First, Wash Your Hands
| Download This Episode | If you have a foreign body in your eye, the first thing you should do is wash your hands. Then try to flush the object out of your eye with clean water or saline solution. Use an eyecup or a small, clean drinking glass positioned with its rim resting on the bone at the base of your eye socket. If you’re trying to remove an object from someone else’s eye, you also start by washing your hands. Seat the person in a well-lighted area and gently examine the eye to find the object. Pull the lower lid down and ask the person to look up and then hold the upper lid while the person looks down. If the object is floating in the tear film on the surface of the eye, try flushing it out with saline solution or clean, lukewarm water. Don’t try to remove an object that’s embedded in the eyeball and don’t try to remove a large object that makes closing the eye difficult. If you can’t remove the object or pain and redness persists after the object is removed, consult a medical professional immediately.
This week’s “Here’s To Your Health” broadcasts describe foreign bodies, objects caught inside the human body. This can include objects that have been swallowed, as well as material stuck inside some part of your body. Objects can become stuck in our eyes, our ears or lodged in our esophagus. The sensations and relative danger of a foreign body vary depending on where the object is lodged, as well as the size and shape of the object. To learn more about safely removing foreign objects from the body, or to schedule an appointment with a primary care physician, please contact UAMS at 501-686-8000.
Transcript
T. Glenn Pait, M.D., of UAMS is the host of the program.