Foreign object in your eye enters the eye from outside the body. It can be a dust of particle or an object that does not belong there. An object enters your eye and affects the conjuctiva or cornea.
It can cause stratches or abrasions on your cornea. Some injuries are usually minor but sometimes other types of foreign objects may cause infection or damage to your vision.
Symptoms
You may experience the following:
– eye pain
– blinking excessively
– bloodshot or red eye
– a feeling that something is in your eye
– extreme tearing
Do’s
To avoid further injury to the eye. Do the following:
- Restrict eye movement
- Using a gauze or clean cloth, bandage the eye. If the object stuck, is too large, cover the eye instead with a paper cup.
- The uninjured eye should also be covered. This will prevent further eye movement in the affected eye.
Don’t’s
To avoid infection and the the possibility of further damaged to your vision. Take these precautions:
- Do not try to remove an object that’s in the eye.
- Do not put pressure or rub the eye.
- Do not use any utensils or other implements, such as cotton swabs or tweezers, on the surface of the eye.
For Foreign Object in Your Eye:
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
- Using an eyecup or a small drinking glass, try to flush the object out of your eye with a gentle stream of warm water. It should be positioned with its rim, at the base of your eye socket.
- Another way to remove a foreign object from your eye, is to aim a gentle stream of lukewarm water on your forehead over the affected eye, using the shower. Do this while holding your eyelid open.
To help someone else:
- Wash your hands with soap and water.
- Seat the person in a well-lighted area and examine the eye to find the object.
- Pull the lower lid down and ask the person to look up. While the person looks down, hold the upper lid. If the object stuck, is floating in the tear film on the surface of the eye, use a medicine dropper filled with warm water to flush it out. You can also use
a drinking glass, then tilt the head back and irrigate the surface of the eye with clean water.
Get Medical Help If:
- The object is embedded in the eye.
- You can’t remove the object
- You or the the person with the object in the eye is having abnormal vision.
- Redness, pain or the sensation of an object in the eye persists, even after the object is removed.