The eye is one of the most delicate parts of the body, and vision is essential to navigating your daily life. This combination means that eye injuries are a particular concern. Every year, thousands of people in Texas experience eye injuries, ranging from minor to permanently debilitating.
The first step to avoiding severe injuries is understanding your risks and what to be vigilant against. Knowing the most common eye injuries can better prepare you to avoid them.
Indirect eye injuries
There are a few common injuries that don’t directly impact the eye itself but are generally classified as eye injuries.
The first is a black eye. A black eye results from a blow to or around the eye region, and causes bruising and swelling around the eye area. A black eye can impair vision due to the swelling.
A more serious eye-adjacent injury is an orbital bone fracture. The orbital area is the bone structure around the eye, and traumatic impact can fracture the bone. An orbital bone fracture can cause permanent damage, especially if nerves or muscles become trapped or mangled within the fracture.
Direct eye injuries
Direct eye injuries are damage to the eye itself. Most direct eye injuries occur on the surface of the eye.
Examples include getting foreign objects lodged in or around the eye, a scratch to the cornea (the outside of the eye) and burns or other irritation. In the case of foreign objects or scratches, most of the time the damage is temporary. But more severe scratches and burns can result in permanent vision loss.
A more dangerous eye injury is a detached retina. The retina are the tissues at the back of the eye, and they can pull away from the eye wall, leading to vision loss.
The eye is easily damaged, and any threat to your vision should be treated seriously. Understanding the most common eye injuries can help you protect yourself.