Specialty Eye Care
Emergency Eye Care
Sudden vision loss, eye pain, chemical splash, a foreign body, a red eye in a contact lens wearer, or new floaters with flashing lights all need same day assessment. Call the office rather than waiting for a routine appointment.
In short
Sudden change, pain, injury or chemicals. Call, do not wait.
Eye emergencies are unusual in that the difference between a good and a poor outcome is often measured in hours. A retinal tear caught before detachment is a straightforward laser procedure. A corneal ulcer treated on day one behaves very differently from one treated on day four. A chemical splash irrigated within seconds does far less damage than one irrigated after a drive to a clinic.
That last point is worth emphasising. For a chemical splash, irrigation comes first, before travel and before phoning anyone. Flush the eye with clean water continuously for at least fifteen minutes, then call.
The list below covers what warrants urgent attention. When in doubt, phone the office. Nobody minds being asked.
What to expect
- Chemical splash: irrigate first
- Flush continuously with clean water for at least fifteen minutes before doing anything else, including phoning. Then call immediately.
- Penetrating injury: do not remove anything
- If something is embedded in the eye, leave it. Shield the eye without pressure and seek emergency care immediately.
- Sudden vision loss
- Painless sudden loss of vision in one eye is a vascular emergency until proven otherwise and needs immediate attention.
- Contact lens wearers with a red painful eye
- Remove the lenses, keep them, and call. This is treated as a corneal infection until it is shown not to be.
What is included
- Same day assessment for urgent presentations
- Slit lamp examination and diagnostic staining
- Foreign body removal where appropriate
- Prescription of medication at the visit
- Prompt referral where surgical care is needed
What this does not do
- Severe trauma, penetrating injury and suspected globe rupture need a hospital emergency department, not an optometry office.
- The office is open Monday to Friday. Outside those hours an emergency department is the right destination.
Questions and answers
What should I do for a chemical splash?
Irrigate immediately with clean water and keep going for at least fifteen minutes. Do this before travelling and before phoning. The damage from most chemical exposures is done in the first minutes, so irrigation time is the single most important variable.
I have something in my eye. Should I try to remove it?
A loose eyelash or speck can be flushed with clean saline. Anything embedded should be left alone entirely and seen the same day. Rubbing or picking at an embedded foreign body causes far more damage than the object itself.
Is sudden painless vision loss urgent?
Extremely. Painless sudden loss of vision in one eye can indicate a retinal artery or vein occlusion or a retinal detachment, all of which are time critical. Seek care immediately.
What if it happens outside office hours?
Go to an emergency department. The office is open Monday to Friday and eye emergencies do not wait for Monday.
Talk to someone about emergency eye care
Appointments are scheduled two per hour, so there is time to answer questions properly. Call (480) 706-3937 or request a time online.