Treatment generally involves a thorough examination of your eye and lids, to check for any trapped foreign body or grit and ensure there is no serious eye injury, followed by drops or ointment and, sometimes, an eye pad. If you are given an eye pad, you will need to keep it on for between 12 and 24 hours; if you find this uncomfortable, you can take it off and use sunglasses instead.
Anaesthetic drops are only given to numb your eye to help with your examination. They are not prescribed to take home as they will slow corneal healing if used regularly. Please remember that the pain will come back once the anaesthetic has worn off, usually after 20 to 60 minutes.
You should also note the following:
If you are asked to use drops or ointments, please follow these steps:
Before putting in your eyedrops, first check that the drops are still in date.
If you were using a new bottle of eyedrops also check that the seal is not broken make sure you're putting the correct drops into the correct eye.
Let the correct time to instill your drops. Place a clean tissue on a flat surface wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water invert the bottle two or three times to ensure the contents are evenly mixed together.
Remove the lid and place it on the tissue tilt your head back, pull down your lower lid and form a small pocket. Make sure that the tip of the bottle does not come into contact with your skin or eyelashes as it might contaminate the drops.
Look up and gently squeeze the bottle so that a single drop falls into the pocket made by your lower lid.
Blink the drops in press lightly on the inner corner of your eye this enables more of the drop to be absorbed and not run away down your tear duct.
Wipe any excess fluid from your closed eyelids with a clean tissue.
Recap your drop bottle if you have more than one drop to instill. Wait at least 5 minutes before putting in another drop.
Wash your hands with soap and water to remove any traces of medication.
If you have any problems please contact our nurse led helpline service Moorfields Direct on 0207 566 2345
Sometimes, though it feels as if the abrasion had healed, you can wake up in the morning several weeks or months following with a feeling that the discomfort from the abrasion has returned. If this happens, don’t panic, but re-attend to see your consultant or to the A&E department where they will treat you for this recurrent abrasion as before but might also give you lubricant eye ointment for use at night.
If your eye becomes increasingly red or painful, your sight becomes more blurred or you develop very noticeable and spreading redness together with a lot of swelling of the eyelids, you must contact the Practice Manager of your consultant or visit A&E at Moorfields Eye Hospital, 162 City Road, London EC1V 2PD. Remember though that if your consultant or nurses put in pupil dilating (enlarging) drops, your sight will normally be blurred for 12-24 hours after these were put in.
This includes an initial consultation and a visual acuity assessment.
If further outpatient tests and investigations are required, they will be charged at an additional rate. Your consultant will discuss this with you at your consultation.
The cost of onward treatment will be provided after initial consultation, based on your personalised treatment plan.
Find out more about symptoms and causes of corneal abrasion
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