Common Eye Injuries and When to Seek Emergency Trauma Services

Your eyes serve as the body’s natural high -definition cameras. They allow you to explore the world and your surroundings with vision. Any eye damage can prevent you from fully enjoying your surroundings. All types of regular, everyday activities might result in accidental eye injury. Flying particles, falls and collisions, as well as chemicals and radiation, can all cause eye damage. An eye injury, regardless of severity, can be extremely painful and result in irreversible vision loss. If you have an eye injury, you should seek medical attention immediately. Bruises, punctures, burns, and scratches are all types of eye injuries. Such injuries are evident in children to a great extent.

Eye injuries in kids cause significant disability, with up to 280,000 hospital admissions worldwide each year. However, hospital admissions account for just around 5% of total eye injuries; therefore, it is estimated that there are approximately 6 million incidents of eye damage in children worldwide. Children account for 20-59% of all eye injuries.

It is not always possible to identify when an eye has been injured. Some injuries are only apparent when they are quite serious. Eye injuries may end up in vision loss or blindness. That is why having an ophthalmologist or other medical expert examine the eye as soon as possible is critical, even if the injury appears small at first. NEVER try to treat a major eye injury yourself.

Common Causes of Eye Injuries

Following are the common causes of eye injuries:

Sports injuries: Contact sports such as football and boxing, games that include flying balls, and sports in which you swing a racquet, puck, or bat are all common sources of eye injuries. Many sports injuries can be avoided with the appropriate protective eyewear. However, not every sport has certified protective gear.
Workplace hazards: Tradespeople and industrial workers are often exposed to radiation, toxins, and flying debris. Among the most dangerous occupations include welding and metalworking (such as cutting, hammering, or grinding). Others are forestry, manufacturing, and construction.
Household and yard work: Accidents and injuries can result from home repair jobs that include saws, drills, paints, and other chemicals. Debris may be blown into your eye by leaf blowers and lawnmowers. Cleaning and cooking can put you at risk for heat or chemical burns.
Falls and collisions: Eye injuries from blunt force or fragmented glass striking the eye are common in auto accidents. Eye injuries can also result from falling into objects like furniture or doorknobs. Children may clash with one another or fall onto playground equipment.
Toys and recreation: Kids often sustain eye injuries from flying toys, air pistols, and yo-yos. Crayons, pens, and scissors are also considered arts and crafts supplies. Paintball and BB guns damage eyes of all ages. So do fireworks when they are used in residential situations by inexperienced individuals.
Violence: Black eyes and other injuries can result from assault, domestic abuse, and public fights. Numerous weapons used in riots and urban conflicts have the potential to seriously harm eyes. Another common source of eye injuries in both urban and military conflicts are explosives.

Common Types of Eye Injuries

Following are the most common types of eye injuries:

Black eye: A ‘black eye’ is bruise caused by a blow to the eye and surrounding tissues. The tissues surrounding your eye, not the actual eye, are usually considered to be bruised. The region surrounding your eye will swell and turn black, blue, or purple, resembling a bruise. An ophthalmologist can assist in ruling out a more serious eye damage, but bruises can heal on their own.
Blunt eye trauma: An orbital fracture is a fracture of the bones surrounding your eye caused by blunt trauma. The muscles supporting your eye may be injured or trapped between pieces of bone if you have a blowout fracture. A blunt impact that comes into direct contact with your eyeball has the potential to dislocate, detach, tear, or break internal structures (globe contusion or globe rupture).
Eye burns: Your eye’s surface may burn by exposure to chemicals, radiation, or intense heat. A corneal flash burn is a mild sunburn or thermal burn that occurs on your eye as a result of abrupt, severe exposure. Over time, exposure to UV (ultraviolet) rays can also harm your eyes more permanently. Cleaning supplies for the home or other industrial chemicals can cause a chemical burn.
Eye scratches: A corneal abrasion is a scratch on the cornea, which is the transparent dome located in front of the iris on the surface of the eye. Contact lenses, fingernails, cat claws, makeup tools, and airborne debris can all cause corneal scratches. Pain, eye watering, and light sensitivity are symptoms of corneal abrasions. A deeper cut could be more serious than a small scratch or grit particles in your eye.
Foreign body injuries: A foreign body is any particle in your eye that does not belong there. Sand, yard clippings, metal shavings, and shattered glass all can get into your eye. Foreign bodies irritate and scrape your eye as it moves, and they can cause infections. If a foreign body gets lodged in your eye and won’t come out with tears, you may require a treatment to remove it.
Penetrating injuries: A penetrating injury occurs when a sharp object punctures your eye, or whenever a high-speed projectile enters your eye. Fishhooks, darts, sharp instruments, BB guns, and paintball weapons can all result in penetrating injuries. Penetrating objects may become lodged in your eye and require the assistance of a trained professional to dislodge it. They can cause bleeding and structural damage to your eye.

When to Seek Emergency Trauma Services for Your Eye Injury?

You must seel emergency trauma care for your eyes if you experience following symptoms after an eye injury:

Sudden loss of vision
Sensation of burning or stinging in eyes
Unequal size of pupils
Inability to move injured eye
Extreme eye pain
Impaired or reduced vision
double vision
Redness
Irritation
Increased light sensitivity
Bruising around the eye
Eye bleeding
Abnormal discharge from the eye
Severe eye itching
New or severe headaches

Conclusion

An eye injury can occur at any time, so be cautious and wear protective eyewear. If you or your child suffers an eye injury, avoid rubbing it. Never attempt to remove a sharp object from the eye or the region surrounding it. Some eye injuries might result in irreversible vision loss, so seek medical attention straight away.

Get expert guidance from our ophthalmologists at Wavikar Eye Institute for common eye injuries, their symptoms, and when to seek emergency trauma care. Book your appointment now!

FAQs

Q1: When should I seek emergency care for an eye injury?

A: Seek immediate medical attention if you experience sudden vision loss, severe pain, blood in the eye, double vision, or if an object penetrates the eye.

Q2: What should I do if a foreign object gets stuck in my eye?

A: Avoid rubbing your eye and try rinsing it gently with clean water or saline solution. If the object remains or causes discomfort, seek medical help immediately.

Q3: What are the signs of a serious eye injury?

A: Signs include severe pain, persistent redness, swelling, sudden vision changes, discharge, bleeding, or a visible wound or object in the eye.