Eye Injury

Caring for the eyes is important because sight plays a vital role in our everyday work and activities. But incidents can happen, which damage or hurt our eyes regardless sometimes of how much we try and avoid them. What do we do next?



Symptoms

  • A visible object lodged in the eye, an impression of something left after being poked or hit, or the feeling that something is in your eye
  • A visible cut on or around the eye area
  • Irritation, swelling, redness and itchiness
  • Watering and signs of infection, tears
  • Pain, sensitivity to light and distortion in vision
  • Involuntary squinting

Common Eye Injuries

Corneal Abrasions — when the transparent part of your eye or cornea is damaged

Uveitis — when the middle part of the eye becomes swollen (usually due to a blow)

Foreign Bodies — when an object gets in and gets stuck in the eye

Black Eye — when blood and other fluids collect in the eye area as a result of a blow or strike to the face

Serious Eye Injuries

Chemical Burn — when the eye damage is caused by exposure to hazardous materials or chemicals

Hyphemas — when bleeding occurs in the front section of the eye

Corneal Laceration — when the cornea suffers from a cut or break

First Aid for Eye Injuries

1. Make patient comfortable
Ask the patient to sit down and not to move their eyes or rub them. Take care not to touch any part of the eye or contact lenses. With one hand, hold the patients head still by holding it close to your body as you stand behind.

2. Flush eye with water
Use only cool flowing water to gently irrigate the eye. For chemical or smoke injuries, or heat related burns, flush the eye for at least 20 minutes continuously.

3. Dress the eye
Use a sterile pad or eye dressing to cover the eye socket completely. Do not apply any pressure to, or attempt to remove penetrating foreign objects. Ask the patient to hold the dressing in place. Bandage over the dressing to keep it in place, completely covering the injured eye.
If the injury is a penetration injury, place sterile pads around the protruding object, taking care not to move it and bandage in place.

4. Call for medical help
If the person has multiple injuries or has been involved in a serious accident, your first priority is to maintain breathing and circulation.

Tip: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is also essential to maintaining clarity of the eyes. In addition to avoiding potentially harmful objects and accidents that can affect vision, eating the proper food that’s good to the eyes as well as refraining from stressing our eyes out can also contribute to their staying healthy.

Related Links

http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/eye-injuries-check-your-symptoms
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Eye-injuries/Pages/Symptoms.aspx
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/eye_injuries/page3_em.htm
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/eye_injuries/article_em.htm

 

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