Eye Trauma Or Eye Injury And Its Types

Hello friends!

I am Dr. Harshavardhan Ghorpade . I am a cataract cornea and reflector surgeon. Today I am going to speak to you about a very common occurrence in everyday life that is eye trauma or eye injuries. There are three type of eye injuries, one it could be a small foreign body or a large foreign body, second it could be a chemical injury and third it could be a mechanical injury. Now talking about foreign bodies, they can happen anywhere while playing, while working specially or while travelling, specially while doing work. We see many people coming with foreign bodies which have small dust particles or metal particles or wood particles and they are left inside for a long time. The main thing to do in this is to show the doctor immediately. Why? Because of the foreign bodies stays there for a long time, it can lead to devastating eye infections leading to permanent blindness.

How does that happen? The foreign bodies stay on the black part of the eye that is a cornea, sends in germs into the eyes which ultimately affect the vision. So go to the doctor, get it removed and take proper antibiotic eye drops for the prescribed period of time and then things should be fine. The second thing I would suggest is to have the good protection of the eyes while dealing with such work or while travelling. So that includes special eyegear that are prescribed by the company or the doctors. The second type of injuries are chemical injuries. They can happen anywhere specially in the laboratories or in factories or even while playing diwali or holi games we can have fire crackers or the colours from holi which can lead to chemical injuries. They can also happen in the house while you are dealing with liquids like harpic or any other fluid that is used to clean the toilets or homes or detergents. So the best thing to do that you can do in such a case is to give a thorough eyewash.

An eyewash is the most important thing that anyone can do before even coming to the doctor. Remember the water has to be absolutely clean while doing such a thing and the eyewash may have to be given for almost ten to fifteen minutes. Just a two or three minute eyewash may not be enough and even then there could be particles of the chemical that can stay inside for a long time and that have to be removed by the doctor. So go to the eye doctor immediately and the doctor will immediately have a look at you, remove the foreign particles, give you further eyewash and give the prescribed medications. However if the injury is very severe for example acid or alkali burns in factories or in laboratories, then sometimes an immediate surgery is also required to cover the bare areas which have got injured, otherwise it can lead to infections or even damage to the eye permanently.

The most important thing again that I would suggest is to use protective eyegear while doing such things for example while playing holi or diwali you can use a plastic goggle, while working in the laboratory or factory you should use the prescribed glasses or frames that are given by the company doctors and while travelling you can use eyegear to protect your eyes. It makes the use difference definitely. The last type of injuries are mechanical injuries. They could be of two types, blunt injuries caused by say for a example a tennis or a cricket ball and penetrating injuries caused by a nail, a knife or even a pencil or e pen refill. I have seen such cases many times. So what happens to you, what do you do? You definitely don’t have to give an eyewash in this case because the water can enter the eye through the wound and cause further problems. So the best thing is to cover the eye with a eyepad or a eyepatch or a eyeshield which is available in any pharmacy and then rush to the doctor. Do not strain or caught any kind of pressure to the eye because the contents of the eye can come out. When you will go to the doctor they will examine you and decide whether it needs medical treatment if the injury is superficial but if it is deep, it will need surgery definitely because the surgery can close the wounds, put the parts of the eyes back into their place and also avoid infection because they give antibiotics through injections or tablets. Once that is done a thorough follow up is required because injuries can cause further complications in the long run that could be cataract, glaucoma or retinal problems. So the regular follow up to the doctor is a must. So that’s all about injuries in short and I hope you take the requisite precautions to protect your eyes all the time and remember to approach the doctor as early as possible. Any delay from your side can lead to devastating eye blinding complications. Thank you very much. Stay healthy. Stay fit. And if you want to contact me or know more about me please visit lybrate.com.

Thank you.