We offer emergency services that require immediate and urgent eye care. If your eye is injured, don't try to judge the severity of it. Immediately seek the opinion of an eye doctor to lessen the risk of hurting your vision. Our Walmart optometrist in Crestwood understands ocular emergencies can arise at any time.
Please call Derby City Eye Care at 502-996-7450 for further instructions. Use your best judgment on urgency, if you feel your need to find the nearest emergency room.
Eye Safety - Safety Eyewear - Eye Injury Prevention
This short video stresses the importance of knowing the hazards at home and the workplace regarding your eyes. In this video, we review a few actual incidents where people lost part or all of their vision, along with one whose vision was saved by safety eyewear.
Symptoms that require emergency service include, but are not limited to:
- Eye infections
- Foreign materials stuck in the eyes
- Eye trauma
- Scratched eyes
- Sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes
- Lost or broken contact lenses or eyeglasses
- Flashes of light in the vision
- “Floaters” in the vision
- Red or painful eyes
- Dislodged contact lenses
- Uncomfortable, itchy, or irritated eyes
Things NOT to do while waiting for professional medical assistance:
- DO NOT press on an injured eye or allow the victim to rub the eye(s).
- DO NOT attempt to remove a foreign body that is resting on the cornea (the clear surface of the eye through which we see) or that appears to be embedded in any part of the eye.
- DO NOT use dry cotton (including cotton swabs) or sharp instruments (such as tweezers) on the eye.
- DO NOT attempt to remove an embedded object.
DO call our office in Crestwood, KY at 502-996-7450 for further instructions!
Studies have shown that an overwhelming number of emergency room visits could have been treated by an optometrist. These ranged from foreign bodies to severe eye allergies to eye infections as the most common reasons for emergency room visits. It is not always necessary to go to an emergency room for eye emergencies. Optometrists in Crestwood, KY are equipped to treat the majority of eye emergencies.
We understand the importance of eye care when you encounter symptoms such as those listed above. These are signs that an immediate evaluation or consultation is necessary - please call us to set one up if you are experiencing an eye emergency of any kind.
Foreign Body Removal
A foreign body is something such as an eyelash, sawdust, sand, or dirt can that gets into the eyes. The main symptom is irritation or pain. Depending on what it is and how the injury happened, the foreign body may pierce the eye and cause serious injury or it may simply go away with no long-term problem.
The foreign object may set off an inflammatory cascade, resulting in dilation of the surrounding vessels and subsequent edema of the lids, conjunctiva, and cornea. If not removed, a foreign body can cause infection.
If anything is stuck in your eye for more than a period of a couple of hours, you must immediately cease all attempts to remove it yourself. Keep in mind that the eyes are an extremely delicate organ and any attempts to try anything extraordinary with them can only have negative and adverse results. If the foreign body you are talking about is not bothering you too much, then you are advised to visit an eye doctor to take care of it. If not you may need to call to emergency service of your region.
If there is a foreign body in your eye, such as a piece of grit, your eye doctor may try and remove it. They will put anaesthetic eye drops in your eye first, in order to numb it and prevent any pain.
If the foreign body is easy to get to, it may be possible to remove it by simply rinsing your eye with water, or by wiping it away with a cotton wool bud or triangle of a card. However, if this is unsuccessful, your eye doctor may try and remove the foreign body by lifting it out with the tip of a small metal instrument.
The foreign body could be stuck underneath your upper eyelid, especially if you can feel something there, or you have scratches or grazes (abrasions) on the top half of the transparent outer layer of your eye (cornea). If this is the case, it may be necessary to gently turn your eyelid inside out in order to remove the foreign body.
Once the anesthetic eye drops have worn off, your eye may feel a bit uncomfortable until your abrasion heals.
Whatever is happening with your eyes or if you suffer or even suspect that a foreign body has penetrated the outer eye layer better go without delay to the nearest treatment center. Doing nothing can lead to loss of vision, premature cataracts and damage to the retina so do not take any chances, a delay is dangerous.
DO call our Walmart eye care center in Crestwood, KY at 502-996-7450 for further instructions!
Eye infections
1. What is an eye infection?
An eye infection happens when something that’s not supposed to be in your eye gets in there anyway. It could be from a virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite, pollen, fingernail, metal, wood, or something else. When these things enter the eye they can cause redness, itching, burning, swelling, watering, crusting, pain, light sensitivity, blurry vision, and many other problems.
If you think you have an eye infection it is important to see your eye doctor as soon as possible. With prompt, proper treatment most eye infections go away within a few days, but delaying treatment can significantly lengthen the healing and recovery process and may even damage your vision.
2. What should I do if I spill chemicals in my eye?
If any type of chemical ever gets into your eyes, you should immediately flush the eyes with cool water (from an eye wash station, sink, shower, etc) for 15-30 minutes. Be sure to hold the eyelids open (with clean fingers) for maximum rinsing effect.
Then, if possible, get the name, container, or product label associated with the chemical, and call your eye doctor immediately. If you cannot get in contact with your doctor, call Poison Control or go to the nearest emergency room for treatment as soon as possible.
3. What should I do if I get sand, metal, or wood, in my eyes?
If you think you have something stuck in your eye, it is important to get treatment as soon as possible to prevent scratches, infections, and potential vision damage. A foreign object in the eye often causes redness, irritation, discomfort, scratchy sensation, excessive blinking, tearing, light sensitivity, and blurry vision.
In some cases, it is possible to remove an object from the eye without professional help, but you should never rub the eye or stick something in the eye (like a cotton swab or tweezers) to do so. Simply flush the eye with water, saline solution, or artificial tear eye drops until the irritation or object is removed.
If the irritation does not resolve or continues to get worse over several hours, it may be necessary to seek additional help. In these cases, you should contact your eye doctor as soon as possible to determine the best solution for your situation.
4. I am seeing floating spots or colors suddenly. Is that a problem?
Anytime anyone experiences sudden changes in their vision it should be treated as an emergency until proven otherwise. If you see a shimmering lights (like a kaleidoscope) that travel across your vision, or flashes of light (like lightning) in your vision, or several, new, dark floating spots (like gnats or pepper) in your vision, or if you experience a temporary loss of vision or notice something like a curtain hanging over part of your vision, call your eye doctor immediately. If you cannot get in contact with your doctor, go to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible.
5. Are eye infections dangerous?
An eye infection happens when something that’s not supposed to be in your eye gets in there anyway. It could be from a virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite, pollen, fingernail, metal, wood, or something else. When these things enter the eye they can cause redness, itching, burning, swelling, watering, crusting, pain, light sensitivity, blurry vision, and many other problems.
If you think you have an eye infection it is important to see your eye doctor as soon as possible. With prompt, proper treatment most eye infections go away within a few days, but delaying treatment can significantly lengthen the healing and recovery process and may damage your vision. In rare cases, eye infections can lead to blindness.
6. Can my child go to school with an eye infection?
If you think your child may have an eye infection, it is important to see your eye doctor as soon as possible. Your doctor will determine if the infection is from a virus, bacteria, allergies, or something else, then prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Whether a child can spread an infection to others depends upon the cause:
If the problem is allergic, your doctor may prescribe an antihistamine or artificial tear eye drops. Since allergies are not contagious, your child will be able to return to school the next day.
If the infection is bacterial, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics to get rid of the infection. After 24 hours, your child will no longer be contagious, and they can safely return to school.
If the problem is caused by a virus (like the flu), there is no treatment and your child will remain contagious until it has run its course (usually about a week). The child should not return to school again until they are free from all signs and symptoms of the infection.
