Eye Injury

• Cuts and scratches – cuts and scratches to eyelid or eyeball can result from small everyday accidents. They can be minor or big enough to seek medical help. Eyelid tears can be treated by suturing. For tears in sclera, the white part of your eye or cornea, the transparent layer of your eye, it is always better to consult your eye doctor.
• Blunt eye injury – A blunt eye injury results from a blunt injury to the face which might result from an accident or an assault or more commonly on injury with a shuttle cock or cricket ball.. The most common manifestation is a ‘black eye’ which is the result of accumulation of blood in the subcutaneous tissue, that is beneath the skin. This colouration goes on changing from black to purple to green to yellow, as the blood gets resolved, with time, over a period of about seven days. Sometimes a black eye can also be a result of skull fracture without direct involvement of the eye. If there is associated blurring vision, doubling of vision or pain on rotating the eye you should definitely consult the doctor to rule out involvement of the orbit or surrounding structures.
• Penetrating eye injury – a penetrating injury to the eye can occur from penetration of pointed objects like a pen or pencil into the eyeball. Many times, penetrating eye injuries result when something hits the eye ball with high velocity like fire cracker debris or a pressure cooker blast. If you ever face a penetrating eye injury, you should consult your doctor Immediately.

• Foreign body in eye – any kind of foreign body, small or large, stuck in the eye is an emergency and should be dealt with immediately.If it is a small foreign body, like dust or sand, try to blink your eyes many times to see if the foreign body slides out. You can wash your hands with soap and clean water, and then run clean water in the eye. You can try putting artificial tear drops to help the foreign body slide out. However, do not rub your eyes, do not apply pressure on the eyeball, Do not try to remove the foreign body with your hands or with any kind of instrument like tweezers. If the foreign body sensation persists despite lubricating drops and washing the eye, immediately see your doctor. If it is a large foreign body that has penetrated your eye because of some accident, do not try anything and consult your doctor immediately. 

• Chemical burns – Any chemical that enters the eye can cause irritation and damage to the eye. Acid chemical injuries generally have a better prognosis. But alkaline chemicals like detergents or drain cleaners or sodium hydroxide are more dangerous and can result in permanent eye damage if not treated in time. If your eye has been exposed to any kind of chemical, immediately wash it with large amounts of clean water as soon as possible. Then consult the nearby eye surgeon at the earliest.

Acute Angle closure glaucoma

This occurs when there is a sudden block to the outflow of aqueous humour (the liquid inside the front part of the eye) causing a sudden rise in intra-ocular pressure.

Symptoms

Pain around the eye or headache with nausea

Defective vision

Coloured halos around lights

This requires immediate attention as the vision loss may become irreparable.

Central retinal Artery Occlusion

Occlusion of the central retinal artery occurs usually in patients with Cardiac diseases or disorders of Blood clotting mechanisms, rarer causes being those with connective tissue disorder. 

Patients present with sudden, painless, loss of vision. This needs to be treated within the first 6 hours of presentation. Beyond that time, treatment does not work usually.

Optic Neuritis

The optic nerve is inflamed due to various causes. It presents with a dull aching pain in the eye, blurring of vision, with alteration in colour and contrast perceptions.

This requires admission and detailed evaluation and management.

Retinal detachment

The retina detaches from the underlying retinal pigment epithelium causing sudden, painless loss of vision usually preceded by flashes and floaters. More common in Myopes, post blunt injury or post ocular surgery. It requires surgical repair, earlier the better for better visual recovery.