Foreign body eyes: what to do if something is caught in the eye

Eyes can get various foreign bodies. Most of them are harmless – it’s the eyelashes, the lice, the mineral wool fibers, hairs, crumbs, dust particles. They can try to pull out yourself. Quite another matter – metal shavings, crystals, chemicals, glass, oxide. Here without a doctor just will not do.

Foreign body eyes: what is the problem

Tissue the eye is very delicate and sensitive, and if the foreign body has sharp edges, it can easily penetrate the sclera (the white visible portion of the eyeball) or cornea (transparent tissue located in front of the pupil and the iris) and then penetrate the middle of the eyeball. It is fraught with serious complications, until the loss of vision.

However, not only mechanical damage is harmful to the eyes. If you got crystals of a chemical (e.g., alkaline cleaning powder), can develop a chemical burn of the conjunctiva and cornea. In such situations, you must act immediately after the incident, because the longer slimy eye contact with the chemical, the more serious is the damage to the body.

Even more danger for eyes are hot metal particles which are formed during welding. Once in the eye, they are soldered to it to the tissues. Thus, the larger the size of such particles, the greater the depth of the distributed thermal burn of the sclera or cornea. In addition, the metal under the action of lacrimal fluid starts to oxidize, thus exerting a toxic effect on the whole body.

Unpleasant consequences may arise from the fact that the eyes were sand, soil, dust particles. They are the source of infection and can cause abscess. If there is damage to the structures of the organ of vision (which often arise from the fact that people strongly rubs his aching eyes), the infection can penetrate deep into the tissue.

What to do if something gets into your eyes

The first thing to do is to understand what constitutes a foreign body and embedded it in the fabric of the eye or not. The inspection is preferably carried out with clean hands, in front of a mirror in good light. The foreign body may be hiding for centuries, so they need to pull a little. A sign that the particle is not on the eye surface and embedded in its fabric, is the stability of its placement. If the foreign body is floating on the eye when blinking, it’s okay – no penetration.

Remove yourself from the eyes can only freely floating foreign body, representing the eyelashes, specks, hairs, cloth fibers, midges, and sand grains. In all other cases, it is advisable to see a doctor. For this you can contact the ophthalmic emergency rooms of hospitals and clinics. If the vision is disturbed, and there is nobody, who could help to reach a medical facility, you should call an ambulance.

While waiting for the doctor and transport of the patient’s eyes should be covered (but not tight) with a clean bandage, and necessarily both. If healthy eye is left open, the corrupt will move along with it. Such movements of the foreign body may be even stronger stab you in the eyeball.

How to remove a foreign body from the eye at home

In home or outdoor environments to remove foreign bodies from the eye, you can use water and improvised means – gauze pad, a piece of clean cloth, cotton swab with a handkerchief. Wash the mote from the eyes in the shower or over the sink with running water. On the street for this purpose, suitable a bottle of clean water.

If there is even the slightest suspicion of the wound, flush eyes impossible. All manipulations on cleaning and removing foreign bodies should do doctor. But if the eye was some sort of chemical (they can also be in solid form), can not wait. Washing must begin immediately.

When eyes get eyelashes or moth, they are easier than to remove and do not rinse. For this you need to thoroughly wash hands, wet the area of fabric or cotton swab with water or antiseptic solution eye, wide open eyes and try to extract a foreign body. If it is located under the upper eyelid, without help can not do, because the eyelid is necessary to try to Evert.

To turn the upper eyelid, you must do the following maipulative:

• Tip the head back.
• The eyes look down.
• One hand to put pressure on the middle of the upper eyelid with a cotton swab, the second hand pulling the ciliary eyelid edge up, twisting it.

When no outside help, you can pull the upper eyelid to the lower eyelid and wait a bit. Perhaps a foreign body drops down and you can get. If you clean the eye from a foreign body failed, or if after uninstalling it left an unpleasant feeling in the eye, it is necessary to consult an ophthalmologist. And immediately that day, wait until tomorrow you cannot – there will be inflammation or other more serious complications.

The functions of the eye, which was removed a foreign body (a speck of dirt, eyelash, gnats, sand), usually recovered within a day. That is, the next day after the incident, the patient must not be severe redness and swelling of the eyelids, redness of proteins, the problems with opening and closing eyes. If these symptoms should see a doctor, because that was how evident the inflammatory process.

When more serious incidents (for example, eye contact, metal shavings, etc.) the recovery period lasts longer. Patients assigned to prophylactic antibiotic eye drops and other special procedures.

What not to do

When hit in the eye a foreign body is impossible:

• To go to the organ with dirty hands or dirty objects.
• RUB and massage the eyes.
• Much squinting.
• Force yourself to blink.
• To lay the eye ointment or eye drops to drip.
• Trying to pull embedded in the eyeball foreign body.
• To use for the extraction of sharp and hard objects – scissors, tweezers, etc.
• People use means.
• To warm eyes.

These manipulations can significantly aggravate the condition of the eyes. You must always remember that the body is extremely vulnerable.