A few years ago, my dear maternal grandmother visited an optometrist. After thoroughly examining my grandmother’s eyes, this medical professional informed her that she had cataracts in both of them. Concerned, my grandmother immediately made an appointment with a surgeon. The two surgeries to remove the cataracts from my grandmother’s eyes were successful. Scheduling annual eye exams is crucial. During these appointments, your optometrist will check for potentially harmful conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment, nearsightedness, and farsightedness. On this blog, I hope you will discover the most important reasons you should visit your eye doctor every year. Enjoy!
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3 Things Parents Need To Know About Corneal Lacerations
Stella Harvey
About 2.4 million eye injuries occur every year in America, and about one-third of these injuries are suffered by children. Sports are a major cause of eye injuries for children, so parents of athletic children need to be aware of the potential for injury. Corneal lacerations are one of the serious eye injuries that children can suffer; here are three things parents need to know about corneal lacerations.
What are corneal lacerations?
The cornea is the clear tissue that covers the front of the eye. Corneal lacerations are cuts or scrapes to the cornea. These lacerations may be either partial-thickness, meaning that they don't cut right through the cornea, or full-thickness, meaning that the cornea is completely cut and the globe of the eye is ruptured.
These injuries are associated with severe pain. The injured eye may become blurred, the eye may water, and your child may complain that light hurts their eye. The eye may also bleed. To protect their eye from further damage, cover it with a clean paper or plastic cup and take them to an ophthalmologist immediately.
How are corneal lacerations treated?
First, the ophthalmologist will need to determine the severity of the laceration. To do this, they'll paint the injured eye with dye and then examine it through a slit lamp. If the laceration is full thickness, aqueous will leak out of the eye and lighten the dye.
Once the diagnosis has been made, treatment can start. Small partial-thickness corneal lacerations can be treated with observation. The ophthalmologist will clean the wound and place a protective eye shield on top of the eye. Systemic painkillers or antibiotics may be given, if necessary.
If the laceration is large or full thickness, your child will need surgery to make sure the cornea heals properly. The wound will be carefully cleaned, and then the tissue will be stitched back together. Full-thickness lacerations pose a risk of endophthalmitis, a serious eye infection, so your child will receive several days of prophylactic antibiotics after their surgery.
Can corneal lacerations cause vision loss?
Corneal lacerations may leave scars on your child's cornea. Scars on the cornea are not a cosmetic problem like scars on their skin. These scars can affect the way light enters their eye, which can lead to hazy and impaired vision. Fortunately, the vision loss caused by corneal scarring can be treated with a corneal transplant. Corneal transplants are harder to perform and less successful in kids than in adults, so your child's ophthalmologist will recommend waiting until they're older to do the procedure.
If your child injures their eye during sports, contact a business, such as the Nevada Institute Of Ophthalmology.
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