After a car crash, one of the injuries you may have to deal with is an eye injury. Not all eye injuries are easy to recognize right away. For example, a corneal abrasion may happen over time just by rubbing your eyes or you may have an infection that develops.
Whenever you’re in a collision, it’s important to seek medical help regardless of how you feel. You may find that you feel okay, but hours or days later after the adrenaline wears off, other symptoms may appear.
What types of eye injuries are there?
A closed globe injury is one where the eye wall is wounded but does not suffer a full-thickness injury. An open globe injury, on the other hand, is a full-thickness injury. Lamellar lacerations are partial-thickness injuries caused by sharp objects cutting into the eye. A full-thickness wound to the eye caused by a blunt object is a rupture. The bluntness of an object changes the pressure in the eye, forcing the eye to rupture in the socket.
There are many other kinds of injuries that can be suffered as well. From penetrating injuries to those that develop from the inside, these injuries require medical attention from a professional.
What should you do if you have a penetrating eye injury?
Try not to move your eye at all. Moving it could force the object into the eye further or damage more of the tissues. Don’t apply pressure to the eye or try to patch your eye. Do not try to remove the object, since this could cause the eye’s contents to prolapse (spill out). Penetrating injuries require surgery and antibiotics.
Eye trauma from penetration has a high likelihood of tetanus as well, so the medical provider should provide the correct vaccinations and medications to prevent the development of the illness.
These are just a few possible eye injuries you could suffer. Make sure to get medical help as fast as possible to try to save your eyesight.
