Eyes develop two weeks after conception in humans, have over 2 million working parts that make vision possible, and remain the same size throughout your life. That’s why it’s so important to take care of them every day.
Damage to your eyes can happen in a variety of ways, but some problems require attention more immediately than others. The most severe of these problems, called eye emergencies, require prompt attention to preserve your sight. Let’s get some more information on the emergencies, how they happen, and what to do next.
The team of doctors and medical staff at Bronx Eye Associates helps residents of the Pelham Gardens area of the Bronx, New York, with a wide range of eye conditions, including eye emergencies.
Any problems that cause severe dysfunction in your vision can be considered an eye emergency, which frequently include chemical burns, foreign-body injuries, impact injury, scratches, or other types of burns. These often cause temporary vision loss, and without proper care, the damage can become permanent.
Each of these issues requires medical attention as soon as possible. In most cases, you should avoid rubbing the injured eye, try to remove any objects, and avoid applying any medications yourself. In case of chemical exposure, flushing your eyes with water is recommended, especially if you’re waiting for emergency help.
Look for these signs to determine whether or not you need immediate help with your eyes:
Other signs include pain, double vision, headache, redness, stinging, burning, light sensitivity, and vision loss. Having one or more of these problems means you should go to an ER.
Methods of managing eye emergencies vary with the cause and conditions:
As soon as this occurs, wash your hands to remove any traces of chemicals, tip your head so the injured eye is lower, hold your eyelid open, and flush the eye for at least 15 minutes. Try to remove contact lenses before rinsing. If possible, continue flushing the affected eye until you can get help.
In the case of small objects, blink to see if you can clear them out. Artificial tear drops can help to flush them out, and if it's stuck in your eyelids, flush it with water. With larger objects, under no circumstances should you touch or apply pressure to them. Just get to the ER as soon as you can.
While waiting to get to emergency care, applying a loose bandage is acceptable, but avoid applying pressure.
This sort of impact injury is considered an emergency if it comes with other symptoms or results from a skull fracture. In many cases, black eyes heal on their own, but emergency care can better assess any possible underlying problems or complications.
Eye emergencies can threaten your vision, but with prompt assistance, we can preserve it and manage the problems that accompany emergencies. Contact the medical team at Bronx Eye Associates for emergency eye care.
