Most patients develop a scratch on their eye due to mechanical injury, like poking their eye. You can also get corneal abrasion when dirt or sand gets trapped under your eyelid. The significance of medical intervention to treat a scratched cornea is to eliminate the discomfort associated with the condition. Patients with Buffalo Grove corneal abrasion may experience stinging and burning when they open their eyes because the eye becomes extremely sensitive to light.
Eye anatomy
Your iris has a clear protective layer over it called the cornea. The cornea is one of the components making up the fibrous outer coat of the eye. This dome-shaped elevation is an avascular structure, meaning it has no blood vessels but many blood vessels, making it extremely sensitive to light and touch.
The cornea’s main function is to protect the eye’s inner structures from bacteria and subsequent infections. The cornea is made up of the following five layers:
- The corneal epithelium
- Anterior limiting lamina (Bowman’s layer)
- Substantia propria, also known as stroma
- Posterior limiting lamina (Descemet’s membrane)
- Endothelium arranged anteroposteriorly
Your doctor will perform a comprehensive eye exam to determine the affected corneal layer and develop a suitable treatment to eliminate discomfort and light sensitivity.
The reason you have a scratched cornea
One of the main reasons patients develop corneal abrasion is after mechanical injury. For example, you may get a scratch on your eye after poking your eye with a fingernail or pen. Entry of foreign matter under your eyelid may also scratch the protective layer of your eye. It is critical to avoid rubbing your eye too hard because this puts the cornea in jeopardy of damage. Specific types of eye infections could affect your cornea, causing discomfort and extreme sensitivity to light.
Most patients do not experience symptoms right away. However, the speed of symptoms presentation will depend on the cause of your corneal abrasion. Emergency intervention for a scratched cornea is significant to prevent adversities like vision loss. Collaborating with a certified optician who will conduct relevant eye exams to determine the cause of your concerns and thus develop necessary corneal abrasion treatment to restore eye function is important.
Can you prevent corneal abrasion?
Eye specialists do not recommend rubbing your eye when something gets trapped under your eyelid. Instead, it would help if you tried blinking severally, pulling your upper eyelid over your lower eyelid, or rinsing your eye with water or sterile saline solution. Seeking emergency eye care for your scratched cornea will also improve clinical efficacies.
The best treatment for corneal abrasion
The best treatment for your corneal abrasion will depend on the cause of your concerns. Typical treatment for a scratched cornea will involve an eye specialist examining your eye for any trapped substances and using clean water or a saline solution to flush your eye. You may receive antibiotic eye drops or an ointment prescription from your doctor to minimize the risk of an eye infection. Contact Eye Q Optique if you have something trapped under your eyelid to receive appropriate guidelines to eliminate your concerns and schedule an eye exam to detect and address any subsequent corneal abrasion.
