subject: First Aid for Eyes [print this page] First Aid for Eyes First Aid for Eyes
There are a variety of common causes of eye injuries including chemical exposure from household products, corneal abrasions caused by scratches, Injury by impact, cuts on the surrounding eye membrane, foreign objects in the eye and most serious of all, deep injuries by which the eyeball is pierced.
It is very common and easy for people to experience an injury to their eye whilst playing sports, especially ball games. A ball hurtling towards your face and hitting you in the eye at a high speed is certainly very painful and likely to cause blunt injuries. This can then lead to bleeding of the eye, or even a fractured bone. Blunt injuries can also be caused by sports equipment and physical contact with other team members. Sports players also experience corneal abrasions which are irritating, painful and can make one very sensitive to the light.
Eye injuries can be prevented by wearing protective glasses whilst playing sports. Ordinary glasses lenses can be harmful as they might shatter causing deep injury to the eye, so the lenses used whilst playing sports must be polycarbonate lenses. It is especially important that children should wear protective glasses whilst playing sports, as children can find it difficult to judge distances and often experience poor spatial awareness and co ordination.
Fortunately, many minor eye injuries can be treated at home by flushing the eye with lukewarm water. By doing this flushing, it will remove any small grit or dust in the eye. Also if there is a minor corneal abrasion, it will often heal itself but it is important to rest the eye. However if the injury is more drastic you must seek medical attention. The sooner the injured person is treated the better as eye injuries can also sadly lead to inevitably blindness in serious cases.
