What happens if you scratch your cornea

If your cornea—the clear layer covering your iris and the pupil—gets scratched, your vision may be permanently affected. A superficial eye scratch usually has the following symptoms:. However, if your cornea was scratched, you may experience more serious symptoms such as:. If you experience any of the aforementioned symptoms, you should see an eye specialist as soon as possible. It depends on which layer of the cornea was scratched. The epithelium is the outermost layer of the cornea and is similar to skin.

Minor corneal abrasions—which comprise the majority of cases—only affect these two layers and are expected to heal on their own within one to three days without any additional effects. If you experience a lot of pain in your eyes, the corneal abrasion may have penetrated several layers. Deeper abrasions require treatment because they can cause permanent corneal scars, whitish areas in your cornea that may affect your vision.

Show references AskMayoExpert. Eye trauma. Rochester, Minn. Recognizing and treating eye injuries. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Accessed Jan. Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed Oct. Subbarao I, et al. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Stockton » Manteca » Modesto » 1. About Us Doctors Stephen A. Lin, M. Stevens Y.

Kim, M. Kimberly Cockerham, M. The water or saline solution may flush the foreign object from your eye. DO blink. Blinking can help get rid of small bits of dust or sand in your eye. DO pull your upper eyelid over your lower eyelid. The lashes from your lower eyelid may be able to brush away any foreign object caught underneath your upper eye lid.

DO wear sunglasses. If your eye is sensitive to light because of the scratch, sunglasses will make you more comfortable while you heal. DON'T rub your eye. Rubbing your eye can make the scratch worse. DON'T touch your eye with anything.

Fingers, cotton swabs and other objects won't help remove any foreign objects and could hurt your eye more. The object that caused the scratch may be gone even though you still feel like something is in your eye.