Overview of Current Emergency Service Duties

We understand that emergency eye problems may occur at any time.  During normal office hours, we make every effort to accommodate emergency patients with red or painful eyes, ocular foreign bodies, and those with sudden vision changes or flashes of light.  If your health insurance plan requires authorization from you primary care physician, please let us know in advance to help expedite your office visit.   

If you have a medical eye emergency after regular office hours, please call our main telephone number at  301-770-2020, and you will be directed to our emergency contact number, or go to the nearest emergency room.  Dr. Chu is available for emergency eye care, even on weekends!

Chemical Eye Splash

Chemical exposure to any part of the eye or eyelid may result in a chemical eye burn. The severity of a burn depends on what substance caused it, how long the substance had contact with the eye, and how the injury is treated.   In general alkali chemicals (ammonia, potassium hydroxide, lye) are more damaging to the eye than acids. Damage is usually limited to the front segment of the eye, including the cornea, (the clear front surface of the eye responsible for good vision, which is most frequently affected), the conjunctiva (the layer covering the white part of the eye), and occasionally the internal eye structures of the eye, including the lens.  Burns that penetrate deeper than the cornea are the most severe.

For all chemical injuries, the first thing you should do is immediately irrigate the eye copiously. Ideally, specific eye irrigating solutions should be used for this, but if none are available regular tap water will do just fine.

• Begin washing your eye before taking any other action and continue for at least 10 minutes. The longer a chemical is in your eye, the more damage will occur. Diluting the substance and washing away any particles that may have been in the chemical are extremely important.
  
• Ideally, in a work setting, you would be placed in an emergency eyewash or shower station and your eye washed with sterile isotonic saline solution. If sterile saline is not available, use cold tap water.
  
• If you are at home and do not have special eye wash, step into the shower with your clothes on to wash out your eye.
  
• Even though it may be uncomfortable, open your eyelids as wide as possible as you rinse them out.
  
• If an alkali or acid burn has occurred, call an ambulance immediately, and continue washing until the ambulance arrives to take you to a hospital's emergency department.
• Always bring the chemical with you so the doctor can identify the active ingredient that caused the burn.

Sports Eye Injuries

Most parents wouldn't think that an innocent game of softball could lead their child to the emergency room, but sports and recreational activities cause more than 40,000 eye injuries each year, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In fact, baseball is the main cause of sports-related injuries in 5 to 14-year-olds. Children often lack depth perception and sometimes misjudge the speed or distance of a flying ball, a mistake that could cause a ball to hit the face. However, according to Prevent Blindness America, 90% of sports-related eye injuries can be prevented by using proper protective eyewear.

Types of Injuries

The most common types of eye trauma that can result from sports injuries are blunt injuries, corneal abrasions and penetrating injuries.

• Blunt injuries: Blunt injuries occur when the eye is suddenly compressed by impact from an object. Blunt injuries, often caused by tennis balls, racquets, fists or elbows, sometimes cause a black eye or hyphema (bleeding in the front of the eye.) More serious blunt injuries often cause broken bones around the eye, and may sometimes seriously damage important eye structures, which could lead to vision loss.
• Corneal abrasions: Corneal abrasions are painful scrapes on the outside of the eye, or the cornea. Most corneal abrasions eventually heal on their own, but your doctor may prescribe medication to help control the pain. The most common cause of a sports related corneal abrasion is a finger in the eye, a common event during basketball games.
• Penetrating injuries: Penetrating injuries are caused by a foreign object piercing the eye. Penetrating injuries are very serious, often resulting in severe damage to the eye. These injuries often occur when shattered glass from broken eyeglasses enters the eye. Penetrating injuries must be treated quickly in order to preserve vision.

Protective Eyewear

Sadly, many people believe that wearing regular eyeglasses during sports will protect the eyes. The truth is, however, just the opposite. The lenses of regular eyeglasses can shatter upon impact by a ball, which could lead to a penetrating injury. All sports goggles and glasses should be made with polycarbonate lenses. Polycarbonate lenses are much stronger than regular lenses.

Each sport has a certain type of recommended protective eyewear, determined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). High-risk sports that require protective eyewear include basketball, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, fencing, paintball, water polo, racquetball, soccer and downhill skiing.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents must be proactive in protecting their children's eyes during sports activities. Many youth and children's teams don't require eye protection, so parents must insist that their children wear safety glasses or goggles whenever they play. Also, parents must remember to set a good example by wearing eye protection themselves.

Foreign Body in the Eye

1. Examine the eye:
   After washing your hands, look into a mirror and gently pull down on the lower eyelid. Look up to examine the lower eye region. Repeat with the upper eyelid, looking down to examine the upper region. (If possible, have a friend help with this step, as it is difficult to examine your own eyes.)
2. Rinse the eye with water:
   Fill a clean cup with regular water. While holding the lower rim of the cup on the bone below your eye, pour the water directly into the eye. A water fountain also makes a good eyewash because it will run a steady stream of water into your eye, dislodging the foreign body.

Tips:

1. Keep your eye gently closed. Excessive blinking could cause more irritation and discomfort.
2. Although you will be tempted, DO NOT RUB YOUR EYE.  Rubbing may cause the foreign body to become more deeply embedded in the eye.
3. Do not try to remove a foreign object that is clearly embedded in the eye.  Call Dr. Chu immediately or go to the nearest emergency room.  The object could be embedded in the delicate tissues of the eye. Eye doctors use specialized instruments to remove foreign objects from the eyes.
4. Activities such as cutting wood or grinding metal may create projectile objects that could fly into the eyes at very high rates of speed. These particles can easily become embedded in the eye tissue or penetrate the eye itself. Wearing safety glasses can prevent this type of injury.