Emergency Eye Care

Although many may be inclined to go to the emergency room or their primary care physician when it comes to sudden eye emergencies, we insist you come to our Chalmette optometrist instead so we can develop a specific and specialized treatment plan for you. This will help you heal faster and better, especially if we already have a history of your eye health from your annual comprehensive eye exams. If you are experiencing any of the following, then it’s a good time to visit our Chalmette eye doctor:

• Sore eyes
• Red or itchy eyes
• Pink eye (or other bacterial infections)
• Foreign body in the eye
• Eye allergies
• Eye burns

Eye Emergencies

Many studies demonstrate that many emergency room visits are caused by eye emergencies, but an emergency room may not be necessary. Our Chalmette optometrist is proud to offer exceptional emergency eye care for sudden problems that may arise, such as:

• Eye infections
• Eye trauma
• Scratched eyes
• Sudden loss of vision
• Lost/broken contact lenses or eyeglasses
• Floating specks in your line of sight
• Painful eyes
• Seeing random flashes of light
• Red, pained eyes
• Dislodged contact lenses

Foreign Objects

Foreign objects may be things such as eyelashes, eyebrow hairs, sand, dirt, and other objects that wind up in your eyes. This usually causes irritation and/or pain, and depending on what the foreign object is, it may even puncture or traumatize the eye. In mild cases, the object might go away on its own. Because foreign bodies aggravate the eye, they may trigger an inflammatory response, which can cause dilation and swelling of the lids, conjunctiva, and cornea. Untreated, this can cause a severe infection.

If a foreign object remains in your eye for more than an hour or two, seek immediate medical attention at our Chalmette optical. The eyes are highly delicate, and anything that takes a long time to be removed must be expertly removed by our eye doctor to keep you and your eyes as safe and healthy as possible.

How Can Eye Doctors Help Remove Foreign Objects?

In the event that you cannot remove a foreign object by yourself with warm water and determine that visiting our Chalmette eye doctor is the best course of action, we may numb your eye with anesthetic eye drops and then proceed to remove the foreign body with a small, specialized metal instrument.

In other cases, a foreign object might be stuck underneath your eyelid. At this point, our doctor may have to turn your eyelid inside out in order to rid it of the foreign object. Of course, we will anesthetize you, but once it wears off you may still feel a bit of discomfort as your eye heals.

If you suspect that a foreign object has punctured your eye, rather trying to take care of it yourself it is best for you to give us a call so we can assess your eye emergency and resolve it quickly to prevent eye damage, such as loss of vision, premature cataracts, and retina damage.