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Black eye
Black eyes are caused by bleeding in the skin around the eye.
This is usually a result of an injury somewhere near the eye but generally is not worrisome as long as there is no injury to the eye itself and the child's vision is normal.
If there is known head trauma and if both eyes are "black," this may be a sign of a skull fracture ( Two black eyes). In this case, you must seek medical care immediately.
Black eyes that occur without any history of trauma can be a sign of illness and should be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible.
If your child has a black eye after an injury, you can relieve the child's discomfort by applying a cold compress or ice wrapped in a towel to the eye for 5-10 minutes.
Pause for 10-15 minutes and then repeat several times. The sooner you apply a compress after the injury has happened, the less swelling there will be around the eye.
The child should lie with an extra pillow under his/her head for the next few nights and with the affected side raised as much as possible to reduce the swelling around the eye. The eye will always be more swollen in the morning, and should improve over the course of the day.
If the child complains of double vision, unclear or reduced vision, pains in the eye itself or is bleeding from the eye or nose, you should seek immediate medical advice.
Corneal abrasions
Children occasionally get an abrasion (scratch) on the cornea, which is the clear outer layer of the eye.
This may happen when the child gets poked in the eye or gets a grain of sand, dust, or other foreign body in the eye.
Usually, the damage is superficial and not dangerous, but occasionally it can lead to an infection and a large wound on the cornea. Fortunately, this is rare.
Corneal abrasions are painful. The child will have increased tearing and blinking, blurry vision, and often reddening of the eye.
In addition, the child may feel as if he/she has something in the eye.
If your child has these symptoms, check whether you can see a foreign body in his/her eye.
If you see a foreign body in the eye, proceed to the next section in this program. Try flushing with lukewarm water or saline.
If you cannot see a foreign body, the child is in pain, and the flushing did not help, you should take the child to the doctor.
Cover the affected eye. Prevent the child from rubbing the eye because this may aggravate the injury. Do not touch the eye itself; this may worsen the injury.
The doctor will often drip a dye into the eye and use a special light in order to look for defects or wounds on the cornea.
The treatment for a corneal abrasion will be eye drops and/or eye ointment.
Rarely, the child would need to see an eye specialist.
Foreign body in eye
If the child has got a foreign body such as a speck of dust in his/her eye, you can try to remove this by flushing with lukewarm water.
Fill an eggcup with water and place it snugly around the affected eye. Ideally, the child should blink several times while the water is poured into the eye.
This is difficult with very young children who are not cooperative.
Another option is to sit the child on a chair in good light. Wash your own hands. Try to locate the foreign body by pulling down the lower eyelid while asking the child to look upwards.
Also lift and examine the upper eyelid, but this time the child should look down. If you can see the foreign body, try flushing again with a steady stream of lukewarm water. Sterile saline solutions may also be used.
Even if you have managed to remove the foreign body, the sensation of having a foreign body in the eye may last for a number of hours, and there may be an associated corneal abrasion or other injury that you can not see. If the child continues to complain of discomfort, pain, reduced vision, and the eye appears red, you should seek medical treatment.
If the child has a speck in his/her eye that cannot be flushed out, the foreign body may be lodged in the cornea.
In this case, you must take the child to the doctor. The doctor will numb the eye with local anesthetic eye drops. Then he/she will carefully remove the foreign body. This procedure can either be done by your doctor or an eye specialist.
Afterwards, the child will need to be treated with eye drops and/or eye ointment for a few days to avoid infection. After treatment, the eye should be re-examined to ensure that the corneal wound has healed properly.
Chemicals in eye
Corrosive substances splashed into your child's eye can result in serious damage to the cornea, the outer layer of the eye.
Corrosive substances are usually acidic or basic and include soaps, disinfectants, solvents, drain cleaners, oven cleaners, ammonia and bleach.
If your child gets a corrosive substance in his/her eye, immediately start flushing the eye with lukewarm water for 15-30 minutes.
Water will dilute the corrosive liquid and thus limit the damage; it will also have a pain-relieving effect. If both eyes are affected, you can use the shower to flush them.
Contact the National Poison Control Center; the hotline number is 1-800-222-1222.
This number will automatically put you through to the nearest local Poison Control Center.
Provide information on what type of substance your child has got into his/her eye so that you can be advised on what to do next.
If your child got acid or lye in the eye, keep flushing the eye for several hours.
Continue flushing while you wait for medical care.
