CORNEAL ABBRASION?? contact lense wearer needs urgent advice!

[noonar]

i just rubbed my eye and dislodged my contact lense. whilst searching for it in the mirror, thinking it had slipped round the eye ball, i noticed that the surface of my eye ball just outside the iris wrinkles up like cling film when i touch it. i dont know if i caused this by trying to take out the lense but touched the actual eyeball too hard, iyswim. ny eye now feels like i have grit in it...

any advice? will it heal naturally, does anyone know?

I had one a few weeks ago when DD stuck her fingernail in my eye - only took a couple of days to heal completely.

Consultant at the hospital advised I take paracetamol, and that I could wear sunglasses if the light was hurting my eye (huge understatement) but he did give me some antibiotic ointment as an infection would have been pretty nasty.

Might be worth seeing the GP, although they referred me straight to A&E as they didn't have the dye needed to have a look at it first.

did your eyeball surface wrinkle?

I don't know - I didn't look too hard tbh - I am Not Good With Eyes!

The cornea is the fastest healing part of the body though, so it will mend really quickly.

Keep your lenses out for a little while. I'd leave it overnight and see how it is in the morning.

ok, thanks. maybe an optician will be along in a min cos i need to know if i can wear my lenses/ if i need to seek help.

Have you found the lens you dislodged?

The grittiness could be the dislodged lens or a scratched cornea.Corneal scratches hurt (alot!) but do heal quickly as Fisspaps says.You may need antibiotic eye drops to prevent infection (depending on if you have scratched the cornea fairly deeply) so you really need to get the eye checked by your optician.

The wrinkliness could be swelling of the conjunctiva (the clear covering of the white of the eye) where you have poked it.

Don't put another lens in and go into/ring your optician 1st thing tommorow to get them to check the eye.

What febblues said. And don't rub your eyes! Just to make anyone feel better, (or not) years ago I tore a disposable contact lens in my eye whilst removing it. I didn't know this at the time, as I just used to remove them and chuck in the bin. I felt a gritty feeling.
The optician couldn't find it in my eye.....so I thought - OK I obviously imagined the gritty feeling in my eye. 2 weeks later I decided to try my lenses again. That night when removing them, not only did that lense come out - the actual torn lense from 2 weeks previous came out stuck to it - it was pure white and had a jagged edge........

thanks guys. i found the dislodged lense stuck to the tap in the bathroom. it was intact. i wore my glasses all day yesterday but then wore my lenses in the eve as we went out and i feel self conscious in glasses. prob a bad move as my eye feels griity this morning... i wouldnt say it hurts, tho. however, i do have a vague memory of it hurting during the night. i was v drunk tho...

do you think i can just leave it to heal by itself and avoid lenses for a few days?? its just not practical to get to the optician...

You'd never forgive yourself if something happened to your eye and you could have prevented it just by going to see the Optician. I am actually the biggest scardy cat. I would still go.
Please take the time to go. You know the scary pictures on the wall of eye infections etc - they are there for a reason, to make sure you get checked out!
With love xx

thanks indigo. it still feels gritty so will try to go tomorrow. we have just moved to a village which has an optician, maybe they would have a quick look, even though theyre not my regular optician, which is miles away.

Please don't wear your lenses until you've been properly checked out.

I damaged my right eye a few years ago when removing a daily contact lense and have been left with a permanent injury which breaks down if I don't constantly 'nurse' it

I also had to have the wound debrided on two separate occasions and the subsequent pain was the worst I've ever experienced.

hi, i work for an opticians, in their contact lens department. is it hard, or soft ones that you wear?
I wouldn't wear them just incase, and get your eye checked before you comence wear again just to be careful.
It will more than likely heal by itself but if you have damaged the surface which it sounds like you have then you may need drops

Have had one of these corneal abrasions recently. Get it checked out, but I was given chloramphenicol OINTMENT (not drops) it coats the eye better four times a day. You can buy it over the counter. Took 2 or 3 days to resolve but keep your lenses out for while.

I'd go to A and E. Had something similar. Shouldn't be too busy on a Sunday evening??