A corneal abrasion essentially means your cornea has been superficially scratched. Your cornea is that clear dome covering the front of your eye. Cornea function is to protect your eye and focus light for vision.
A corneal abrasion is caused by something coarse getting into your eye. The mere contact of something abrasive with your cornea or your attempt to rub it out can cause a scratch. A few of the common instances for causing an abrasion are:
- paper edge
- contact lenses
- dust, dirt, sand
- chronic dry eyes
- plant matter, insects
- blepharitis, trichiasis
- wood, metal shavings
- toy, fingernail scratch
For some, their outer cornea layer is so weak that a corneal abrasion can occur for what seems like no apparent reason.
Because your cornea is extremely sensitive a corneal abrasion usually causes eye pain. Once scratched, your eye may feel like there’s something still in it, so you’ll may try to rub it out. Other cornea scratch symptoms involve:
- red eye
- headache
- blurred vision
- light sensitivity
- excessive tearing
- repetitive blinking
- holding your eye shut
These symptoms of corneal abrasion can mimic those of other eye related conditions.
Corneal abrasion treatment begins by flushing your eye with water or saline solution. If this treatment fails, try pulling your upper eyelid over your lower because your eyelashes can brush stuff out from under your upper eyelid. Also, blinking can help remove small particles.
Never try to remove an embedded object nor one that’s so large that closing your eye causes extreme pain. In this instance, corneal abrasion treatment will require assistance from a health care professional for removal ASAP. Additionally, you may be given an antibiotic ointment to prevent a bacterial eye infection and topical NSAIDs may be used to lessen your eye inflammation and relieve pain.
Should your corneal abrasion become infected it can cause a corneal ulcer, which is a serious eye problem. And corneal abrasions caused by plant matter can cause iritis, an inflammation inside your eye.
Minor corneal abrasions take about 2 to 3 days to heal. And if you wear contact lenses, you may want to forgo wearing them for a couple of days while your scratch heals.
If you work or participate in a sport for which the risk of something getting in your eye is high, then go ahead and wear eye protection because eyesight loss is a possible, yet extremely rare, complication.