Foreign Object in the Eye
What is it?
Anything that is in the eye that wouldn't normally be there.
Plan of Action:
To help yourself:
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Wash your hands with soap and water.
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Try to flush the object out of your eye with a gentle stream of clean, warm water. Use an eyecup or a small, clean drinking glass positioned with its rim resting on the bone at the base of your eye socket.
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Another way to flush a foreign object from your eye is to get into a shower and aim a gentle stream of lukewarm water on your forehead over the affected eye while holding your eyelid open.
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If you're wearing contact lenses, it's best to remove the lens before or while you're irrigating the surface of the eye with water. Sometimes a foreign body can be stuck to the undersurface of the lens.
To help someone else:
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Wash your hands with soap and water.
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Seat the person in a well-lighted area.
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Gently examine the eye to find the object. Pull the lower lid down and ask the person to look up. Then hold the upper lid while the person looks down.
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If the object is floating in the tear film on the surface of the eye, try using a medicine dropper filled with clean, warm water to flush it out. Or tilt the head back and irrigate the surface of the eye with clean water from a drinking glass or a gentle stream of tap water.
Caution:
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Don't try to remove an object that's embedded in the eye.
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Don't rub the eye.
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Don't try to remove a large object that appears to be embedded in the eye or is sticking out between the lids.
When to seek emergency care:
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You can't remove the object with simple irrigation
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The object is embedded in the eye
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The person with the object in the eye is experiencing abnormal vision
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Pain, redness or the sensation of an object in the eye persists more than 24 hours after the object is removed