What is an Eye Emergency?

Eye emergencies include cuts, scratches, objects in the eye, burns, chemical exposure, and blunt injuries to the eye or eyelid. Eye pain can be categorized as either ocular pain (on the surface of the eye) or orbital pain (behind or in the eye.) both should be treated immediately. Since the eye is easily damaged, any of these conditions can lead to vision loss if left untreated. It is important to get medical attention for all major eye or eyelid injuries and problems.

Eye problems (such as a painful red eye) that are not due to injury still need urgent medical attention. The following four vision symptoms require immediate attention from a doctor:

1. You have sudden, unexplained loss of vision.

2. You have pain in or around your eyes.

3. You are experiencing flashing light or floating objects in your vision.

4. You slept in contacts and woke up with a painful, light sensitive, red eye.