Scratched cornea

[spidey07]

There have been a few times when wearing glasses has probably saved my vision.

One that comes to mind easily was waiting for a pickup truck to pass by so I could cross the street. A nice-sized pebble whacked one of my lenses almost straight-on. That's the kind of thing where you don't even have time to blink, not that a thin flap of skin would do a whole heck of a lot against a sharp, speeding stone.

Eyes suck - they are incredibly useful, they are (currently) irreplaceable, and they are also incredibly easy to damage.

I've noticed that professional lawn guys will ALWAYS stop mowing or weed eating when you're around. Hell, I even do the same if there are folks coming on the sidewalk. I have protection, they don't.

I too have been whacked smack dab in the eye (on the glasses, right at my eyeball) with protection and was thankful I had it. I thought I was pretty careful, guess not enough when I was deep in the bush.

 

[spidey07]

AT blog bump. Approximately 48 hours after injury.

Still have double vision in the eye, but the massive brain aches are gone. It seems like anything that strains the eye is not good. I'm fine for a while but any prolonged/intense focus (like work) makes it worse. I'm good for about 15-20 minutes and then need to rest it for an hour+. I'm not going to mess with my vision and resting the eye as much as possible. Follow up visit tomorrow. It gets worse as the day goes on so rest is the best course.

Will see about using a patch for going back into the office. arggggh

 

[TheAdvocate]

Left my contacts in overnight by accident when I was about 13. Panicked and tried to take one out without any moisturizing solution. Bad mistake. massive corneal abrasion on my left eye.

I have broken bones, etc... nothing in my life hurt as bad as that did. I tried to be tough about it, but I howled like a baby all the way to the ER. Doc did say I had a pretty bad one.

It eventually did heal, but I had headaches and light sensitivity for a long time. And i was on pain meds for about a week.

 

[spidey07]

So it looks like it's "healed" according to doc. Google tells me that the cornea is like skin, in a constant state of regeneration of cells and losing the outer layer to be flushed away by tear. With an injury like this the cells and eye spring to action actually changing their behavior and stem cells released to take on the repair job. It just takes their time to move from the outer edges of the cornea to the repair site. The body is amazing. Google also tells me there are more nerve endings per density in the cornea than anywhere else.

By "healed" it means the cells have successfully contained the abrasion and covered it up. Now the stem cell growth can do it's job. I'll be living with the double/ghost vision in that eye for possibly a month during this process.

oh, and no patch. Can inhibit oxygen/healing.

 

[silverpig]

I have map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy. Often, when waking up in the morning, my eyelid or eyelids are more or less "welded" to my corneas. When I open my eyes, my eyelids rip the top layer of cells off my cornea. The description above is not what is truly happening but is the easiest way to understand it. The result, besides some pain and discomfort that subsides within an hour or so, is that my vision is blurred. Typically, I can't see well up close.

I've learned to not rub my eyes and rarely do so anymore. I use drops instead.

I put Muro ointment in my eyes before bed every night. It helps, but there is no cure.

That sucks. Can't you just wear contact lenses to bed?

 

[Squisher]

I've gotten metal chips in my eyes a half dozen times. The worst was probably 1/8" across right on my pupil. That one I could see when I looked out. Had to go to the emergency room where a doctor picked it out with a needle. That guy's hands might have been steady but when you're looking at a needle coming into your eye it sure looks like the guy had the shakes.

The job I did required me to bend over as far as I could then look up and work on the upper die. It was an accident waiting to happen. Then a thought occurred to me that if a dentist can work with a mirror, why couldn't I? It took me a few months to get used to it, but using a mirror took all the danger out of the job. For the last 15 years I worked I always carried one of my wife's used up compacts in my pocket.

 

[Ichinisan]

I have map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy. Often, when waking up in the morning, my eyelid or eyelids are more or less "welded" to my corneas. When I open my eyes, my eyelids rip the top layer of cells off my cornea. The description above is not what is truly happening but is the easiest way to understand it. The result, besides some pain and discomfort that subsides within an hour or so, is that my vision is blurred. Typically, I can't see well up close.

I've learned to not rub my eyes and rarely do so anymore. I use drops instead.

I put Muro ointment in my eyes before bed every night. It helps, but there is no cure.

Damn. REM stage sleep must suck.

 

[spidey07]

Well this sucks. That eye is still 20/200 and still blurry. Doc said it's healed fine and I should be ok. I really pressed the issue with him and he said "I can't say if it will get better, you're cornea and eye look good". So WHY is my vision still screwed up? I'm thinking about a 2nd opinion. I've talked to others that had it and some said it can take months. A co-worker said it took 7-8 months! It's so bad I can barely read a computer screen with that eye. However doc was able to correct it to 20/20 via lenses.

 

[rh71]

I never take my chances whenever a task might end up with me hurting my eyes.
I might look silly wearing it, but my past experience with others disregarding basic safety
precautions irritates me. :\

they have much more stylish ones ya know. And yeah I gotta get me one of those.

 

[shortylickens]

I got these from Amazon for Bio class.

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-RST-61.../dp/B002EVP5JY

 

[Nebor]

I have map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy. Often, when waking up in the morning, my eyelid or eyelids are more or less "welded" to my corneas. When I open my eyes, my eyelids rip the top layer of cells off my cornea. The description above is not what is truly happening but is the easiest way to understand it. The result, besides some pain and discomfort that subsides within an hour or so, is that my vision is blurred. Typically, I can't see well up close.

I've learned to not rub my eyes and rarely do so anymore. I use drops instead.

I put Muro ointment in my eyes before bed every night. It helps, but there is no cure.

I had similar symptoms for a while after PRK. I had to lube up my eyes every night, but often I'd still wake up by ripping my eyes opened. Hurt like a mother, but hurts worse if you rub them.

 

[Taejin]

Well this sucks. That eye is still 20/200 and still blurry. Doc said it's healed fine and I should be ok. I really pressed the issue with him and he said "I can't say if it will get better, you're cornea and eye look good". So WHY is my vision still screwed up? I'm thinking about a 2nd opinion. I've talked to others that had it and some said it can take months. A co-worker said it took 7-8 months! It's so bad I can barely read a computer screen with that eye. However doc was able to correct it to 20/20 via lenses.

welcome to the world of the vision impaired, spidey =P

 

[GuitarDaddy]

My wife scratched her eye trimming tree limbs a couple of weeks ago, it takes a while to get over. She had blurry vision, tearing up all the time, and sensitivity to light for aprox. 5-6 days after the injury, and like you said killer headache for about 2 days.

Rest with your eyes closed as much as possible and keep your eye moist with lubricating ointment or drops, thats about all you can do. Good luck

 

[spidey07]

welcome to the world of the vision impaired, spidey =P

I already had slight impairment at 20/50 in left (before injury) and 20/60 in right. Hell, I even found my measurements posted here in a thread inquiring about lasik and a consultation.

I kept stressing to the doc that this wasn't right to be this off after the injury. I think when I about broke down in tears voice shaking and said "you don't understand how different my vision is, this is life altering, something is very, very wrong". Then a full battery of tests came out. The only thing he could determine after all that was "you could have some residual swelling of the cornea, I could believe that".

My only peace is the eye itself is healthy. I can only hope it gets better. Damn I'm not liking getting old.