What is a corneal abrasion? FamilyDoctor.org defines it as a cut or scratch on the cornea. The cornea is the clear layer of tissue that protects and covers the iris, or colored portion of the eye. The cornea helps us focus light.
My teenager experienced a corneal abrasion when a friend of his accidentally shot a thick rubber band and it hit my son directly in the eye. About 20 minutes after this had happened, my son called me on the phone and explained this accident to me. He said his eye was tearing and stinging at first, and his friend’s mother had given him a cool rag with some ice to place over it. Even after several minutes sitting with the cool rag on his eye, it was still tearing and my son was becoming concerned because his vision was very blurry. For him to be concerned was what really worried me, because this is unlike my son. I told him he needed to come home right away and we would take a trip to the emergency room to have the eye examined. My son told me his friend’s mother would bring him home ASAP. I took my son straight to the emergency room after he arrived back home, and we spent that Friday night sitting in the exam room, waiting the wait of all emergency rooms that seems to take forever. When the doctor came in to examine him, she asked him his symptoms.
The main symptoms were blurred vision and sensitivity to light. The doctor then said she suspected he had a corneal abrasion, but she needed to examine his eye further to make sure it wasn’t anything more serious. She placed some yellowish looking dye in his eye and waited a few minutes. This dye allowed her to view the extent of the abrasion, and determine that it was not anything too serious. We were then given a prescription eye drop, and he was to stay out of bright light and wear sunglasses for the next few days to allow his eye to heal.
After a few days of administering the eye drops and wearing the sunglasses, his vision began to improve. The sensitivity to light subsided earlier than the blurred vision, which lasted for a few more days. My son was still able to attend school and go about his normal activities.
There are other, less dramatic ways than taking a rubber band to eye to get a corneal abrasion. Getting a foreign object in your eye, a dirty contact lens, a fingernail or just hard rubbing of the eye can result in a corneal abrasion. If you are having problems with your eye(s) and feel a gritty sensation or experience sensitivity to light, you should definitely have it checked out. Most corneal abrasions heal within a few days, and thankfully seem to leave no permanent damage. The general rule of thumb is this: Never neglect an eye injury, they’re the only two you’ve got!