When to Come in for an Eye Emergency

Many incidences and conditions count as eye emergencies. A scratch, foreign object, injury, chemical burn, cut, or traumas are real eye emergencies. You must rush to an eye doctor or emergency room immediately they happen. But, there are other lesser-known eye emergencies that need urgent medical attention. These emergencies risk you losing your vision completely. They could also be signs of some serious underlying conditions.

 

Here are some serious conditions that need emergency addressing:

 

Bulging Eyes

This condition is called exophthalmos or proptosis. There are many reasons your eyes could bulge; some serious, and others not so much.

 

Your eyes could budge if you suffer an injury in your eye socket, or abnormal blood vessels are developing behind your eye. Bulging eyes can also be caused by a thyroid problem called Graves’ disease. It could also be that you have tumors, bacterial infections, or inflammation in your eye socket.

 

If a bacterial infection causes your proptosis, this counts as an eye emergency. You will know it is a bacterial infection if you have a very swollen eyelid. The condition is called perceptual cellulitis. If not treated immediately, the infection spreads from the eye sockets and into the brain. At this stage, your sight is threatened. You may lose it completely.

 

A Perceptible Change in Your Vision

If you notice a sudden change in the quality of your vision, have it addressed immediately. A change like it could be a sign of corneal or retinal defect. If untreated, this could lead to permanent vision loss.

 

Retinal detachment may also manifest as spots or flashing lights in your vision.

 

Swelling or infection of your cornea is also serious and could manifest as sudden vision loss.

 

A sudden vision change could also be a symptom of nerve damage, a stroke, or other neurological condition.

 

If you experience headaches, pain in your temples, pain after chewing, fever, and hip pain, these are temporal arteritis signs. The temporal arteries that supply blood to your brain and head may be damaged and inflamed.

 

Red Eyes

Irritants in the eyes may cause your eye to turn red. This clears soon after. But, if you have some unexplained redness that produces discharge, then it’s an emergency case.

 

It could be that you have bacterial conjunctivitis or pink eye, a viral and contagious disease. It clears quickly with antibiotics. Still, doctors insist that pink eye be treated as early as possible.

 

A few weeks after the pink eye has cleared, a condition called corneal infiltrates may come up. It causes some opaque spots on your cornea. It should be addressed immediately to prevent it from affecting your vision permanently.

 

Eye redness may also be a sign of conditions more serious than pink eye. It could be that you have ocular herpes or uveitis, both of which could make you lose your sight permanently. So, ensure that you go to an eye care specialist when your eye turns red. A specialist can tell apart conjunctivitis from other serious conditions and prescribe the right treatment.

 

Pupil Aniscicoria

Pupil Aniscicoria is the condition where your pupils are of different sizes. Some people are born with it, the benign kind, while others develop it later in life.

 

If you notice that your pupils are now of different sizes, you may have trauma in your head or a neurological condition like a brain tumor or stroke. Let a doctor have a look.

 

Learn more about when to come in for an eye emergency, emergency eye care available. Contact Davie Family Eye Care in Davie, FL at 754-238-5360.