The Importance of Immediate Care for Foreign Object Removals

A foreign object in the eye is anything that doesn’t naturally belong there and enters the eye from outside the body. It could be anything from a metal shard to a particle of dust. It most likely affects the conjunctiva or cornea. Foreign object removal requires immediate eye care and you should contact an optometry clinic right away. If you live in or around Farmington, contact our team at Family Vision Clinic if you have a foreign object in your eye.

Emergency Eye Care

Foreign object removal requires a prompt diagnosis and treatment that helps prevent eye irritation, infection, or vision loss. This is also important in interocular or extreme cases. Removing an object yourself can lead to serious eye damage. It is even more important to get emergency treatment if the foreign object is so big that you cannot close your eye. Other serious conditions include:

• the object has rough or sharp edges
• chemicals were introduced into the eye
• an object is embedded in the eye
• bleeding of the eye
• the object was propelled at a high speed

While getting medical attention, it is also important to avoid any future injuries of the eye by restricting eye movement and bandaging the eye using a clean gauze or cloth. If the object is too large and won’t allow for the eye to be bandaged, then cover the eye with a paper cup. You should also cover the uninjured eye since this helps prevent eye movement in your injured eye.

Certain symptoms also require immediate attention. These include a sensation of having something in the eye, the cornea has a cloudy spot on it, or you have abnormal blinking, tearing, or vision.

Home Care

While it is important to get immediate attention, there are also some precautions you can take at home. Don't put pressure on the eye or rub the eye. Don’t use any tools, such as cotton swabs or tweezers on the surface to help with your eye irritation. Don’t remove your contact lenses unless you have a chemical injury or sudden swelling. When dealing with the eye or helping someone with this injury, wash your hands before getting near the eye. Look at the eye in an area with bright light. Even if you can manage to remove the foreign object, you should still be seen by an eye doctor to make sure there are no further injuries.

Contact Our Optometry Clinic in Farmington, MN

For an immediate appointment to help with foreign object removal and eye care, call our team at Family Vision Clinic today at (651) 463-2020 to see Dr. Rupnow.