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What Should You Do If You Get Something Stuck In Your Eye?

August 8, 2013

Always exercise extreme caution when trying to remove something from your eye.

The summer season is always full of exciting adventures! Weekends away at the beach building sand castles in the sand, summer little league games with your kids, floating on the boat all day in the sunshine. No matter what your idea of the perfect summer weekend may be, our guess is that your family is doing something fun and adventurous to pass the time!

shutterstock_144658250However, with every crazy summer activity also comes the chance that you may have a little too much fun and find yourself with some sand or dirt in your eye. And you know how the popular saying goes―it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye! Okay, so you won’t necessarily lose your eye, but you should still always be extra careful whenever you find that a foreign contaminant is interfering with your vision!

In case you run into some vision trouble this summer season and get something stuck in your eye, here are some very important tips to follow:

1. Wash Your Hands: The first thing you want to do before you even come close to examining what is stuck in your eye is wash your hands! Even if you don’t think your hands are dirty, you want to make sure there is nothing on them that could infect your eyes further than what has already gotten in them.

2. Try To Locate Where The Object Is: Before attempting to remove the object from your eye, you first want to move your eye back and forth in order to try and locate where exactly the object is. First try looking from right to left, then up and down. Once you have moved your eye around a little bit, look into a mirror to see if you were able to dislodge it and move it to the very front of your eye.

3. Ask A Friend For Help: If you are unable to see where the object is yourself, ask a friend or family member to help inspect your eye and look for the object. Start by pulling your bottom eyelid down and looking up, then pulling your top eyelid up and looking down. This will give your friend a chance to look around your eye and locate the object if it is lingering near the front.

4. Remove The Object If You Are Able: If you spot the object that has entered your eye, wet a small piece of tissue paper and use the end to adhere to the object. This should easily remove the object from your eye in a safe manner.

5. Flush Your Eye: If you are still unable to spot where the object is after seeking the assistance of a friend, try flushing your eye out with eye drops or water. Getting some moisture into your eye will help to move the object around and dislodge it.

6. Know When To Seek Medical Help: If you cannot remove the object from your eye easily or if you notice that your vision is significantly poor (aside from blurriness), do not continue to attempt removing the object from your eye. Instead, seek medical attention to help remove the object. You should also never try to remove any metal objects or hard items that have fallen into the eye, as doing so could potentially scratch your eye.

We here at OCLI want you to enjoy all of your fun and exciting summer activities. However, be sure that you are exercising proper vision safety measures whenever possible.

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