I had a corneal abrasion in grad school. Ironically, I cut myself with the edge of my dissertation. It was one of the worst experiences. The ophthalmologist I went to did the FITC drop test on me and showed me the cut in the mirror. I have to say it was really cool to see the tiny glowing sliver in my eye. He prescribed me some antibiotic drops, and that was it. I went home, and basically had to sit in bed with my eyes closed the entire day, because my other eye was sympathetic, and stopped wanting to open. And it still hurt! The next day, I went to an optometrist. He took a look at my eye and prescribed a contact lens. That did the trick because the pain I was feeling was from my eyelid, rubbing against and continually opening the cut. My eye stopped hurting, almost immediately, and healed within 24 hours.
Walked into a dry branch. Felt like a knife in my eye! Took a long time to heal as the cells trying to fix it were not staying in place. Some issue with the mortar not keeping the bricks in place. Day drops and night ointment for years. Thank you for your skillful compassion in finding the solution for the numbing drops.
I wish you had been my ER doc in 2017 the day I scratched my cornea. It was better in about 18 hours but those 18 hours were no fun. I could not drive so I walked to the ER; fortunately there was an ER within walking distance. They basically said, yeah, just a scratch, it will get better soon, see this ophthalmologist next week. By the day of the ophthalmologist appointment I could drive again.
I'm a contact lens wearer (PMMA originally), and when I wanted to get a prescription for glasses in my late 40’s, I had to switch to toroidal soft lenses for a month or two to allow my eye shape to restore itself (I have huge astigmatism). Around the end of this period, I developed an abrasion from the torus rubbing my sclera. It was unbelievably painful, and since I still did not have glasses, I had to drive to urgent care with tears running down my face. Once I got there, I yanked my contacts out as soon as possible, which left me blind, but in slightly less pain. Four hours later I got to see the on-call ophthalmology resident, and the relief I felt when he put the numbing drops in was indescribable. I was so grateful. He sent me home with a single-use ampule of the stuff, too.
To be fair, it might have only been two hours, but it felt like a very long time. This was in 2013, and I am sure I would be waiting a lot longer today.
Ya know, I think they work. I don't have much experience prescribing them to be honest, but my sense is that indeed they help.
One irony is that the ophthalmologists claim that one concern about topical numbing drops is that the lack of pain delays wound healing--but they still recommend topical NSAIDS. Seems to me that this would have the same effect, if true. (And I don't think there's really clinical evidence that analgesia slows healing down by much at all).
I had a corneal abrasion in grad school. Ironically, I cut myself with the edge of my dissertation. It was one of the worst experiences. The ophthalmologist I went to did the FITC drop test on me and showed me the cut in the mirror. I have to say it was really cool to see the tiny glowing sliver in my eye. He prescribed me some antibiotic drops, and that was it. I went home, and basically had to sit in bed with my eyes closed the entire day, because my other eye was sympathetic, and stopped wanting to open. And it still hurt! The next day, I went to an optometrist. He took a look at my eye and prescribed a contact lens. That did the trick because the pain I was feeling was from my eyelid, rubbing against and continually opening the cut. My eye stopped hurting, almost immediately, and healed within 24 hours.
Holy ouch. The dissertation!!!!
Also, wow, I've never heard about the special contact thing before. Sounds like a good idea in some cases.
Right?! The irony!!
I would love to hear what Dr. Glaucomflecken would have to say about this!
He’s either right or we love him anyway.
Walked into a dry branch. Felt like a knife in my eye! Took a long time to heal as the cells trying to fix it were not staying in place. Some issue with the mortar not keeping the bricks in place. Day drops and night ointment for years. Thank you for your skillful compassion in finding the solution for the numbing drops.
I wish you had been my ER doc in 2017 the day I scratched my cornea. It was better in about 18 hours but those 18 hours were no fun. I could not drive so I walked to the ER; fortunately there was an ER within walking distance. They basically said, yeah, just a scratch, it will get better soon, see this ophthalmologist next week. By the day of the ophthalmologist appointment I could drive again.
Hopefully more ER docs will do this going forward :)
I'm a contact lens wearer (PMMA originally), and when I wanted to get a prescription for glasses in my late 40’s, I had to switch to toroidal soft lenses for a month or two to allow my eye shape to restore itself (I have huge astigmatism). Around the end of this period, I developed an abrasion from the torus rubbing my sclera. It was unbelievably painful, and since I still did not have glasses, I had to drive to urgent care with tears running down my face. Once I got there, I yanked my contacts out as soon as possible, which left me blind, but in slightly less pain. Four hours later I got to see the on-call ophthalmology resident, and the relief I felt when he put the numbing drops in was indescribable. I was so grateful. He sent me home with a single-use ampule of the stuff, too.
I think it's outrageous that you had to wait four hours—another example of physicians having a high tolerance for other people's pain.
To be fair, it might have only been two hours, but it felt like a very long time. This was in 2013, and I am sure I would be waiting a lot longer today.
How effective are topical NSAIDs for decreasing the associated pain?
Ya know, I think they work. I don't have much experience prescribing them to be honest, but my sense is that indeed they help.
One irony is that the ophthalmologists claim that one concern about topical numbing drops is that the lack of pain delays wound healing--but they still recommend topical NSAIDS. Seems to me that this would have the same effect, if true. (And I don't think there's really clinical evidence that analgesia slows healing down by much at all).