What Is Considered an Eye Emergency?

What Is Considered an Eye Emergency?

Read through some of the most common or concerning conditions for which you should see an eye doctor immediately:

1. A Chemical Burn in Your Eye

If chemicals get into your eye, get saline or some plain water and run it through your eyes for 15 minutes. If you had contact lenses on, try getting them out first. Do not try to create a chemical reaction by using another chemical to neutralize the first. Also, don’t put a bandage on your eyes. Doing that may increase the damage to your eyes. Instead, use clean water or saline to flush the chemicals out and quickly get to an eye care professional.

2. A Traumatic Injury

The majority of eye emergencies reported are accidents. An accident occurs when something hits your eye, causing redness, pain, and light sensitivity. Swelling and double vision are signs of inflicted trauma. Left untreated, eye injuries cause partial or permanent vision loss. After a traumatic incidence, get a cold compress and apply it to the eye without inflicting any pressure. This soothes the pain and brings down any swelling. If your vision starts to be obscure or the pain becomes severe, get to an eye doctor quickly.

Skip the compression step if your eye suffered a puncture or cut inside or outside. If an object penetrated your eye, do not attempt to take it out. Cover your eye so that there are no disturbances to the eye. You could use a coffee cup and see a doctor immediately.
 

3. Foreign Body

If there is a foreign body, resist the urge to rub your eye. Your eyes have a natural mechanism for getting particles out. They tear up, and the tears wash out the particles. If your eyes are dry, water them with artificial tears or with a saline solution. A steady stream of the liquid directed at the foreign body will dislodge and drive it from the eye surface. If the particle fails to budge, keep your eye shut, tie a loose bandage around it, and rush to the eye doctor. Seek medical care also if you are unsure whether the particle has washed off. Metallic particles left in your eye for some days cause rusting spots around it.
 

4. Sudden Vision Changes

If there is a sudden or noticeable change in your vision quality, an optometrist needs to check your eyes. Vision change could sign a corneal or retinal defect that may cause you to lose your vision if untreated. For example, if your retina is detached, you may start to see floating spots and flashing lights within the eye. Central Retinal Artery Occlusion causes a sudden vision loss due to a lack of enough oxygen getting to the retina.

Vision change can also be a symptom of nerve damage or a stroke. A headache with pain in the temple, fever, hip pain, and blurred vision are signs of temporal arteritis. Temporal arteritis is a severe condition of the temporal arteries that take blood to the brain and head.

All these scenarios are critical and need fast, accurate diagnosis and treatment of the eye emergency. In case of an eye emergency, visit Lifetime Vision and Eye Care in Miami Gardens, Florida or call us at (305) 902-3320 to request an appointment.