complications that resulted from not removing her mascara properly for decades.In a recently published academic article , Dr. Dana Robaei with the University of Sydney wrote that the 50-year-old woman admitted that she had been wearing heavy mascara for more than 25 years and frequently did not remove it completely. She eventually developed small, dark-colored bumps that had hardened on the inside of her eyelids. Some of the bumps eroded through her conjunctiva, a structure that forms part of the inner eyelid.Robaei wrote that the bumps had caused follicular conjunctivitis and damage to the woman's cornea. News.com.au identified the patient as Theresa Lynch, a housekeeper living in Sydney. Lynch told the news website that she sought medical treatment after she began to experience eye irritation, discharge and a heavy sensation in her eyelids.Robaei likened Lynch's symptoms to "somebody throwing a handful of sand in your eye," calling it "constantly irritating."Though Robaei was able to remove the bumps over the course of a 90-minute procedure, she warned that Lynch sustained permanent scarring and risked serious infection and potential blindness.