Should my eye hurt this much ?

[Aunt Maud]

Whilst playing with wood and a saw yesterday I had a piece of sawdust/chip fly under my safety glasses and hit my eye.

I went to A&E and the chap with the stethoscope had a peep and poke and said there was nothing in it, but I might have scratched it.

Today, it feels no better and my vision is so blurry that I can't read print. It hurts like hell and feels like there's still something in it. What to do?

[Exit Stage Left]

I've had two detached retinas, and the access to opthamologists is the first stage. Get the eye looked at, usually A&E.

[Genosse Brymbo]

I'd go back and be a little more insistent.  I don't know about where you live, but they have a specialist eye clinic at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading which I have found to be very good; maybe there's similar provision where you are.

I had an incident when my infant son turned and stuck his finger in my eye while I was bathing him (and you know how sharp those infant fingernails are!).  A trip to A&E that evening yielded some eye drops to relieve the pain and a recommendation to visit the eye clinic the next day.  Visited the eye clinic and was added to the end of their clinic appointment session.  Was diagnosed with and treated for corneal abrasion.  Took a long time to heal, but the NHS initial response and treatment was superb.  A specialist eye clinic will investigate in greater detail, like whether the eye is now sensitive to light, does the eyelid automatically close, etc.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Back to A&E. A specialist didn't check it, if it still hurts and is blurry, they should send you to the eye clinic.

[hellymedic]

It shouldn't hurt that much.
At worst it should feel 'itchy'.
You need a PROPER evaluation.

If the thought of a long queue in A&E is really intimidating, my DIY suggestion is to get a pair of cotton buds, turn your upper eyelid inside out and wipe the inner eyelid with a cotton bud, where there might be a foreign body that scratches your cornea with every blink.

You might find the staff on your high street optometrist helpful.

[Kim]

At this point I'd want an optiquack to have a proper look with a slit lamp and such.  Eyes are precious.

Is eye A&E a thing in your part of the world?

[Aunt Maud]

Hmmm, I think a re-visit is a good suggestion.

I'm having shit dug out of my eyes on a regular basis and this just feels like there's still something in there.

[hellymedic]

I'm sure there is!

In general, if there's a corneal foreign body, redness in the surrounding white of the eye will 'point' to the affected sector.

My wager is that there's something under the eyelid.

[Gattopardo]

Go to A&E and get seen by the eye doctor.

Then get better goggles.

[Aunt Maud]

My wife accused me of being a pussy and told me to stop whining about it.

[Veloman]

Suggest to her even a pussy has only one set of eyes and they are not consumables.

Blindness is no fun and I speak from experience having seen it in my family. It did have the effect of ensuring I realise how precious eyesight is.

Get it checked out!

[Polar Bear]

Sight is an incredibly valuable gift and should be looked after.  Get thee to the specialists please.

[hellymedic]

Get your eye checked out!
Eye specialists CAN get things wrong DAMHIKT but it's still worthwhile.

[hellymedic]

About forty years ago, when I was a very young medical student, we were taught to
'Listen to the patient. He's telling you the diagnosis.'

The patient said 'I got persistent eye pain after working with some wood.'

There HAS to be a foreign body there; find someone to locate and remove it!

[Gattopardo]

Listen to Helly, she is right.

Do not argue, discuss with someone, do not pass go, do not collect £200 go straight to A&E.

[Aunt Maud]

Yeah, well, she has ultimate faith in the Danish medical profession and she hates it when I say they are just guessing most of the time.

And as HM says, I'm the one who knows weather I've got shit in my eye, not the doctor at A&E. He didn't even look at it with a magnifier.

I'll ring the local quack and see what she says about getting me down to see the specialist.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

My wife accused me of being a pussy and told me to stop whining about it.

Not good advice. Get it looked at.

As everyone says,

Go to A&E and get seen by the eye doctor.

Then get better goggles.

   

 

GWS.

[Aunt Maud]

Even I can see with my dodgy eye that thats not goggles.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Even I can see with my dodgy eye that thats not goggles.

No but if you'd been wearing it your eye would have been fine today. 

[Aunt Maud]

I was wearing safety glasses, mask and ear defenders and the thing went up under the glasses and hit me in the eye.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

OK. I'll say no more, we wouldn't want this going into 'Lift the Lid'

Hope the eye is fixed soon..

[Aunt Maud]

This is exactly why I don't use power tools very much. When they get you, they get you proper.

[T42]

But I find that all that protective gubbins distracts me from the job in hand. I use some of it these days but during the 90s, when I built a lot of furniture, I never bothered.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Oh well, I have been doing lots of sawing for days now, making cupboards and steps and stuff and today is no exception.  Am feeling nervous, very nervous

If I am not back by...

[Aunt Maud]

Good luck, don't forget your chainsaw helmet.