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Emergency Eye Care

Bronx Eye Associates -  - Optometrist

Bronx Eye Associates

Optometrists located in Pelham Gardens, Bronx, NY

Eye pain, an eye injury, and a sudden change in your vision are only a few of the possible reasons to seek emergency eye care. The experienced team at Bronx Eye Associates is fully prepared to protect your vision and eye health by quickly treating your eye emergency. When you need immediate eye care, or if you need help deciding whether your eye problem requires emergency eye care, call the office in the Bronx in New York City.

Emergency Eye Care Q & A

When Do I Need Emergency Eye Care?

Any time you suffer an eye injury, you should seek emergency care to protect your vision and to get treatment for your pain and other eye symptoms.

These are a few examples of the most common problems requiring emergency eye care:

  • Detached retina
  • Acute glaucoma
  • Chemical eye injury
  • Puncture wounds
  • Traumatic injury
  • Scratched cornea
  • A foreign object stuck in your eye
  • Swelling around the eye


Following an eye injury, don’t touch, rub, or apply pressure to your eye. You also shouldn’t try to remove an object stuck in your eye because you may cause more damage.

It’s also best to skip using ointments or eye medications. Instead of self-care, see your doctor at Bronx Eye Associates as soon as possible.

What Symptoms Require Emergency Eye Care?

You may be tempted to wait out some symptoms rather than seek emergency care, especially if you don’t have much pain. However, many painless eye symptoms require immediate attention.

If you develop the symptoms on this list, you should get emergency eye care:

  • Sudden eye pain
  • Sudden double vision in both eyes
  • Sudden change in vision
  • Sudden onset of new flashes of light
  • Sudden onset of floaters
  • Sudden dark curtain over your eyes


Additional symptoms that require emergency attention include:

  • Bleeding or discharge from your eye
  • Bruising in or around your eye
  • Blood in the clear part of your eye
  • Headache with eye pressure
  • Pain that worsens with eye movement
  • Swelling around the eye with sudden vision loss


All the symptoms in both lists are signs of potentially serious eye problems that can lead to vision loss without immediate care.

What are the Most Common Chemical Burns?

Irritants like household detergents and pepper spray cause a lot of pain and irritation, but they usually don’t threaten your vision or cause permanent injury.

Chemical burns from alkalis and acids are always an emergency. The most common alkalis are:

  • Sodium hydroxide in lye, drain cleaners, and industrial cleaning solutions
  • Ammonia in cleaning solutions and fertilizers
  • Calcium hydroxide in lime, cement, and plaster


The most common causes of acid burns are acid-containing products used to clean swimming pools, acids in car batteries, or solutions used for glass etching.

No matter what type of chemical gets into your eye, immediately flush the affected eye with water, then seek emergency treatment.

If you’re in doubt about needing emergency care, call the team at Bronx Eye Associates. They’ll quickly assess your symptoms and let you know when to come in.