Eye injuries

Caring for a minor eye injury

• Use a sterile bandage or cloth.
  • If you have a cut on your eyelid, apply a sterile bandage to protect the area. If you don't have a sterile bandage, use a clean cloth.
  • Don't use fluffy cotton bandages around the eye. They could tear apart and get stuck in the eye.
  • Keep the bandage clean and dry.
• Reduce swelling.
  • To reduce swelling around the eye, apply ice or cold packs for 15 minutes 3 or 4 times a day during the first 48 hours after the injury. The sooner you apply a cold pack, the less swelling you are likely to have. Place a cloth between the ice and your skin.
  • Keep your head elevated. This helps reduce swelling.
  • After the swelling goes down, try warm compresses to help relieve pain.
  • Don't use chemical cooling packs on or near the eye. If the pack leaks, the chemicals could cause more eye damage.
  • Don't use a piece of raw meat on an injured eye.
• Use pain medicine.

  Try a nonprescription pain medicine such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin to relieve pain. It's not recommended that you take aspirin if you are age 20 or younger.

• Get more help for children.
  • Having another adult help you treat the child is a good idea. Using first aid for an eye injury in a child may be hard. It depends on the child's age, size, and ability to cooperate.
  • Stay calm, and talk in a soothing voice. Use slow, gentle movements to help the child stay calm and cooperative. A struggling child may need to be held strongly so that first aid can be started and so that you can assess how serious the eye injury is.