Scratched Your Cornea? Here's What To Expect In Terms Of Treatment

Did you have something in your eye, and now suddenly you're experiencing a lot of tearing, pain, and eye redness? Chances are, you scratched your cornea – the clear, outer covering of your eye. While this sounds serious at first, corneal scratches are quite common. Call your eye doctor as soon as possible so you can be properly diagnosed and treated. If you are, indeed, found to have a scratched cornea, here's what you can expect in terms of treatment.

Patching

Your scratched eye will be very sensitive to light in the days following the incident. To prevent irritation, your eye doctor will likely recommend that you wear an eye patch during the daytime for at least a few days. Usually, you will be able to take this patch off when you go to sleep at night or when you're in a dark room.

Antibiotics

The biggest concern with a scratched cornea is that it might become infected. To prevent this, you will be given antibiotic eye drops, which you'll have to put into your eye every few hours. Make sure you use your eye drops for as long as recommended, even if your symptoms disappear. If your eye abrasion is very serious, you have a history of infections, or your eye doctor has reason to believe an infection may already be setting in, you may also be prescribed oral antibiotics to take.

Hyperosmotic Treatment

In most cases, your eye doctor will give you a second set of eye drops called a hyperostmotic solution. Essentially a salt solution, this treatment will help lubricate your eye tissues, making it easier for your scratch to heal and also preventing some of the irritation you're experiencing. Likely, you will be told to continue using these eye drops for several weeks – even after your symptoms are gone – as it helps the eye fill in the last hints of microdamage properly so you're not more prone to another scratch in the future.

Taking Precautions

When you recover from your corneal abrasion, you'll need to be very careful not to introduce any irritating substances to your eye. This will mean avoiding eye makeup until you're completely healed. You'll want to keep any face washes and shampoos away from your eye, too. If you regularly wear contacts, you'll need to switch to glasses for a while.

Scratching your cornea can be painful and scary. However, if you seek treatment promptly, the recovery process should be rather straight forward and simple.

To learn more, contact a company like Webster Eye Care. 

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