~cornea abrasion~

Foreign bodies and abrasions are the most common causes of conjunctival and corneal injuries...Although superficial foreign bodies often leave the eyes through tears without leaving a residual abrasion, others might stay on or within the cornea...A foreign body trapped under the upper lid cause more vertical corneal abrasion that worsen as a result of blinking...  

Most people fully recover from minor corneal abrasions without permanent eye damage...However, deeper scratches can cause corneal infections, corneal erosion or scarring...If not treated properly, these complications can result in long term vision problem... 

It happened to me last Friday...

I am a rider...I used to go to work by riding my motorbike...I love riding instead of driving as for me it is more time consuming...Furthermore, finding a parking space to park my car could give me a headache as my working place did not have sufficient car park for their staffs and even for the visitors...

As a rider, it was not the first time i got something stuck in my eyes...I experienced it before, several times but that day it was the worst...I got it when i was trying to override a lorry...At first, I thought that I got dust inside my left eye...I ignored it and continued my ride until I reached my working place...

When I reached there, I rinsed my left eye with water, pulled my upper eyelid over the lower eyelid and inspected my left eye, tried to find for the object but I could not found anything...It was really discomfort and painful...It was not a dust...I probably got sand trapped under my upper eyelid...

I continued working as usually hoping that my eyes would flushed out the sand on its own...Toward the afternoon, the pain worsen...My left eye turned red and keep on tearing continuously...I could not beared it anymore...I need help...

I went to the emergency department...They irrigated my left eye...Eventhough, nearly three quater of irrigation water went in...It was not working...The sand was still there...I become more anxious...They referred me to the eye specialist...

My suffer and pain finally over...She was able to remove the object that trapped under my upper eyelid under slit-lamp examination...It was a sand, a very tiny one...I felt relieved...The continuous tearing stopped at the moment the sand had been removed...But the pain still persisted...

She told me that I still in pain as my cornea was injured and the pain will be subsided by time...My whole cornea was scratched but luckily it was just a superficial abrasion...She prescribed me with pain killer and several eyes drops including antibiotic eyes drop...

She advised me to rest my eyes, limit the eyes exposure to the light and if possible just get myself rest in a darkened room...I need to visit her again on Monday for follow up...