I think I've damaged my cornea. What should I do?

[Todayissunny]

I was gardening today and managed to let a leafy branch smack me in the eye. My eye is very painful and my vision is blurry. Bthink I've probably damaged the cornea. Should I just wait and see what happens or go to doctor tomorrow or a&e this evening?

A and E - if it is the cornea you’ll need various eye drops. You need a hospital with an eye clinic though- if you’re not sure ring 111 and they’ll tell you where to go.

I would go to A and E. Eyes are precious.

Thanks for the reply.
111 isn't an option where I am (not uk). I could probably get an emergency appointment with an eye specialist tomorrow. Would it be ok to wait? Or is it something that should be seen as quickly as possible?

I scratched my eye when some grid blew into it on a building site. I suffered for days hardly getting any sleep as it was so painful when I tried to close my eyes. My brother in law years later said he loved it when people came to A&E with this as they gave them some anaesthetic eye drops and they just felt so much better almost instantaneously. Obviously if you've done any more than scratch the surface it may not be that easy but definitely get to A&E. eye drops will make it soooo much better.

A&e - they can often book u for eye clinic and give you some eye drops.

I would err on the side of caution (ie go earlier instead of later) - I doubt they will be able to do that much tonight - but starting antibiotic eye drops early might help prevent bad infections?

@babyboyHarrison I could have married the lovely dishy doctor who put the magical drops in my eyes after 24 hours of agony I wasn't allowed to keep them though, it was just to ease it so they could examine it properly.

Definitely get checked out.

We have an emergency eye hospital, one of those near you rather than a&e?

Thanks everyone. I definitely need to get it looked then.

@OnceuponaRainbow18 - I can see an eye specialist tomorrow, but this evening it would be a&e.

I've had a couple of these. Really painful. Both times I went to A &E and was given Chloramphenicol ointment, which I think you can buy OTC. Ointment though, not the drops as it 'coats' the eye better.
Do get checked though. One of mine has left scarring.

I went to minor injuries initially who didn't do much then sent to the eye clinic the next day. It's hard to say whether waiting is ok. If you are able to read/post online it's hopefully not too bad!

its really important you avoid infection in your cornea, so I would head off to A&E in your situation..
my youngest son has had corneal surgery and it was horribly painful.. just try not to touch your eye.

I scratched my eye badly before. GP prescribed antibiotic drops and an eye patch and said if it hadn’t improved in 24hrs I would have to go to hospital. Luckily a day of keeping it covered worked (stopped the eyelid rubbing against it), coupled with lying down a lot as it felt better when lying flat.

Where are you in the world.

In countries with a well developed ED system (eg. Canada/ Australia/ Western Europe) I would expect and ED doctor to be able to do a basic slit lamp examination looking for a corneal abrasion and give you eye drops.

I've had two (I wear contact lenses and if you get grit under your lens this is the consequence) and got great relief from drops. First was pretty epic as I really couldn't see and ended up off work for 3 days.

If you have an eye casualty near you that is even better. Again I"d expect most areas in the countries I named above to have some access to one.

Go to A&E. They'll put some fluorescein (yellow drops) in, then shine a blue light on it. Corneal abrasions show up green. When I walked into a magnolia branch I got a 10% corneal abrasion from the pointy leaf - it scooped away a pie slice shape piece of cornea. Ointment had it sorted within a few days.

Thanks
I'm in Switzerland so no problem with quality of health care.
DH is phoning the local hospital for me to see if someone can look at it this evening.