Warm Weather Brings Eye Injuries
Spring brings the warm weather, the beautiful flowers... and all of those nasty eye injuries.
The incidence of sports and recreational related eye injuries rises sharply as summer approaches. Fortunately, most of these injuries are minor. Unfortunately, some will lose vision or even lose their eye. Most importantly, all of these injuries are preventable.
The most common injury we see is a corneal abrasion or a scratch to the clear surface of the eye. Since the cornea has the highest density of pain receptors of any tissue in the body, a small corneal abrasion is usually extremely painful. The symptoms include blurry vision, and an intense foreign body sensation with redness and intense tearing. Any object that hits the eye (like a ball or a twig from a weed-wacker) can cause an abrasion. Fortunately, the corneal surface is covered with one of the fastest healing tissues in the body. Usually, an abrasion is fully healed in as few as 48 hours.
Another common but more serious injury we see is known as a hyphema (high-fee-ma). This is the medical term for a hemorrhage in the front or anterior chamber of the eye (not to be confused with a sub-conjunctival hemorrhage, which is blood overlying the white of the eye). A hyphema may result from a blunt injury or blow to the eye which breaks blood vessels, leading to an intraocular hemorrhage. This injury can lead to an acute increase in the eye pressure, causing intense pain. The vision is usually very blurry and the inflamed eye is very light sensitive. Three of the hyphemas I treated last year resulted from baseball injuries. Treatment includes topical steroid drops along with strict bed rest to prevent re-bleeding. If the eye re- bleeds within the first five days after the original injury, the chance of long term complications greatly increases. There is about a 20 percent chance of developing glaucoma in an eye that has had a hyphema.
Orbital fractures, or damage to the bones surrounding the eye are also very common. They result from high velocity blows to the region surrounding the eye. Again, baseball injuries are commonly associated with orbital fractures. Of course, the eye can also be injured, but many times just the bones are damaged. Patients usually complain of double vision with this injury. The eye muscles can become trapped in the fractured bone, preventing normal eye movements and resulting in a double image. This injury is usually treated surgically to realign the bones and free the trapped eye muscles.
The most serious injury, the ruptured globe, is fortunately the rarest. A ruptured globe results when the eye suffers a direct blow which is forceful enough to actually break the eye open (yes, it is pretty gross). Although surgical repair is usually attempted, most cases result in enucleation or the removal of the eye, with the subsequent fitting of an artificial prosthetic eye.
What are the three best ways to prevent these warm weather injuries? Eye protection, eye protection and eye protection! Sports goggles and protective eyeglasses are the best way to reduce the risk of eye injury during our summer fun time. Protective eye wear is inexpensive, it can be fashionable and the benefits far outweigh the costs. Please consider safety eye wear before you step up to that home plate.
