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Foreign Body Eye Medical Care

The first part of an eye examination is to evaluate your vision with either a wall chart or a handheld chart.

The next portion of the examination, which is usually only performed by an ophthalmologist or a doctor in the emergency department, is the slit lamp examination. While you are sitting in a chair with your chin on a support, the doctor shines a small slit of light into your eye and looks through a microscope. This helps the doctor to see the cornea, the iris, and the lens, as well as the fluid in your eye.

The ophthalmologist starts with a general examination of the visible portions of your eye. Your eyelids, eyeball, and iris are examined.

During this part of the examination, the doctor looks to make sure that your pupil is symmetric and reacts properly to light, that there is no obvious injury to the eyeball, and that no visible foreign bodies are still in your eye.

During this first part of the examination, your eyelid may be everted with a cotton swab to get a better view of the underside of your eyelid.

Your eye may be numbed with pain medicine, and a fluorescent dye may be applied to your eye.

A blue light is then used to help look for scratches on your cornea or evidence of leaking aqueous fluid, which is the clear fluid that fills the front of your eyeball.

While your eye is numbed, a tonometer may be used to check the pressure in your eye.

Depending on the severity of injury to the eye, the final portion of the examination involves dilating (enlarging) the pupil with eyedrops. Then, the inside of the eye and the retina can be evaluated to ensure that there are no foreign bodies inside the eyeball itself as well as that there is no damage to the retina.

You should be able to care for minor debris in your eye at home. If you have trouble removing something in your eye or if a larger or sharper object is involved, you should seek medical attention. If you are wearing a contact lens, it should be removed prior to trying to remove the foreign body. Do not put the contact lens back into your eye until your eye is completely healed.

It is very important not to rub your eye or to apply any pressure to your eye. If you have punched a hole in your eye (called a ruptured globe or eyeball), you can do significant damage by pressing or rubbing your eye. This is especially true with small children who will rub their eyes to try to remove the debris.

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