Eye facts! 👀
Eye injuries are very common at the start of the new year, as people are changing their routines. A corneal abrasion (scratched cornea or scratched eye) is one of the most common eye injuries.
Did you know a corneal scratch can heal in only 48 hours, making the eye one of the fastest healing organs in the body?
That amazing tidbit aside, here’s what you should do when you scratch your eye:
• Avoid rubbing your eyes – that can make the scratch worse.
• Rinse your eye with a sterile saline eye wash or a multipurpose contact lens solution. Try to avoid rinsing with tap water or bottled water, as they can contain pathogens that can cause a serious, vision-threatening infection if introduced to an eye with a scratched cornea.
• Don’t patch the eye, since this can speed bacterial growth and increase the risk of an eye infection.
• Stick to glasses, rather than contacts. Contact lenses can increase risk of an infection developing under the lens.
• After flushing the eye, if redness, pain or foreign body sensation continues, seek immediate medical attention because corneal abrasions can cause serious harm within hours.