FAMILY MEDICINE® COLUMN
By John C. Wolf, D.O.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
CORNEAL ABRASION IS PAINFUL EYE INJURY, USUALLY HEALS QUICKLY
Question: While clearing brush from the back of
my property I had the unpleasant experience of having something scratch my eye.
My friend, who was working with me, took me to the emergency room. The doctor
there told me I had a corneal abrasion. All I know is that it really, really
hurt -- but only for a day or two. Are corneal abrasions very common?
Answer: First, I need to take a moment to explain
the terms “cornea” and “abrasion” for the rest of the readers
of my column. The cornea is the transparent outer layer of the eye through which
we look. Though transparent, it has many nerve endings that make a small speck
of dust in your eye feel like a boulder. In everyday language, an abrasion would
be referred to as simply a scrape or scratch. So a corneal abrasion is a scratch
on the clear portion of the eye.
Your description of substantial pain and prompt recovery are, fortunately, the
norm for those experiencing corneal abrasion. After a careful eye exam the doctor
usually prescribes an antibiotic eye drop and places a patch over the eye. The
patch is used to reduce rubbing of the abrasion by the eyelid as it opens and
closes. This decreases pain and promotes quick healing.
More than 100,000 people suffer eye injuries every year, according to the American
Academy of Ophthalmology. Corneal abrasion is the most common of these injuries.
Forty percent of all eye injuries take place in the home, so your story can
be considered typical. Other common places where you are likely to sustain eye
injuries are at work and while playing sports. Each of these accounts for another
13 percent of the eye-injury total
Most sports-related eye injuries involve collision with a piece of sports apparatus
such as a ball or stick, or collision with an opponent’s elbow. Male athletes
have this type of injury twice as often as their female counterparts. The danger
of eye injuries in sports is borne out in a statistic related to severity rather
than just frequency. This alarming statistic reveals that more than 41,000 individuals
have a blinding sports-related injury each year!
Most work-related injuries involve a foreign body flying into the eye. As you
might guess, 95 percent of on-the-job eye injuries occur to those in the construction
trades.
Getting a speck of dirt in the eye is a common eye injury. If -- or perhaps
it would be more accurate to say when -- this happens to you, it is important
that you NEVER try to remove it by rubbing your eye. Rubbing is likely to cause
a corneal abrasion. Instead, the only “at-home” treatment that you
should try is to flush the eye with water. You can pour water from a pitcher
or stand under the shower. Keep this up until the foreign body is gone or 15
minutes have lapsed. A trip to the eye doctor or emergency department is called
for if the eye doesn’t feel OK shortly afterwards.
The good news is that 90 percent of all eye injuries are preventable. The best
preventive measure is to wear protective eyewear every time you are at risk
for eye injury. This includes every time you play sports, when you mow grass,
when you use power tools, and also when you use spray cans of paint, pesticides
or other pressurized chemicals that don’t belong in your eyes. I know that
wearing protective eyewear seems like a hassle now and that fashionable versions
aren’t always available. Once you are blind, however, there is no way to
restore your sight.
"Family Medicine" is a weekly column. To submit questions, write to John C. Wolf, D.O., Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, P.O. Box 110, Athens, Ohio 45701. Past columns are available online at