Causes of Eye injuries

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The greatest danger is from small, high-speed objects. Many children have suffered severe eye injuries by being stabbed or poked with sticks, air-gun pellets, or small stones thrown up by rotary grass cutters.

Both adults and children suffer injuries when the body is moving at speed. Penetrating injuries to the eye commonly arise from windscreen glass in car accidents, though this happens much less often now that seat belts are widely used.

Industrial accidents, too, are common, especially to people using high-speed machinery such as grinders, drills, saws, lathes or milling machines without adequate eye protection.

Small external objects (foreign bodies) in the eye are very common and usually do little harm. However, if they are placed near the centre of the cornea and are deeply embedded, they may cause some permanent loss of vision. Corneal abrasions (scratches) in which the surface layer is scraped off are very painful for a time, but will usually heal well as a new surface layer grows across. They do, however, need expert attention.

Corrosive liquids can cause severe eye injuries. Strong alkalis (such as bleach) are worse than strong acids because alkalis rapidly sink into the corneal tissue, causing irremediable damage and tissue reactions that may even make successful corneal grafting impossible.