Well, this is fun. I woke up with the feeling that something was stuck in my right eye. Couldn’t see anything in there, but it felt like a stylus was attached to the inside of my eyelid, carving a groove in my eyeball everytime I blinked. So, I went to the pharmacy and got some eye drops and eye wash. They gave me a slight amount of relief. Very slight. I think I somehow scratched my cornea. So, now I think I have to figure out how to self-apply a tight eye patch that will keep my eyelid from moving around so the cornea can heal. I can tell you, reading is not a pleasure right now.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Ok I’ll stop jerking your chain on Iran then… I’d go see a doctor. Eyes are precious.
Nope, get to the ER now, as in right now. Let a professional deal with it. This is from a woman who had a cataract at 33 y/o and a detached retina at 44. You do not want diminished eyesite, take my word on it.
I’d like to go for the drops if nothing else, but I have no one to drive me today. I also have no insurance. So, I’ll improvise.
I feel ya, the retina cost over $17k for a 5 hour outpatient surgery. Do you know a GP or nurse who you could turn to for a little more concrete advice? My grandmother always had an eye cup that made it easier to flush the eye. Don’t even know if they still sell them. Ugh, you’re making me blink.
yeah, I bought the eye wash wih eye cup and have flushed it repeatedly. That and some Clear Eyes helped with some of the irritation, but it still feels like something is stuck in there. What probably happened is that whatever got in there wound up leaving a scratch, which now has to heal.
Isn’t the ER free? Isn’t that why everybody without insurance goes there?
Well, they have to treat you, but it’s certainly not free. In fact, it costs you more if you don’t have insurance because the cost isn’t negotiated down. Been there.
Oh.
Yeah, after they take blood from this stone.
link.
Doesn’t sound like something you should self-diagnose.
What they said. Get to a real doctor now. In my experience, eye stuff rarely fixes itself. I hardly ever go to a doctor, but eye problems are an absolute exception.
The cornea heals rather quickly, provided that you don’t irritate them by rubbing. Usually, they heal within 72 hours. I don’t know what I did, but I need to check my pillows and pillowcases and saw off my fingernails.
Go to an opthamologist. you dont want to fool around with corneal abrasions- you need antibiotics(topical) and possibly topical NSAIDS for pain relief. patching helps too, but dont try to fix this at home-you risk your sight.
that’ll have to wait until at least tomorrow. I appreciate the advice, especially from a physician.
Yes, the cornea heals very quickly, if all it is is an exposure keratitis or an abrasion. If your eyes are not fully closed while you are asleep they can become dry, which can cause problems, and you can also scratch them by rubbing against your pillow or something else. This happens to me a lot, and my rule is keep the eye well lubricated, and if I don’t notice a marked improvement within four or five hours, call the eye doctor.
You really should look into a way to get on a group policy that might make insurance affordable for you. I did consulting for a lot of years, and found several ways to get affordable insurance. Some co op stores offered group policies to their members, and there is around here a professional organization for people in theatre that offered at that time two affordable plans for members. Anyone could join, so that made affordable medical insurance available to anyone who knew about it and wanted to join. Do a little sleuthing. It might be worth it.
Booman, I hope you will follow advice given here, I totally agree you should see eye doctor. Here places that sell glasses, usually have a doctor there and are open on Sat.
and you could have something stuck on the inside of eyelid that will not stop pain or damage until removed. I know my ex had that happen. Patch will not stop eyeball from moving as it works in concert with other eye, so if object is embedded in eyelid it will just go on scratching..
Ditto everybody else. Also, you might not want to strain them looking at a computer screen.
BooMan, I am not a physician, so this is not a diagnosis, but I don’t think you can risk dealing with this on your own. Sure, it’s probably the case that if you go in to see a doctor they will just give you a more sophisticated form of eye drop and some antibiotics. But there is about a 10% chance that you still have something in your eye that needs to be removed, or that you have damage to the ocular portion of the cornea, in which case there are other treatments you will need to prevent a scar which could cause possible permanent damage.
ditto teacher toni. And iirc, Phila is the home of the best eye surgeons in the world, b/c of Sheie [sp] eye clinic. Also, to help out, load up on vitamins to accelerate the healing, esp ginseng, cod liver oil, and alpha lipoic acid, (expensive but worth it, good for nerve damage).
Agreed, do anything you need to do to get medical attention.
One time I had the papery stuff that comes around peanuts in the shell get under my eyelid. You wouldn’t believe the problems it caused.
Walgreens here in St Louis have walkin clinics. You can get seen for 40-50 bucks. They will look at your eye and tell you what you need to do next.
I wouldn’t wait around on this.
Do you know anyone who is a physician and a friend? Possibly they can do a little simple diagnosis.
When I was younger I got a small bit of molten solder in my eye. I went to a local (private) urgent care center and got it treated for less than $100 because I didn’t have insurance. They were really understanding and gave me a decent deal. I think all they really did though was lay me back and ran a bag of saline through a tube into my eye to clean it out good. Then they gave me a tube of antibiotic ointment to use with an eye patch. You may be able to obtain all of this stuff at the pharmacy without a prescription, but it’s still a good idea to see a doctor. Call a local eye doctor and ask if they can see you for a reasonable fee. Don’t go to the emergency room. That will really cost you.