Do not rub your eye while it is healing. Rubbing can slow down healing, or even make the problem worse. Avoid wearing your usual contact lenses while your eye is healing.
A corneal abrasion (also called scratched eye or scratched cornea) is an eye injury that causes significant discomfort, photophobia, and erythema. This occurs when there is a disruption of the corneal epithelium caused by contact lens or foreign bodies trauma, or spontaneously.
Fortunately, smaller corneal abrasions usually heal quite quickly-often within 24 hours-or during sleep. Larger corneal abrasions make take 2 or 3 days to fully heal.
Several conditions can lead to the corneal healing process failing, forming persistent epithelial defects (PED) and possibly underlying ulceration. Neurotrophic keratitis (NK), for example, compromises corneal healing by reducing nerve function.
Rubbing can worsen the scrape or scratch on your eye. Don't attempt to remove the foreign object from your eye using your fingers or any other objects, as this can cause the problem to get worse.
Healing time depends on the size of the corneal abrasion. Most abrasions heal in two to three days, while larger abrasions that involve more than one half of the surface area of the cornea may take four to five days.
Signs of a Corneal Abrasion
Serious eye pain, especially after an injury or feeling debris enter the eye. Photophobia (pain caused by bright or even mild light). Heavy tearing. Foreign body sensation (the feeling of something on the eye when you blink or move your eye).
Most corneal abrasions heal within 1 to 3 days. Your eye doctor will likely see you 24 to 48 hours after your initial visit to make sure your cornea is healed. Your vision can be blurry until your abrasion heals completely. But your vision should go back to normal once your cornea has recovered.
The process of corneal epithelial wound healing can be divided into phases that occur in sequence, but may overlap in time. They are the latent or lag phase, migration, proliferation and epithelial reattachment.
Main symptoms of a corneal abrasion are redness, tearing, and severe eye pain. It may be hard to keep the eye open or look at light. It may feel as if something is in the eye. Blinking makes the pain worse.
Firmly close your eyes and avoid letting water hit your face in the shower. If you can go to a salon where they can tilt your head back to protect anything from getting in your eyes, then it may be a good alternative. You can resume normal showers after the ulcer is healed.
“Keeping the eye closed as much as possible in the first day or two after the injury can help with the pain,” says Dr. Chow. In some cases, the ophthalmologist will put an antibiotic or anti-inflammatory ointment into the eye and then use a patch to keep the eye closed.
Don't try to remove an object that is embedded in your eye or makes your eye difficult to close. Don't rub your eye after an injury. Don't touch your eye with cotton swabs, tweezers or other instruments. If you use contact lenses, don't wear them while your eye is healing.
Corneal abrasions are quite common, and most people who go to the ER with eye injuries do so as a result of this injury. Signs that you need to go to the ER include severe eye pain, extreme tearing as well as having problems with your vision.
Seek emergency care if: There is pain, a change in vision, or your eye is more sensitive to light after a scratch or trauma to the eyeball. There is a foreign object lodged in the eye or eyelid or under the eyelid. There is loss of vision.
Do not drive or operate machinery while your eye is injured, and be careful using stairs. Your ability to judge distances is likely to be impaired. Use paracetamol or ibuprofen as needed for pain.
It may take several weeks for all the blurriness to resolve. It is important to not rub the eyes during the healing phase. The new cells have poor connections to the underlying tissue and can easily be rubbed off. When this occurs, the pain returns and repatching is necessary.
If the corneal abrasion is minor, most people will feel better in 24 to 48 hours. The cells in that part of the eye reproduce very quickly. Larger scrapes may take longer to heal. If your eye isn't feeling better after 24 hours, you should contact your optometrist or ophthalmologist.
After they are healed, corneal abrasions do not result in scars or permanent changes to vision. However, it is possible that the new skin covering the scratch does not stick down to the cornea as tightly as it should. If this occurs, the skin can be more easily disrupted, and the original symptoms can recur.
Management of Small Corneal Abrasions
Ice compresses should be used for 24-48 hours to reduce edema. Warm compresses can be used thereafter.
Most corneal abrasions heal in a day or two. Larger abrasions will take longer. If your symptoms last longer than that, see your healthcare provider again because you may have a more serious problem.
The cornea is very sensitive, so a corneal abrasion is usually quite painful. You may feel like you have sand or grit in your eye. You may notice tears or blurred vision, or your eye may look red. You may also notice that light hurts your eye.
While the pain may feel dramatic, you may not actually see anything in your eye when you look at it in the mirror. It may take a professional to locate the abrasion or to locate the item that made its way into your eye.