Comments on: How do I get something out of my friend's eye?

Question: How do I get something out of my friend's eye?

ORthey — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 20:55:44 -0800

My friend has had something in his eye for four hours.

We've tried everything we can think of, water, saline solution, eye drops, standing under the shower with eye open, closing eyes and trying to cry it out... nothing. We can't see anything in the eye either. Thoughts?

By: fshgrl

fshgrl — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:00:03 -0800

Maybe he has a small cut or scratch, which was caused by the foreign object before you flushed it out ?

By: cribcage

cribcage — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:00:05 -0800

He probably scratched his cornea. It feels exactly like there's something in your eye, and the feeling doesn't go away until it heals. I've done it probably a half-dozen times in my lifetime. It usually takes a day to heal -- and in the meantime, your friend won't be able to open his eye.

He should visit an emergency room. I don't bother, anymore; I know what it is when it happens, and I know there's nothing they can do about it. But I'm just some guy on the internet, and if your friend has never gone through this before then he should probably visit an emergency room.

By: frogan

frogan — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:00:29 -0800

Scratched cornea. What he's feeling isn't an object, but the scratch it left behind. Go see a doctor. It can become infected.

By: frogan

frogan — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:01:05 -0800

Wow, three diagnoses at exactly the same time. ;-)

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:10:53 -0800

My thought is that you should be on your way to the doctor, not pissing about asking strangers on the internet.

FWIW, when this happened to me, there was a tiny fleck of grit right next to the edge of the iris (and hence invisible except when viewed side on). It required a doctor to remove it and to prescribe something to prevent infection.

By: jimfl

jimfl — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:14:27 -0800

If it turns out not to be a scratch, one good way to cause the eye to tear ("teer" not "tare") is to grab the upper lashes, pull the upper lid away from the eye, and down a little, then blow out sharply through your nose. I don't know why this works, but it does, and will often cause enough tearing to flush foreign objects from the eye..

By: neda

neda — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:22:14 -0800

Ophthamologist's offices will usually have same-day appointment slots reserved for such problems, so if you don't see someone now, he should be able to get an appointment in the AM tomorrow.

Just to throw it out there, here's the folk remedy I've heard to soothe eye irritation. Make yourself a spot of tea, and pour a bit into a saucer. Water it down a bit, and let it cool to room temperature, and then put your eye on it and kind of "blink in" the tea.

But if he's got something serious like a corneal scratch, I wouldn't try this (or any other self-treatment), of course. The antibiotic ointments he'd get will be much better.

By: nomisxid

nomisxid — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:23:18 -0800

Appropriate anecdote:

I once had a similar issue, went to the ER, and had an intern spend a painful 5 minutes tugging at a "white spot" he saw on an eyelid interior, before he called a proper doctor in, who declared the white spot a perfectly normal variation, and found the actual cause was indeed a minor cornear abrassion.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:23:23 -0800

jimfl: my eyes tear just reading your description. But, I did try it and it worked. Odd.

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:24:15 -0800

If there is something in there, all the obvious techniques (that you've tried) don't really work because frustratingly where it feels like it is and where it is aren't at all related. I know this from experience because on two occasions I've had a contact lens tear and leave a small piece behind on my eyeball which has then moved back out of view between eyeball and socket. And on both occasions the only solution has been to hold both eyelids apart as wide as possible, stare at a mirror (preferably a magnifying one) for ages and hope that the foreign object literally moves into view so that you can remove it carefully.

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:33:06 -0800

I had a corneal abrasion as a result of a contact lens that dried out too much while I was wearing it. A frustrating, unrelenting pain, like having a foreign object in there but worse. As already described above, the eye doctor examined it, diagnosed it, and treated it within an hour of my calling them. It heals fast on its own, but they will give you antibiotic drops to speed the process and prevent infection.

And yeah, get it looked at fast, because no matter what it is, rubbing it is bad, and who can keep from rubbing when their eye is under attack? Not me.

By: thebarron

thebarron — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:49:57 -0800

Get professional attention soon. Period!

Eyes aren't like tongues that get burned with hot lattes and heal overnight or lizards' tails that drop off and regenerate quickly. You only have two and they are too dear to second guess via Internet diagnosis!

By: jasondigitized

jasondigitized — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 06:15:36 -0800

I had a piece of sand in my eye and my roomate and I did the same thing you tried with your friend, including him pulling on my eyelash and wiping it with a tissue to no avail. Ouch! I went to the doctor the next, and with a simple q-tip, he found the piece of sand, pressed the q-tip against it lightly, and got it out of there.

By: shinynewnick

shinynewnick — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 06:21:32 -0800

My dad had the same sensation after working in the yard this week. His eye was killing him all evening, so he finally went to the emergency room at 11 pm. Sure enough, it was a scratch; they gave him some prescription eyedrops, and by the next morning he was feeling much better.

By: lester

lester — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 06:41:59 -0800

sounds like a scratch. should heal overnight. seek medical help if it still bothers him tomorrow morning.

By: Taken Outtacontext

Taken Outtacontext — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:12:11 -0800

When I've had a small "thing" in my eye (not a cornea abrasion) I pull my upper eyelid down over my lower eyelid and that somehow gets it out. Works just about every time.

Wash your hands before trying this.

By: gramcracker

gramcracker — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:25:20 -0800

Put a qtip horizontally on the upper eyelid where it meets the bone, push in gently, and twist. It will retract the lid up so you can see under it. Repeat with the bottom lid.

By: emmastory

emmastory — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:48:44 -0800

Same thing happened to me, and it also turned out to be a scratch. And I agree that your friend will still want to get it checked out - when mine didn't go away after a day or so, I eventually went to a doctor and found out that the scratch had become infected. They gave me some sort of horrible antibiotic gel that I had to actually put under my eyelid two or three times a day. It wasn't very much fun, as you might expect.

By: callmejay

callmejay — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 09:48:27 -0800

Check the corners, too. Sometimes you can get an eyelash stuck in there which is awfully hard to find.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 10:32:45 -0800

Don't assume corneal abrasion. See a doctor. I once had the same problem, caused by a tiny metal sliver stuck in the center of my eye.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 11:44:58 -0800

GO TO THE DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don't have an ophthalmologist, call the number on the back of your health insurance card to find one in your network. They will see you that day and can either get the "foreign body" out or prescribe you drops or whatever.

By: agregoli

agregoli — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 12:16:14 -0800

He should visit an emergency room. I don't bother, anymore; I know what it is when it happens, and I know there's nothing they can do about it.

This happened to my husband, and while the piece of glass (in his case) was out, it had left a huge gash in his eye that was still hurting him. They, however, DID do something about it, which was to give him Percoset. Mmmmmm.

By: thebarron

thebarron — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:12:52 -0800

ORthey - What finally happened with the friend's eye? We're all curious! The B