If You Experience a Foreign Body in your Eye: Tips From Your Raleigh Optometrist
Your eyes and vision are among your most valuable resources. While your body does a good job of protecting them, a small irritant or injury could result in permanent vision loss if you don’t seek emergency eye care quickly. If something gets into your eye, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your eye is safe until you see a Raleigh optometrist.
Protecting Your Vision
Simply getting dust or dirt in your eye can cause a vision problem if not properly addressed and corrected. More serious eye injuries must be looked at by a Raleigh, NC, eye doctor to prevent further damage to the eye. The following are some of the most typical eye injuries that people sustain and how to deal with them:
A Dirt Particle in the Eye – Try holding your eye under a water faucet or in the shower to rinse the material out of the eye. Hold a cotton swab above the upper eyelid and pull the lid up to expose any dirt attached to the lid. Remove the dirt carefully with the tip of a clean cloth. If these attempts don’t work, hold a clean cloth over the eye and get to a Raleigh optometrist promptly. Do not rub the eye or you run the risk of scratching the surface of the eye with the dirt.
A Scratch on the Eye – If something should hit your eye and scratch it, you will likely have blurry vision. You will feel pain or discomfort in your eye and it will start to water. Cover the eye with a clean cloth and have someone take you to an emergency eye care center. Do not touch the eye or try to put drops in it.
A Foreign Object in The Eye – If you or someone around you trips and falls, the result can be getting a foreign object stuck in the eye. If this happens, do not try to remove the object yourself. Place a clean cloth over the eye and the object and get to a Raleigh, NC eye doctor as quickly as possible. They will determine the best approach to remove the foreign object without further injuring the eye.
Getting Hit in the Eye – If you fall and hit your eye on something, you’ll likely develop bruising around the eye. If the area around the eye is tender when you touch it, it becomes inflamed or there is bleeding around the eye, the bones around the eye may be broken. Do not rub the eye, and see an emergency eye care doctor as soon as possible.
Contact Our Raleigh Optometrists For More Help Today!
When in doubt about what to do about any eye injury, cover the eye and get to a Raleigh optometrist. Eye emergencies should be addressed rapidly before the injury causes more damage to the eye. Your North Carolina eye doctor at the Family Eyecare Center is experienced in dealing with eye emergencies so that you can enjoy optimal vision and eye health. Contact us today!