Trauma to the eye
What do you do when you get injured in the eye? In general:
- if you get scratched in the eye (like if debris flies in or someone accidentally pokes you 👈🏼), fight the urge to rub and instead force yourself to blink - this will produce tears 💧 to flush out any debris and moisten your eyes for protection. Thankfully, scratches heal pretty quickly, but you are susceptible to a superimposed bacterial or fungal infection, so see your eye doctor ASAP.
- if you get a chemical in the eye (like pepper spray or tear gas, I go into more detail about these in my post 2 days ago) find a water source and flush it out for at least 10-15 minutes. It may not get all the chemical out (like with pepper spray, you'll need soap or a special wipe to break up the oils), but it'll dilute enough to minimize damage and irritation. Sometimes you can get inflammation in the eye from these chemicals that can affect your vision, so seek medical attention ASAP.
- lastly, if you sustain direct trauma to the eye (i.e. a punch or projectile), again fight the urge to rub or touch it - you can make the injury worse. If there is something stuck in the eye or orbit (around the eye), do NOT remove it. The best thing to do is to keep the eye closed and loosely cover it with a pair of glasses or even a taped on cup🥤(I'm serious, this is in all our textbooks as a treatment!) and seek medical attention ASAP. 🏥
Eye injuries can range from a simple scratch (corneal abrasion) or a broken blood vessel on the surface like a bruise (subconjunctival hemorrhage) to more serious things like bleeding inside (hyphema) or a cut on the eye (laceration or ruptured globe) that can threaten your vision.
As an eye doctor👩🏻⚕️ (and parent), the best treatment for any injury is always prevention, so please please please wear eye protection if you think you will be at risk!
Click HERE for my YouTube explanation
