If you play a lot of sports, or have pets or small children around, then you may know what it’s like to accidentally have your eye scratched. If this happens, you might have symptoms right away or the symptoms might only become apparent after a few hours.
The most common symptoms of scratched eyes include a gritty feeling in the eye, tearing and eye pain. If the sclera or white part of your eye was scratched, you may see general redness or a spot of blood. A scratched cornea, also known as corneal abrasion, has more severe symptoms, such as blurry vision, light sensitivity and headaches.
The good news is that corneal abrasions typically heal in a day or two. But this doesn’t mean that you should completely ignore the problem until it presumably gets better. If you accidentally scratch one of your eyes, here’s what you should do:
Whatever you do, don’t rub your eye after an injury as this could make it worse, especially if you’ve been working outside and your hands are dirty. You should also avoid touching your eyeball with cotton swabs or other instruments. Also, do not use any eye drops without first asking your doctor as there are no over-the-counter eye drops made especially for eye scratches.
If you’re worried about an eye scratch that is taking too long to heal on its own, give Joel H. McGahen OD a call at (717) 264-4012 to set up an eye exam or fill out our contact form to get in touch with one of our friendly staff members today.