What to do if you have an eye injury

See a medical practitioner if you experience these signs, swellings in the eye, double vision, extreme pain, broken eyelids, intense eye and eyebrow pain, and persistent headaches. These show that your eye injury is severe. Medical aid is required if there is a deep cut or an injury related to sight loss, discomfort, or fractured bone.

Also, visit the doctor if there is anything sharp in the eye, like a metal or glass fragment.

Can Eye Injury Heal on its Own?

Minor scratches usually heal on their own. More profound injuries can cause long-term vision problems. While your eye heals, it's best not to rub it. Some conditions that involve eye damage or vision damage can be reversed, while others can't.

Visit an eye doctor often to monitor your eyes' health and vision. They can detect problems before they become severe and make you blind. You can also treat lots of minor eye injuries on your own.

How Long Does a Typical Eye Injury Take to Recover?

A minor scratch should heal on its own in 1 to 3 days. More severe abrasions may take longer. Minor corneal abrasions heal quickly, usually within two days. If the bruise is in the center of the cornea, your vision may be slightly blurred. Expect your eyes to become red. You may find bright lights uncomfortable until the abrasion has healed.

More severe wounds take time to heal and can cause irritation, pain, tearing, and redness. If the cornea becomes deeply scarred, it can cause vision problems. But the good news is that human eyes are some of the quickest healing tissue in the entire body. Some injuries heal in just hours, compared to a scratch on the skin, which will take days to recover. 

Can You Go Blind From Getting Hit In The Eye?

Harm to any portion of the vision-related retina, optic nerve, or brain region may lead to blindness. One primary cause of blindness can be eye injuries, either physical or chemical. Injury problems to the eyes can occur from a benign or removable substance in the eye, which can cause irreversible loss of vision.

What is The First Aid for Eye Injury?

 For Chemical Exposure

• Don't rub or touch your eye with anything.
• Quickly wash the eye with lots of water. Rinse your eye with saline solution, eyewash, or clean water. Use whatever water source that is closest as long as it is clean—a water fountain, stream, tap, or hosepipe.
• Get medical assistance after consistent flushing of your eyes that should last between 15 and 20 minutes.
• Don't dress the eye or use redness-relieving eye drops.

For an Eye Blow

• Use a cold pad, but don't apply pressure on your eye.
• Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), Tylenol, or some over-the-counter medicine for pain relief.
• Don't use redness-relieving eye drops.
• If there is bruising, bleeding, change in vision, or it hurts when your eye moves, wear your sunglasses and see a doctor right away.

For a Foreign Particle in the Eye

• Don't rub or touch your eye with anything.
• Pull the upper part of your eye down and blink repeatedly.
• If the particle is still there, rinse your eye with saline solution, eyewash, or clean water.
• In case the eye turns red, don't use redness-relieving eye drops.
• If rinsing doesn't help, close the eye, bandage it lightly, and see a doctor.

When Should You Go To The ER For An Eye Injury?

Go to the ER for an eye injury if you experience these signs: pain, redness, watering, vision changes, and trouble seeing or one eye sticking out farther than the other. If your eyes do not move together as they should, sudden vision loss, swelling, and bleeding in the eye, visit an emergency room or urgent care center.

They will let you know if your symptoms require immediate attention and if there are any special instructions you need to follow, like flushing your eye or removing contact lenses.

When Should I Go To The Doctor For Eye Pain?

When suffering eye pain and you notice unusually severe pain accompanied by headache, fever, or unusual sensitivity to light, call 911 or your local emergency number. Eye pain may come with sudden vision changes, nausea or vomiting, and blurry vision.

All these problems may be signs of a larger health issue. Schedule an emergency consultation with the eye doctor straight away if any of these symptoms arise. Also, plan a routine test with the eye doctor immediately when your blurry vision is epileptic or is restricted to one eye.

How a penetrating eye injury is effectively managed

The best treatment for a conscious casualty with a penetrating eye injury is to place an ice pack on the eye to decrease the swelling.

If there is an object, remove it if possible, cover it with a pad and call an ambulance. If it can't come out, protect the eye from further damage by using an eye shield and the object from impurities, and then contact the Emergency Room. 

Don't rub your eyes and quickly remove the contact lenses if you use them. Oral and topical antihistamines can be beneficial if allergies are the source of your eye problem. Warm compresses can open all closed pores, which is the first essential treatment for eye injuries.

Administer systemic analgesics, prophylactic broad-spectrum systemic antibiotics, administer antiemetics if they have nausea or vomiting, and update tetanus prophylaxis.

Do You Put Ice On An Eye Injury?

Yes, it is alright to put ice on an eye injury. Pack a few ice cubes in a clean washcloth, and using gentle pressure, place the cold pack of ice or cloth filled with the ice cubes to the area around your eye. Take note not to press the eye itself directly.

As soon as you get the injury, add a cold compress to minimize swelling and shrink dilated blood vessels. This can decrease the severity of eye bags and help to prevent dark circles. Please do it for a day or two, multiple times a day. Please keep it on your eye every 1 to 2 hours for 10 minutes per application. Restrict the ice to 10 minutes so the skin doesn't get affected by the ice.

Do not explicitly place ice or ice packs on the skin. A plastic bag is not enough to shield the skin from burning ice. Always cover the ice in a towel or use some other thin cloth. Avoid falling asleep with ice on your skin or eye. Commercial cold bags are too cumbersome to be used on or near the eye. If the pack spills, be vigilant to avoid a chemical burn in the eye or around the eye.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, it is important to be able to identify when an eye injury is serious. Some signs that an eye injury is serious are excessive bleeding, pain, and the inability to open the eye.

If you believe that you or someone you know has suffered a serious eye injury, it is important to seek medical attention immediately.