corneal abrasion - what to do?

[Yuri-G]

so I was taking out my contacts last night and right after I took out the right one, my eye suddenly felt like it had something in it. I checked it extensively in the mirror, flushed it out, even poked around a little, but couldn't find anything. googling the symptoms it appears I have scratched my cornea a little, it feels like there's something in my eye even when there isn't. and since it occured while I was taking my contact out it's pretty likely that I had a little dust or hair or something on there that I didn't know about and it just scratched my eye a little.

to anyone who has had one, what's the best thing to do? various websites recommend seeing an opthamalogist but the same websites all say the condition normally clears itself up in 1-3 days. do I really need to go see an eye doctor if it's just going to get better on its own? it doesn't hurt as much as it did last night, so it seems to already be getting better. but it still feels like I have a piece of dust up inside my eyelid or something. is it best just to let it heal? keep the eye closed? any other tips?

I mean, if it were getting worse or felt more painful I might be afraid of infection and I'd certainly go see the eye doctor, but I don't want to waste the time and money if it's going to get better on its own.

[Cyn]

I think you answered your own question.

Just give it a few days, if it heals up, you saved some money. If it gets worse, go to the doctor.

[Blabj]

I've done that before and yeah, stings for a while but eventually heals up on its own (as long as you stop poking at it!)

I think you might be able to get some eye drops for it if it really matters, but I wouldn't bother. Just make sure you keep your finger out for a while, to stop it from getting worse.

[Yuri-G]

ok... so just leave it alone and it'll heal. good.

I've been going around all day today with one eye closed, hopefully that'll make it heal faster, I have no idea lol.

[kuronosan]

If it persists just use eye drops to help ease the friction. There isn't much else you can do but to minimize any further damage I'd go see a doctor. Again, if it persists.

[Olo401]

You need to take away the temptation to run your eye, and at the same time relax it so that it doesn't get irritated. The best way I found to do this was to put a gauze patch over my eye. Change it twice a day, before & after sleeping, & flush your eye out with lightly salted water to get all the built-up pus & bacteria out of it.

I had this happen to me a few months back.. got an eyelash in my eye and it scratched my cornea, so it felt like it was still in there when it wasn't and I kept rubbing & rubbing & making it worse.