Red Eyes and Emergency Eye Exams

Call our office in Sage Creek Winnipeg at 204-255-3937 as soon as possible to arrange urgent eye care.

If you are having an ocular emergency after hours, please go to the 24/7 Misericordia Eye Care Centre and report to patient registration.

Symptoms that require emergency service include, but are not limited to:

• Flashes of light or new floaters in your vision
• Sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes
• Eye trauma
• Eye infections
• Foreign materials stuck in the eyes
• Scratched eyes
• Lost or broken contact lenses or eyeglasses
• 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.

Studies have shown that an overwhelming number of emergency room visits could have been treated and managed 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 are equipped to treat a 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.