Scratched Eye....what do i do???

I'm sorry that you scratched your eye, Nikki. Hope you feel better.

I badly scratched my cornea a few weeks ago. It didn't really hurt but it was irritating and it felt like something was in my eye that I couldn't get out. The doctor gave me some drops to use and within a week my eye was completely healed. The good news is that the scratches heal pretty fast.

Bryan

Hi, Nikki, don't want to sound alarmist here, but eye injuries (untreated) can lead to serious complications--which I know you do not want!!

I think you need to see an opthalmologist as soon as possible--you will probably need antibiotic drops to make sure your eye heals properly. It sucks that you can't reach a doctor over the weekend--seems like that's when all the injuries happen anyway, doesn't it?! At least they could have somebody "on call"!!!

I have chronic dry eye too and it's no fun!! Plus my vision is lousy--it's about 20/200 (probably worse now!) without correction, and now with increasing age I'm starting to have trouble reading too! ARRGGHHHH!!! So I'm nearsighted, farsighted, I have Chronic Dry Eye--oh, and a mild case of astigmatism too!!! (Other than that my eyes are perfect LOL!)

I'm surprised you can wear contact lenses with Chronic Dry Eye!! I've tried contacts a couple of times and they kept falling OUT--I thought I was just being stupid or something but my ophthalmologist said no, it was because my eyes are so dry, basically there's nothing for the contacts to adhere to--and he said due to my dry eyes I shouldn't wear contacts anyway, since they could scratch my eyes easily.

I hope your eye is better soon!

as a fellow contact lens wearer who used to have horrendous times with scratches, let me suggest that you make a makeshift eye patch and wear it. Your eye cannot heal properly if you continue to use it. I did this on my last scratch (and bc my dr kept at me with every scratch to do this) and within a couple of days it was back to normal. I did however wear my left contact so I could drive and halfway function at work. My glasses are like yours not good enough even though I got them at the same time i got my contacts. really odd.

Make you a eye patch out of a 2x2 sterile gauze and some bandage tape and wear it unless you are sleeping. It really will help. (or you can buy a eye patch with adhesive or without)

good luck and i hope your eye feels better soon

"he was like "well...i'spouse you'd be able to put some of them there over the counter drops in um till you can get to your oooopthamalogerist"

I'm sorry but that made me laugh out loud! Not at your situation of course, but I can't imagine calling someone who's supposed to be educated - and is in charge of people's health - who doesn't even know how to pronounce opthamologist... It's just that when I read it I could hear you saying it in an exaggerated redneck voice, and it made me giggle

about your eye - I've never had an eye scratch *knock on wood*. With the health plan that I have, there is an advice nurse on call 24-7, so if you have any kind of medical problem or question at some ungodly hour, you can call and get advice on what to do til you can get to the doctor, or if you should go to the ER.. yours doesn't have anything like that?

I agree you should get to a doctor as soon as you can (I know you can't now cos it's the weekend). I'm glad it's feeling a bit better though, I hope it continues to improve <3

How is your eye today Nikki?

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

How is your eye today Nikki?

Click to expand...

It's been irritating the devil out of me all day. Both are really dry (from the cronic dry eye)....so i've been putting the eye gel and drops in them. The one that's scratched is feeling a little better. I still can't see a darn thing out of my glasses though- so i might try to get into the doctor this week instead of the 22nd. I'm not going to put my contacts in again until I talk to him- I don't want to risk getting an infection or hurting my eyes....but I honestly can't see out of my glasses well at all Ah joy! I think the scratch is getting better though, so that's good I'm going to call this week and see if i can get in at all.

Originally Posted by arcadian girl

"he was like "well...i'spouse you'd be able to put some of them there over the counter drops in um till you can get to your oooopthamalogerist"

I'm sorry but that made me laugh out loud! Not at your situation of course, but I can't imagine calling someone who's supposed to be educated - and is in charge of people's health - who doesn't even know how to pronounce opthamologist... It's just that when I read it I could hear you saying it in an exaggerated redneck voice, and it made me giggle

about your eye - I've never had an eye scratch *knock on wood*. With the health plan that I have, there is an advice nurse on call 24-7, so if you have any kind of medical problem or question at some ungodly hour, you can call and get advice on what to do til you can get to the doctor, or if you should go to the ER.. yours doesn't have anything like that?

I agree you should get to a doctor as soon as you can (I know you can't now cos it's the weekend). I'm glad it's feeling a bit better though, I hope it continues to improve <3

Click to expand...

Yeah, the guy is a total jerk. I've had to call him before to ask him a question about one of my meds...and he was absolutely no help then eithor...I don't see how people like that make it through college with their medical degree? / My insurance is Blue Cross/ Blue Shield the federal plan...i'm not sure if there's anything like that on the plan, but i'm definitely going to look into it for future reference.Thanks for the idea!

Originally Posted by amitya

as a fellow contact lens wearer who used to have horrendous times with scratches, let me suggest that you make a makeshift eye patch and wear it. Your eye cannot heal properly if you continue to use it. I did this on my last scratch (and bc my dr kept at me with every scratch to do this) and within a couple of days it was back to normal. I did however wear my left contact so I could drive and halfway function at work. My glasses are like yours not good enough even though I got them at the same time i got my contacts. really odd.

Make you a eye patch out of a 2x2 sterile gauze and some bandage tape and wear it unless you are sleeping. It really will help. (or you can buy a eye patch with adhesive or without)

good luck and i hope your eye feels better soon

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!My mom has quite a few eye patches left over from when she had her catarac (sp?) surgery back in June, so if i need to, I can borrow one of her's (a clean, new one of course) / I got my glasses and contacts at the same time also- and both wound up different...i've had that happen before- my doctor said that the glasses are supposedly stronger...but i can see better out of my contacts, yet can bairly see at all out of my glasses. I might get a second opinion if he can't give me a prescription i can see out of soon. This has happened the last few times i've seen him.

Originally Posted by QueenofEgypt

Hi, Nikki, don't want to sound alarmist here, but eye injuries (untreated) can lead to serious complications--which I know you do not want!!

I think you need to see an opthalmologist as soon as possible--you will probably need antibiotic drops to make sure your eye heals properly. It sucks that you can't reach a doctor over the weekend--seems like that's when all the injuries happen anyway, doesn't it?! At least they could have somebody "on call"!!!

I have chronic dry eye too and it's no fun!! Plus my vision is lousy--it's about 20/200 (probably worse now!) without correction, and now with increasing age

I'm starting to have trouble reading too! ARRGGHHHH!!! So I'm nearsighted, farsighted, I have Chronic Dry Eye--oh, and a mild case of astigmatism too!!!

(Other than that my eyes are perfect LOL!)

I'm surprised you can wear contact lenses with Chronic Dry Eye!! I've tried contacts a couple of times and they kept falling OUT--I thought I was just being stupid or something

but my ophthalmologist said no, it was because my eyes are so dry, basically there's nothing for the contacts to adhere to--and he said due to my dry eyes I shouldn't wear contacts anyway, since they could scratch my eyes easily.

I hope your eye is better soon!

Click to expand...

Thankyou for your ideas. I'm definitely going to try to get into the eye doctor this week. I would have gone over the weekend, but was unable to get ahold of any of my doctors. Until then, i'm keeping my eyes moist with the drops and keeping my hands extremly clean and trying to keep them away from my face. I'm also not wearing any contacts at the moment. / Are you sure you're not my long lost twin?? We have the same identical eye problems - I have cronic dry eye, nearsightedness, a little bit of farsightedness, and astigmatism as well. / The only contacts I can wear are the Acuvue One a days...they're sooooooo uncomfortable. I can't wear the more breathable ones though, because most of them are made out of silicone- and i'm super allergic to the stuff...so i have to stick to those. I usually alternate between glasses and contacts because my eyes dry out really quickly. Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm going to try and get into the eye doctor as soon as i am able to.

Originally Posted by Essayons89

I'm sorry that you scratched your eye, Nikki. Hope you feel better.

I badly scratched my cornea a few weeks ago. It didn't really hurt but it was irritating and it felt like something was in my eye that I couldn't get out. The doctor gave me some drops to use and within a week my eye was completely healed. The good news is that the scratches heal pretty fast.

Bryan

Click to expand...

Thanks Bryan. I'm glad to hear your eye healed up quickly I hope mine does as well- it's not as scratchy as it was the other day (it constantly felt like there was an eyelash in it)......so maybe it's healing? I'm going to try and get in to see my eye doctor sometime this week to see what he says and if i need any eye drops for it

Well, thankfully, i was finally able to get ahold of my eye doctors office to make an appointment. I'm going at 10:15 tomorrow morning for him to check my scratched eye. I think it's healing- it feels a little better today, so that's a good thing

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Thanks Bryan. I'm glad to hear your eye healed up quickly I hope mine does as well- it's not as scratchy as it was the other day (it constantly felt like there was an eyelash in it)......so maybe it's healing? I'm going to try and get in to see my eye doctor sometime this week to see what he says and if i need any eye drops for it

Click to expand...

Thanks, Nikki and you're welcome. If you just scratched the cornea it sounds to me like it's healing up. My eye was itchy for a few days and I wanted to rub it but, as difficult as it is, try not to do that as it can make the scratch worse. I was given some antibiotic eyedrops. That's good news that you are going to see a doctor tomorrow, let us know what he/she says.

I injured my eye on a friday as I was getting out of bed. There must have been something in my eye that caused the scratch as I rubbed my eye (such as a dust particle as an example). I went to the doc from work because I couldn't flush out whatever was in my eye. After the doc was finished she told me to take off the rest of the night but I went back in a finished out my shift anyway since I was already out by work anyway. My boss told me to take sunday off if I wanted to. I had a Bengals game to go to so that worked out well. Anyway, by tuesday or wednesday my cornea was completely healed. Sorry for rambling.

Good luck tomorrow!

Bryan

Nikki I'm so glad your eye is starting to heal. You have been given some great advice already and I know you'll be doing everything you can to get back to normal. Just wanted to add my $0.02

I scratched my cornea once many moons ago, and it felt exactly as you described - like there was something in there I just couldn't rinse out, no matter how hard I tried. I went to an optometrist in our town that day and he discovered the scratch, and the source (I had a small thread from a washcloth in my eye!)

He told me (and I have since seen documentation of it elsewhere) that the cornea is THE FASTEST-HEALING tissue in the human body. If you can just rest your eye, which I did with a patch and a day off of school, it can regenerate itself in as little as 48 hours!!

Here's hoping you get an all-clear from your optho' tomorrow and you're right as rain!!

Originally Posted by Essayons89

Thanks, Nikki and you're welcome. If you just scratched the cornea it sounds to me like it's healing up. My eye was itchy for a few days and I wanted to rub it but, as difficult as it is, try not to do that as it can make the scratch worse. I was given some antibiotic eyedrops. That's good news that you are going to see a doctor tomorrow, let us know what he/she says.

I injured my eye on a friday as I was getting out of bed. There must have been something in my eye that caused the scratch as I rubbed my eye (such as a dust particle as an example). I went to the doc from work because I couldn't flush out whatever was in my eye. After the doc was finished she told me to take off the rest of the night but I went back in a finished out my shift anyway since I was already out by work anyway. My boss told me to take sunday off if I wanted to. I had a Bengals game to go to so that worked out well.

Anyway, by tuesday or wednesday my cornea was completely healed. Sorry for rambling.

Good luck tomorrow!

Bryan

Click to expand...

hehe, duh! a ballgame will always make you feel better! hey, i'd miss work for that too as soon as i see my doctor tomorrow, i will update i think it's healing so that's good. my cronic dry eye is acting up REALLLLLLLY bad in both eyes though...so we'll see what he says about that. He gave me a prescription for drops a while back, but they were too $$$ so i never got them. I might just have to after all.

Originally Posted by RicaLynn

Nikki I'm so glad your eye is starting to heal. You have been given some great advice already and I know you'll be doing everything you can to get back to normal. Just wanted to add my $0.02

I scratched my cornea once many moons ago, and it felt exactly as you described - like there was something in there I just couldn't rinse out, no matter how hard I tried. I went to an optometrist in our town that day and he discovered the scratch, and the source (I had a small thread from a washcloth in my eye!)

He told me (and I have since seen documentation of it elsewhere) that the cornea is THE FASTEST-HEALING tissue in the human body. If you can just rest your eye, which I did with a patch and a day off of school, it can regenerate itself in as little as 48 hours!!

Here's hoping you get an all-clear from your optho' tomorrow and you're right as rain!!

Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear the Cornea heals quickly. The cool thing is - i just really intensely studied the human eye in my psych ii class about a month ago- so i know exactly where everything is and what's going on- it's kinda creepy/ but neat I'd never wanna be an eye doctor As soon as I find out what the doctor says tomorrow, i'll update. (oh, and in a sidenote, i just saw your countdown...i had no idea you were pg? when did i miss that announcement congradualtions sweetie! do you know what you're having yet?)

Well, i have some good news I was able to see my eye doctor today, and he said the scratch is all healed up So that's great. My vision has changed significantly though (it just keeps getting worse and worse ) My right eye is a -4.75 and my left eye is a -5.00. I'm trying out some new contacts at the moment, so we'll see how they work. I have to go back on Friday for another checkup with him. Thanks for the vibes everyone! They helped a lot