Scratched Cornea,

[AnSionnachGlic]

Yesterday I was weeding the garden when I jammed my eye into a tall, spikey plant. The pain was excruciating...I almost got sick, and my eye was streaming. When trying to read, I had blurred vision and headache ( have had previous laser treatment for Myopia). Today my eye is still really painful but vision is OK. The eye looked OK but I called into a local opticians for advice on drops. They examined my eye and I have perforated the top 3 layers of my cornea. She prescribed antibiotic drops and an ointment for night time. However, this evening the pain is still terrible and I've sensitivity to light. The optician did not give a return appointment but would it warrant a further referral to the hospital or does it normally take many days to settle down?

Part time tree surgeon here. I have done this many times. It takes about 3 days to calm down but before that it’s excruciating. So write your life off for a few days, lie down in a darkened room with a cool flannel over your eyes.

If the pain hasn't reduced by Friday go to your local eye clinic/A&E.

Go to a and e and get seen by an eye specialist. My DS had a similar accident and was seen by the emergency eye doctor and had follow up appointments at the eye clinic. It took about week for the pain to subside but he had reidual pain on and off for about 18 mnths afterwards, Don't take risks with your eye sight, get someone who knows what they are talking about to examine you. A wet flannel may very well not be the recomended treatment, and certainly wouldn;t have done anything to help in my son's case.

I would definitely go to Eye A&E. I did this last year and it was the most painful thing I have been through. You can't be too careful.

Yes but remember that a lot of eye emergency care units will only accept you if you’ve had the issue less than 48hours. After that they might send you to an optician. So I wouldn’t wait.

I did something similar several years ago.

I ended up being under the care of the eye clinic at the hospital for 3.5 years. I wore a 0% contact lens 24/7 for a lot of that time.

15 years after the final hospital appointment, I can still have morning pain in the eye if I'm dehydrated and sleep on my back.

So please go to a+e if it still feels like your eye is being stabbed by needles tomorrow

That's a good point, make sure you phone your local clinic tomorrow for advice op, they will know best, good luck.

DH did this recently, he suffered the pain for a couple of days then went to an optician who ran an NHS emergency eye service (think it was Specsavers but we found it here https://primaryeyecare.co.uk/).

They confirmed it was scratched and said to go back if no improvement in a week, and gave drops/antibiotic cream. It was fine within the week (although hurt for far longer than expected!).

Thank you all for your replies. I did get seen by an optician today who said I had perforated the cornea...she showed me a picture of it! I'm just worried that she didn't suggest a follow-up...she is not my usual eye specialist ( he is in a hospital one hour away) but if I'd known it was perforated I'd have contacted him, not the local opticians. Not to drip feed but I'm concerned as I'm on bloodthinners so know these can slow down recovery. I'm sure the optician I saw, knows what she's doing but it still is really uncomfortable!

When my DC was young their finger nail accidently scratched my eye. I then had light sensitivity. It felt as though I needed to wear sunglasses all the time.

Eventually I saw an eye consultant privately as GP and optician were not taking me seriously. The optician's equipment couldn't pick up the issue.

The consultant advised I had recurrent corneal erosion and it would take a long time to heal. I was prescribed lacrilube, like soft vaseline which I had to apply twice daily for about a year. Eventually my eye went back to normal and I've not had any issue since.

If the light sensitivity is a new symptom, my advice to a Px would be head to our local hospital eye clinic. It’s not unexpected from a corneal injury, but my normal advice is ‘if you get new pain, light sensitivity or a drop in vision, or your current symptoms get any worse then head to A&E@ Eye Clinic’.

Because it’s your sight, I would go to eye A&E asap

An optician is the place to go not A&E - as A&E will tell you. A good optician will have far better equipment than A&E and opticians are qualified professionals specialising in eyes.

This is nonsense, opticians are not eye doctors, a and e will get you seen by an eye doctor, who will have all the relevant equipment and can diagnose and treat you. Opticians are great for testing what glasses you need, but OP is not looking for glasses, she has an eye injury. Any decent optician would refer you to an eye doctor for treatment.

Thank you all for your advice. Update: I was using the drops and ointment as prescribed from the optician but the pain and light sensitivity increased last night. I called my eye consultant ( who did my Laser surgery) in the hospital and they saw me as an emergency walk-in this morning. He did a detailed scan of the eye and confirmed the cornea had been penetrated with surrounding scratches ( from the leaf!). He ensured there was no fragments of leaf present and reassured me it was healing as expected. He said to continue with the drops/ ointment prescribed by the local optometrist but said it was better to get it checked out. I agree with posters who said you can't take chances with eyes but I had felt so stupid to get that injury while weeding the garden!!!! Thanks again

An optician is the best place to get a quick opinion and referral.

The cornea is brilliant at healing. But during this period be scrupulously clean. No pets, plants, gardening, dusty attics - your eye has lost its defences.

My husband did too, awful

I had a similar injury and was sent to eye A&E by the minor injuries unit.

Ouch! Been there, done that and it's excruciating. I keep my eyes well moisturised these days otherwise the afflicted one tends to dry out.