Eye Injuries

Sports-related injuries, accidents, and foreign objects in the eye can all cause eye injuries. These may result in symptoms such as discomfort, redness, swelling, and soreness. Some patients experience visual changes or light flashes. Moreover, severe eye injuries may result in permanent vision loss.

Scratches, punctures, and bruising can cause eye damage. They may be brought on by mishaps, chemical exposure, or ocular foreign items. Immediately consult an ophthalmologist if you have an eye injury. Rest and home remedies can help certain eye injuries recover. Others may severely harm eyes and impair eyesight.

Symptoms of Eye Injuries

Different injuries have different symptoms. They may start developing slowly and then develop over time. Eye damage warning signs include:

Pain and enlargement

When you try to open, close, or move your eye, it may ache. Perhaps the eye is touch-sensitive. Also, the eyeball, eyelid, or entire face may swell.

Redness and bruising

Any area of the eye can look bruised or red.

Vision changes

Flashes of light or floaters may be visible. You could also have double vision, hazy vision, and other vision issues in addition to eye floaters.

Difficulty with eye movement

You could find it difficult to effortlessly move your eyes. It is possible for one eye to move independently of the other.

Eye appearance changes

Strabismus refers to an eye that seems to be crossed. It’s possible that the pupils vary in size or are particularly big or tiny. One eye may stand out more from the socket than the other or seem sunken.

Bleeding

You can see tiny red or black spots in the eye, or the white area of the eye might appear bright red. Thus, a red eye may indicate an eye injury or a number of other medical issues.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will enquire about your symptoms and do an eye exam. ThusYour provider could:

Look for any swelling, redness, bruising, blood, or pain in your eyes.
Analyze how your eyes move and how your pupils expand (become bigger or smaller).
Check your eyeball, as well as the muscles and bones that surround it, for any abnormalities.
Check your eyes for strange things.
During an eye exam, the doctor will check your eyesight, dilate your pupils, and use specialized equipment to look inside your eye.

Your doctor could also prescribe imaging tests, depending on the kind of damage. Also, your provider can assess fractures and other soft-tissue injuries using X-rays, ultrasounds, CT, or MRI scans. Imaging tests create precise images of your eye, as well as the bones and tissues around it.

Treatments For Eye Injuries

Call for assistance straight away if you or your kid suffers from an eye injury. The nature and extent of the eye damage determines the course of treatment. Surgery could be necessary for serious injuries. Treatment options for mild eye injuries include:

Cold compresses: Ice compresses lessen swelling and ease discomfort.
Eye flushing: Use clean water to flush chemicals and other irritants away for around 15 minutes.
Eyedrops: To aid in the healing of your eye, your doctor could prescribe eyedrops.
Eye patch: You may give your eye some rest while it heals by covering it.

The Bottom Line

Anyone can sustain an eye injury at any time, so make sure to take safety measures and wear protective eyewear. Do not rub your eye if it is hurt, either for yourself or your child. Never attempt to remove a sharp item from the eye or the region surrounding the eye. Many eye injuries, if left untreated, can result in vision loss, blindness, and other eye issues. Thus, seek immediate medical attention. Early diagnosis and treatment by an ophthalmologist can greatly enhance the prognosis and aid in preventing irreversible vision loss.