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Definition: First Aid- emergency treatment for injury, etc., before medical care is available. (Webster¹s New World Dictionary)
There are a number of things that you can do to be prepared and able to respond to an emergency when an accident occurs.
The eye is a remarkably strong and resilient part of the human body. Sometimes you may have to take action to help prevent serious injury.
The most common conditions that you might be called upon to treat are:
There are a number of items that you should have on hand in your first aid kit.
First, do not rub your eyes! If it is obvious that the offending object is located in an easily accessible spot, like under the lower lid or on the front of your eye, try flushing it out with saline solution. Tap water can be used if necessary. If the particle is elsewhere, you can try flushing it out (see below) or (for immediate aid) just grab onto the upper eyelashes and gently pull your upper lid out and over the lower lid, resting the upper lid against the lower and then sweeping it upward. If this does not remove the offending object, squirt it out with a stream of saline solution. Hold the upper lid up and slightly away from the eyeball and flush a stream of solution onto the eye. Use unpreserved solution whenever possible. Plain lubricating eye drops may work in a pinch.
If you have tried all this and it feels as if the particle is still there, the particle may be lodged under the upper lid. To remove it, you may have to evert (flip inside out) the upper lid. If you are not comfortable doing this, seek medical attention. The upper lid can be turned inside out by lying the stick portion of a cotton swab, preferably a soft one, across the upper eyelid, slightly above the crease in the middle of the upper eyelid. Hold onto the eye lashes with thumb and forefinger. Look down. Roll lid upward and over the cotton swab, exposing the inside of the upper lid. Flush saline onto the inside of the eyelid. Try not to blink or close your eyes! It helps to concentrate and look at something with the other eye.
Now remove the cotton swab and allow the lid to roll back to the normal position. You may have to push on it a little to facilitate its return to the correct position..
Sometimes, after the foreign body is removed there remains a sensation that feels like it is still in there. This usually means that the inside of the lid or the cornea has been scratched. If the discomfort continues for more than a couple of hours or becomes increasingly more painful, or if a discharge develops, seek medical attention.
Time is of the essence and prompt first aid is critical to prevent damage to the eye¹s sensitive tissues.
Following the above treatment, seek medical care. If pain, blurred vision or sensitivity to bright light is apparent, seek immediate medical attention. There may have been some trauma or damage to your eye if you have these symptoms. With prompt first aid treatment, it is most likely that even if there was some insult to the eye, it will heal quickly without permanent impairment. The perceived pain and discomfort is often out of proportion to the real injury.
Following first aid, you might want to instill a few drops of a non-preserved lubricating eye drop (artificial tears) or ointment for comfort.
The first aid for this injury is to instill a thicker ³drops for dry eyes² or ointment. Keep the eye moist and lubricated using the unpreserved drops as often a needed. Every fifteen to thirty minutes would not be unusual. Generally, the eye should be much more comfortable within a few hours. If there is continued discomfort, especially pain when moving the eye, patch the eye so it remains closed. To patch the eye, place a few small square pads of dry gauze or folded tissue over the closed eye. Use adhesive tape to keep the pads secure and the eye closed---a little pressure applied as you tape the material to the skin around the eye socket usually does the trick. If an injury is serious enough to necessitate patching, it also requires a medical consultation.
If the pain continues for more than a couple of hours, increases at all, if the vision is blurred or if the abrasion was caused by a piece of metal, seek immediate medical attention. Do not leave the patch covering the eye for more than 4 hours. Report all your efforts clearly to the health care provider you visit. Even if the pain goes away quickly and you don¹t make it to a doctor, should you wake up the next morning and a similar pain returns, see your doctor that day.
More commonly, ³a black eye² can occur from a less severe blunt trauma. This is called ecchymosis (ehkey-mowsis) . The ³black eye² occurs as the bruised tissue swells with fluid and blood from broken vessels. Prompt first aid with cool compresses (a washcloth soaked in cold water) or ice packs (with a moistened cloth cover!) can reduce or prevent ³a black eye.² The old tale of using cold steak out of the Œfridge has been updated. In the 1990s we utilize packaged ³blue ice² packs!
Sometimes the broken blood vessel is inside the eyeball and you notice a little pool of blood or fluid just behind the cornea and in front of the iris. This situation requires immediate medical attention.
Sub-conjunctiva hemorrhages most always do not require treatment, but if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or are taking blood-thinning medications (including aspirin!), you should consult with a doctor. If this situation occurs repeatedly, it could be a warning sign of nutritional deficiencies or the above-mentioned disorders. If the leakage continues to enlarge after a few hours have passed, or if the area swells and becomes uncomfortable, see a doctor.
In conjunctivitis, the membrane that lines the underside of the eyelids and the sclera (white outer covering of the eye) can be infected with bacteria, virus, chlamydia, parasite (rare), fungus (rare) or become inflamed from chemical irritation or allergies. All of these situations cause the apparence of a red eye , sometimes called ³pink eye². Very often these infections are self-limiting and resolve without treatment or damage to the eye.. There are, however, exceptions. The purpose of this discussion is to de-mystify the infection and provide a guide as to how and why to obtain proper eye health care.
Allergies: Symptoms include: itchy, slightly to moderately red eyes with excessive tears and no colored, puss-type discharge. Cool compresses and refrigerated plain eye drops may relieve the symptoms and reduce redness. There are also new over-the-counter medicated eye drops, (Naphcon A, Optcon A, Vasocon A) and one homeopathic (Similasan II) for allergy sufferers that sometimes work well. Your doctor can recommend prescription eye drops if necessary.
Interestingly, ³dry eyes² can predispose one to developing allergy symptoms. One of the many functions of your tears is to flush away foreign debris. In susceptible people, the lack of flushing allows the potential allergy-causing substance to linger and stimulate protective action by the body. The allergy response often includes tearing, helping to dissolve and flush away the offending particle.
Managing ³dry eye² induced allergy symptoms is best achieved by dealing with the ³dry eye² problem. The frequent use of artificial tears, preferably without preservatives is often effective at re-establishing normal tear-system function. Consuming more water may help. Alcohol, excessive salt, caffeine and certain medications may cause dry eyes. Consult a professional for more information and treatment protocols.
Virus: Often occurring secondary to an upper respiratory condition like a cold or the flu, symptoms vary and include: redness, a feeling of dryness or grittiness, sometimes with excessive tearing, usually none to minor pain or burning sensations and no puss-type discharge. There¹s not much you can do short of making it feel better with cool compresses and lubricating eye drops. One notable exception: the herpes family viruses cause varying degrees of pain, sometimes quite significant, and light sensitivity. There is treatment for this infection. Prompt medical attention is necessary whenever pain accompanies infection.
Bacteria: Most, but not all, bacteria-caused eye infections produce a whitish-yellow to yellow-green puss-type discharge. This is often found in the corners of the eye and results in the ³sticky eyelid syndrome²----you wake up and your eyelids are almost glued shut. Other symptoms include: red eyes (sometimes more noticeably in certain areas ), sometimes itchy, occasionally dry and crusty eyelids, especially in the morning. Sometimes the body¹s natural defense systems cure the infection. In many bacterial infections the damage caused to the ocular tissues is related to the body¹s inflamatory response to the toxins produced by the microorganism. (The puss is actually a mixture of cellular debris from the bacteria, used cells from the body¹s inflamatory reaction and mucous from your tears.) This is the reason why you must not allow an infection to linger. Bacterial conjunctivitis is most often treated medically with antibiotic eye drops, sometimes along with warm compresses and rinsing out the discharge with saline solution. Recovery is usually remarkably rapid and quick recovery is important to prevent permanent damage to the eye.
Although the symptoms are caused by microscope organisms, the infection is very often caused by people. The primary object that introduces the bacteria into the eye is the finger. Other causes include: accidental exposure to the bacteria (a splash from a puddle of stagnant water), swimming in contaminated water, someone¹s sneeze or cough, or a weakness in the immune system.
Any eye infection with discharge or pain and steadily increasing severity of symptoms over a short period of time requires prompt medical attention and treatment. In older adults, young children and immuno-compromised people, medical attention is a must. Do not ignore symptoms and do seek medical care. Even a minor infection lasting over a week requires attention. If you had a similar condition in the past, do not assume the same cause and do not use previously opened medicines without consulting your doctor.
It is not advisable to self-treat most conjunctivitis infections without first consulting with a health care professional. The information is presented here to educate and inform and to guide you to an understanding of cause and prevention as well as treatment.
The symptoms of a UV ³sunburned eye² include: a salty, burning pain; tearing, a dry eye feeling and sometimes blurred vision. Home first aid remedies include: cool compresses, cool eye drops or ointment and an analgesic like aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen. If the pain worsens or continues into the next day, see an eye doctor.