Symptoms

Depending on the cause, eye injuries can present themselves with different symptoms. In most cases a strong reddening of the eye can be seen, which is caused by an irritation of the conjunctiva. The eye may be swollen, have an increased lacrimation and frequent blinking.

Often there is also an unpleasant foreign body sensation. In many cases, these symptoms are found in both the affected and the unaffected eye. A further symptom of an eye injury is severe pain, which can increase when the eyelid is blinking.

This is particularly common when the cornea is injured, as it is very sensitive to pain, unlike other structures of the eye. This is why even slight superficial injuries to the eye can cause massive pain to the affected person, for example when a small grain of sand rubs against the cornea. Bruises of the eye or fractures of the eye socket, which can be caused by blows or impacts on the eye, can cause bleeding and bruising, which can be visible from the outside and give an indication of the origin of the injury.

Bruises in the eye socket can compress eye muscles and optic nerve, causing double vision, impaired vision or even complete loss of vision. Other optical phenomena that can occur when the eye, especially the vitreous and retina, is injured are the seeing of black dots that move with eye movements or the seeing of flashes. In particularly serious accidents, with massive force being applied to the eye, the optic nerve can be torn out, which is associated with immediate blindness in the affected eye.

Diagnosis

Since some eye injuries can lead to serious complications, such as blindness in the affected eye, eye injuries should be evaluated by an eye specialist. In the foreground is a detailed questioning of the patient about the origin of the injury on the eye, as well as the questioning of symptoms of the patient, such as redness, swelling, pain, seeing double images, black spots or flashes or the loss of vision. This detailed questioning is called anamnesis.

Also very important is a thorough examination of the affected eye, the inspection. Often, injuries to the eye are already visible from the outside (for example, foreign bodies stuck firmly in the eye, bruises or malposition of the affected eye compared to the unaffected eye) and can thus facilitate the diagnosis. Following the anamnesis and inspection, an examination of the eye is carried out to check, among other things, the ability to close the eye and the ability to move the eye in different directions.

Local anaesthetic eye drops are usually used to prevent pain from occurring or worsening during the examination. Furthermore, various tests are used to determine whether there is any visual impairment or even complete loss of vision. An important examination instrument that is also used to diagnose eye injuries is the slit lamp. The slit lamp examination can be used to examine the anterior, middle and posterior segments of the eye and thus also detect injuries that are not visible from the outside, such as retinal injuries.In some cases, for example if the eye is struck or bumped, it may be necessary to examine the eye using ultrasound, X-ray or computed tomography (CT) to detect fractures, bruising or foreign bodies.