Common Eye Emergencies & When to Call Your Doctor

There are countless different types of accidents and emergencies across the United States every year. Roughly 2.4 million of these are eye injuries. Our eyes are extremely sensitive and fragile, and even the slightest bit of harm has the potential to have serious and long-term consequences for our vision. Fortunately, if they are detected early enough, it’s possible to prevent any permanent damage.

What Causes Eye Injuries?

Like any other type of injury, eye injuries can happen at any time and be caused by many different things. This makes them hard to anticipate. Nevertheless, there are some activities and environments where your eyes are automatically more at risk. In most of these instances, wearing the appropriate type of safety eyewear should significantly decrease your risk of suffering from an injury. High-risk environments and activities include:

• Construction

• Manufacturing

• Mining

• Carpentry

• Auto-repair

• Medical care

• Maintenance

• Welding

• Plumbing

• Electrical work

Sporting activities are also a common risk factor for eye injuries, and you don’t even need to be involved in them regularly to experience one. Just a single baseball to the face or contact injury to the eye can be enough to cause pain and have consequences for your vision. The takeaway? If you are doing anything where you think your eyes could be at risk, always wear safety eyewear.

Common Eye Emergencies

Eye emergencies take many different forms, with some being more serious than others. However, any of the following can be considered urgent and require immediate attention from an eye doctor.

Foreign Body Lodged In The Eye 

We’ve all had something stuck in our eyes at some point in our lifetime, and usually rinsing your eye will be enough to dislodge it and prevent any permanent damage. However, if what’s lodged in your eye is something a little bigger or refuses to be flushed out, you may need the services of an eye doctor to ensure that it doesn’t piece or scratch your eye. If it doesn’t flush out easily, don’t rub your eye or try to remove the object from it yourself. Cover the affected eye with a shield, paper cup or similar to protect it and speak to your eye doctor as soon as possible.

Chemical Burns

Chemicals can be found in all sorts of everyday objects, from cleaning products like bleach and furniture polish to perfumes and deodorants. Unfortunately, if you are a little distracted it can be easy to accidentally spray yourself directly into your eyes, or to transfer chemical that’s got onto your fingers into your eyes by touching them. In either instance, a chemical burn can have serious, sometimes irreversible consequences for your vision. You should always rinse the affected eye immediately with cool, fresh water; running it directly into your eyes for at least 15 minutes. This will help remove all traces of chemical and hopefully prevent any further damage. In the meantime, you or someone with you should contact your eye doctor for more advice.  

Sudden Changes To Your Vision

Sometimes our vision can become very blurred or otherwise compromised for what seems like no reason. You may find that you see double, have floaters or flashing in their vision, have a headache or are particularly tired. If you experience any sudden changes to your vision, or if you find yourself suffering from severe headaches or eye pain, we strongly recommend that you make an appointment with your eye doctor as quickly as you can. Conditions such as acute glaucoma and retinal detachment are rare, but can come on quickly and without warning, and many eye conditions can have permanent repercussions for your vision.

To learn more or book a vist, call Volusia Eye Associates in Florida at our office in New Smyrna Beach (386) 427-4143 or Edgewater (386) 230-0300.