Emergency Eye Care | Avenue Optometry & Vision Therapy

Call Us Quickly

Eye emergencies can be frightening—and they may require quick intervention to save your sight. If you are experiencing an eye emergency, please call our office right away to see how we can help.

Should we be unavailable, please go directly to your nearest hospital emergency room. Don’t take any chances with your sight.

Signs of an Eye Emergency

Some symptoms should never be ignored. If you experience vision loss of any kind, please treat this as a medical emergency and contact us immediately.

Other symptoms of an eye care emergency include:

Bleeding
Bruising
Vision loss
Double vision
Eye pain
Headache
Itchy eyes
Pupils of different sizes
Extreme redness
Sensitivity to light
Stinging or burning

If you cannot reach our team, please go directly to your nearest emergency room.

What Types of Eye Emergencies

There are several types of eye emergencies that can threaten your sight. They should all be taken seriously. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Trauma to the Eye Area

If you get hit in the eye area with force, you may end up with a black eye, pain, blurred vision, or bleeding. Applying a cold compress may reduce pain or swelling, but be careful not to apply pressure at all.

Trauma to the eye area can cause retinal detachments, so any visual disturbances after impact should be treated seriously.

Flashes & Floaters

Shadows in your field of vision that look like specks, spots, or cobwebs are called floaters. Seeing them is a relatively common occurrence, but if there are new or increased numbers of these floaters, it can be cause of concern.

The presence of too many floaters or the sudden onset of new floaters may indicate a retinal detachment. Retinal detachments are serious medical emergencies and urgent action is needed to protect your sight.

Seeing flashes of light in your visual field is also a potential warning sign of a retinal detachment.

Chemical Splashes

Chemical splashes require flushing your eye with clean, lukewarm water for at least 20 minutes. If you wear contact lenses, remove them before flushing so as to avoid trapping chemicals between the lens and the eye.

Do not rub your eye or use eye drops unless directed to do so by a medical professional. Wherever possible, you should have someone call a medical professional with a description of the chemical in order to receive further instructions.

Cuts & Scrapes

Cuts, scrapes, and punctures to the eye require emergency medical attention.

Do not rinse your eye with water if it has been cut, scraped, or punctured. You should not take pain relievers or anti-inflammatory drugs until you are seen by a professional as these drugs might increase bleeding.

After you have finished protecting the eye, get emergency medical help.

Foreign Objects

You may be able to remove small items such as dust or grains of sand from the eye by thoroughly flushing with lukewarm water. If, however, the object is larger and cannot be removed with flushing, seek immediate medical attention.

Never use tweezers or other tools near the eye area and do not attempt to dislodge large objects on your own.

Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma

When the drainage channels in your eye become blocked suddenly, it can result in a severe increase in intraocular pressure.

This is known as acute angle-closure glaucoma and it results from the iris and cornea moving closer together, cutting off the eye’s ability to drain fluid.

Symptoms of acute angle-closure glaucoma include eye pain, nausea, and a severe headache. This is a medical emergency and must be dealt with immediately.

To read more about other types of glaucoma, please visit our Eye Disease Diagnosis & Management page.

Preventing Eye Emergencies

Many injuries are preventable, so you should always be sure to wear safety eyewear when you are using tools, working with chemicals, or even when you’re out in the sun.

Your sight is precious and it’s important to protect it. For more tips and tricks on keeping your eyes healthy, or if you have questions about an eye care emergency, book an appointment today.

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