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Corneal Abrasions: First Aid

In our eye, in front of the eyeball there is one transparent and clear layer called cornea. If anything say some foreign bodies fall into the eyes it causes irritation to this thin and transparent film, cornea. Eye injuries most commonly include the corneal abrasions and scratches. Corneal abrasions if left untreated may turn out into the infectious corneal ulcer.

Sometimes our own fingers or someone else’s can get into our eyes thus causing eye injury if finger nail damages the cornea. Corneal abrasions may also result from the chemical injury to the eyes. Even the sports may at times be responsible for the eye injuries such as the corneal abrasions.

If you have corneal abrasion, your eyes will get red especially at the sclero-corneal junction, excessive lacrimation or tearing will occur, irritation and a sensation of something pricking the eyes is common; it may be followed by pain.

If you feel that some foreign body is there in your eyes and is causing irritation, you can wash your eyes with water to remove off the foreign body.

You can either pour a stream of water on the open eye while your head is tilted on one side or you can dip your open eye into the glassful of water in a broad container; blink your eyes many time to get rid off the foreign substance.

There are few immediate first aid measures which you can follow when you get corneal abrasions:

Firstly rinse your eyes with the saline solution or the clean water. Rinsing the eyes as mentioned earlier several times with water may help to remove the foreign body.

Blink your eyes several times to facilitate the removal of the foreign substance, if any.

Never attempt to put any instrument or any other thing to remove the foreign object. This may further deteriorate the condition.

Avoid rubbing your eyes following any type of injury to the eyes.

Seek medical assistance if the foreign body has deeply embedded in the eye and is difficult to remove by any of the above measures.

Disclaimer
This site provides you with the general guidelines and information regarding the first aid measures for the various conditions or health related problems. It is not a substitute for the medical advice or the formal first aid training. It will not be responsible or liable in case one tries to make diagnosis based on the provided information. You always need to consult the doctor and emergency department in case of all the serious emergencies rather than just relying upon the supposed guidelines.