Eye injuries

An eye injury is damage to your eye caused by things such as a direct blow, something getting into your eye, or exposure to intense light or chemicals.

Symptoms of an eye injury depend on what caused it. Minor eye injuries can be treated at home, but more serious eye injuries need medical attention.

In an emergency, call 111, otherwise you can get help for an eye injury from:

• your healthcare provider
• the emergency department of your nearest hospital or urgent care clinic
• an ophthalmologist.

It's important to wear safety glasses or protective goggles to prevent eye injuries if you're doing anything where there's a risk to your eyes.

Seek medical care immediately, or call 111, if:

• you get a strong chemical such as oven cleaner or bleach in your eye
• you receive a blow to your head that causes you to have double vision, difficulty moving your eye, severe headache, nausea or vomiting – read more about head injuries
• something pierces (goes into) your eye
• you have blurred vision or lose vision in the injured eye
• you develop sensitivity to bright light
• you have blood or pus coming out from the injured eye
• you can't move your eye or keep it open
• you have a black or swollen eye
• you have eye symptoms that don't settle after washing your eyes for 15 minutes.

Common causes of eye injuries include the following:

• Chemical burns – from exposure to strong chemicals, such as oven cleaner or bleach.
• A foreign body in your eye – this is any object that shouldn't be in your eye, such as a piece of glass, dust, seed, wood chips or a sharp object. A foreign body can cause injury to your eye by scratching the cornea (the front part of your eye) causing a corneal abrasion, or penetrating (going into) your eye.
• A direct blow to your eye – for example a strike to your eye by hard or sharp objects, such as a baseball, fist or a metal object. This can injure the contents of your eyeball or things around it such as your eyelid or the bones around your eye.
• Flash burns – these cause damage to your eye from exposure to bright ultraviolet light from things such as a welding torch, direct sunlight, a sunlamp in a tanning salon or a reflection of the sun off snow.
  
  

Image credit: Pixabay

Symptoms of an eye injury depend on what's caused the injury. 

• Symptoms of a chemical eye injury include a sudden painful watery red eye after you've been exposed to the chemical. There may be a delay in symptoms if you've been exposed to a poisonous gas. 
• Symptoms of corneal abrasion or a corneal foreign body include a severely painful, watery and red eye with increased sensitivity to light. Your vision may be hazy if the abrasion is in the central part of your cornea. 
• The symptoms of blunt trauma can include:
  • double vision, blurred vision, or loss of vision
  • sensitivity to light
  • pain
  • your eye may look sunken (set back), protruding (standing out), red, or swollen shut with bruising of the eyelids.
• You may have sudden loss of vision if something pierces your eye, eg, if you’re doing an activity such as hammering metal on metal.
• If you have broken the bones around your eye, you may have symptoms such as double vision, with or without pain, although you may still be able to move your eye. The lids around your eye may look very bruised and swollen.

If you have an eye injury you can seek care from your healthcare provider, emergency clinic, or an ophthalmologist. Most eye injuries are covered by ACC. 

Your eye care provider will ask you questions about your injury, including how it happened and what object(s) was involved. If it was a chemical, it's useful to have the ingredients list from the label. 

They will then do an eye examination, which may include:

• testing your vision
• giving you anaesthetic drops to numb your eye so it can be examined
• looking at your eye using a bright light (an ophthalmoscope) or a special magnifying tool (called a slit lamp)
• putting orange dye in your eyes that shows any damage to the front of your eye – the dye is harmless and washes out with your tears
• an X-ray or CT scan.

Treatment of an eye injury depends on the type of injury you have and how bad it is. Follow the specific instructions of your eye care provider, as different eye injuries require different treatment. You may need to be referred to an ophthalmologist (a specialist eye doctor) depending on how severe your injury is. 

Possible treatment 

• Dilating drops to relax your eye muscles and reduce pain. Your pupil (the black part of your eye) will look bigger than normal for a few days after the drops have been used.
• Eye pad/dressing – your eyes may be padded to allow healing. Don't drive with an eye patch on.
• Eye drops/ointment – these may include antibiotics to prevent infection. Note how often to use any prescribed eye drops or ointment.
• Pain-relieving medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or codeine.
• Sunglasses if your eyes are sensitive to light.
• Artificial tears or lubricants to help any discomfort in your eyes.
• Follow-up – you may be seen again in 24 to 48 hours to make sure that your eye is healing.
• You may be asked to rest in bed with your head raised to help clear your vision and stop recurrent bleeding in your eye.

Minor eye injuries

In general, follow these steps to remove something small or minor from your eye such as an eyelash, a piece of dust or an insect.

• Don’t rub your eyes.
• Wash your hands before touching your eye.
• Look in a mirror to see the object in your eye.
• Blink to allow your tears to wash the object out of your eye.
• Hold your eye wide open using your fingers and roll your eyeball.
• Use a wet cotton swab or a clean cloth to remove floating particles or eyelashes.
• Rinse your eye by pouring clean water across it to flush the object out.

Don’t remove any object that has pierced or penetrated your eye or is stuck in your eye. Get someone to take you to the nearest emergency clinic.

Direct blow to your eye

A blow to your eye can damage the eye and its nearby structures. Place a cold compress on your eye immediately for 15 minutes to reduce pain and swelling. This could be an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas. 

Seek medical attention if you have any of the following:

• symptoms of reduced vision, new floaters (black spots) in your vision, or a shadow covering part of your vision
• pain with eye movements or double vision (as this may suggest a fracture of the bones around your eye)
• your eye appears sunken (there might be a fracture) or more prominent (there might be blood or air behind your eye which can cause blindness if causing pressure on your eye)
• a lot of swelling of, or around, your eye. 

Do not blow your nose following such an injury as air can track through fractures to the orbit (space around your eye) and can cause sudden double vision.

Chemical burn

If your eye comes into contact with any strong chemicals, such as oven cleaner and bleach, follow these steps immediately:

• Flush your eye with clean running water (not hot) for at least 15 minutes.
• Hold your eye wide open with your fingers and make sure all surfaces of your eyeball are flushed. Make sure your fingers don’t have any chemical on them.
• Get somebody to take you to the nearest emergency department.
• Bring the chemical container with you if possible or take a picture of its ingredients.

Something in your eye

If you suspect something has flown into or penetrated your eye, protect it with a pair of glasses or sunglasses and ask someone to take you to the nearest emergency department immediately. The object may need to be removed surgically by an ophthalmologist.

• Don’t try to remove an object that has pierced or penetrated your eye yourself and don’t rub your eyes. 
• Don't bend over or lift anything.
• Don’t have anything to eat or drink until you’re assessed by a doctor, as you may need urgent surgery.
• Check your tetanus status and get a booster injection if needed.

Flash burn or light radiation

If you’re exposed to intense ultraviolet light (eg, from a welding torch or reflection of the sun off water or snow) and experience symptoms of discomfort, reduced vision, red eye and light sensitivity, you may be experiencing a flash burn to your eye (also known as arc eye). A cool pack placed over your eyes may give some relief. See your eye care provider for assessment. 

Apps reviewed by Healthify

You may find it useful to look at some first aid and emergency apps.

If you’ve had treatment for any eye injury there are things you can do to take care of yourself and your eyes.

• Take pain relieving medicine if needed.
• Don’t wear contact lenses or use eye make-up until your eye(s) have healed.
• Wear sunglasses if your eyes are sensitive to light.
• Use eye lubricants, if appropriate, to reduce discomfort.
• Use antibiotic eye drops or ointment if these have been prescribed to prevent infection.
• Don’t drive if you have an eye patch on or if your vision has got worse.
• Return for a check-up as advised by your eye care provider.
• See your eye care provider if you have new symptoms such as pain, redness, sensitivity to light or blurry vision.

Read about how to apply eye drops or eye ointments.

Most eye injuries are preventable.

• Wear safety glasses whenever there’s any risk of danger to your eyes, such as when drilling, sawing, handling strong chemicals and gardening.
• Wear protective goggles if your workplace has any risk of danger to your eyes, such as if you handle cement, plaster dust or glass.
• Wear specialised ultraviolet protection when there’s a lot of light radiation, such as when welding or skiing.
• Wash your hands regularly before touching your eyes.
• Wear eye guards when playing sports such as squash or baseball.