Eye Injuries: More Than A Shiner

 

There are numerous ways your child might injure an eye, an extremely tender organ. “There are so many nerves in the eye,” says Dr. Ken Toler, a Jackson ophthalmologist.


Toler says the most common eye injury a child athlete incurs is a corneal abrasion, a slight scratch to the eyeball. “It hurts like crazy,” notes Toler, but it heals quickly, often within twenty-four hours. That’s the good news: “The eye heals faster than any other part of the body” in many instances, he says.


Another less-serious injury is getting something under an eyelid. Sometimes the child or parent can wash it out, but if the object is too big or is badly lodged, a doctor is required to remove it.


The third common injury is getting poked in the eye. Often, this causes the child to see “floaters,” something like “seeing gnats floating around the eye.” A child might also see flashes of light. If this persists, it may signal a retinal detachment, a more serious injury. “That is an emergency and usually requires surgery,” says Toler.


Another common youth-sports eye injury is from “blunt trauma,” i.e. getting hit in the eye with a ball, bat or other object. Kids show off “shiners” or black eyes that are mild enough to heal on their own; but just beyond a shiner lurks a “blow-out fracture.”

 

An object strikes the eye, crushing bone around the eye—often below it. Eye muscles can also pinch, restricting eye movement.
Blow-out fractures may also bleed within the eyeball. Don’t confuse this with bloodshot vessels in the white of an eye; this bleeding is within the iris and often can’t be seen. It may not even be too painful. Blow-out fractures require surgery.

 

Says Toler: “The biggest thing is if anything is unusual—especially if the vision is blurry or pain is associated with it—get it seen right away.”

 

Dr. Ken Toler is on the staff of Jackson Eye Associates, located in the Baptist Hospital’s Medical East Building on North State Street in Jackson, MS. Toler specializes in diseases and surgery of the eyes, cataracts, and LASIK refractive surgery.