Prevention

Prevention aims to avoid injury to the cornea or provide early treatment should an injury occur. If something scratches or penetrates one of your eyes, seek medical attention immediately.

To avoid injuring the cornea:

• Do not rub your eyes.
• Wear safety glasses or protective goggles when participating in sports, yard work, construction, or other activities that could injure your eyes. It is best to wear goggles that fully surround your eyes and touch your skin. Otherwise, foreign objects can still fly up under the glasses and into your eyes. This is especially important during work with any potentially high-velocity objects, such as hammering a nail or grinding metal.
• Wash your hands before handling your contact lenses. Clean and wear contact lenses as directed. Never sleep in your contact lenses unless approved by your eye doctor.

If something gets in your eye:

• Try to flush it out with water. Splash the water so it drains toward the side of your head, not toward your nose and other eye.
• Do not rub your eye.
• Call your doctor.

If an object strikes your eye at a fast pace, it can be a medical emergency and you should seek medical attention immediately. Furthermore, if a chemical splashes into your eyes, flush your eyes immediately and call 911.

Special Tip : If you do have eye pain or a foreign object, consider seeing an eye specialist immediately rather than going to the emergency room as many emergency rooms will need to refer you to an eye specialist anyway. However, if you have a severe injury or chemical splash, call 911 or go immediately to the nearest emergency room.