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Molly Burke is legally blind and has had many hard times traveling through an airport.
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How can something so small be so painful? Getting something stuck in your eye can often stop you in your tracks, and getting it back out isn’t always easy.
First thing’s first: The best way to get something out of your eye is to take precautions before doing something that could expose your eyes to small particles to ensure it can’t get in there in the first place.
“Wearing approved safety glasses when doing activities like grinding metal, woodworking or yard work is the best way to prevent debris from entering your eyes,” says Shihij Takoo, OD, MS, optometrist at University of Maryland Eye Associates and clinical instructor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “These are higher-risk materials that can cause complications with your eye health, and preventative care is one of the best ways to avoid these complications.”
But life happens, and even with taking precautions, there are still instances where you might find yourself with a foreign object in your eye. Here’s how to figure out how to get it out, and when you need to give up trying on your own and consult a medical professional.
Will something in your eye eventually come out on its own?
The short answer is that it depends on the object, according to experts. Small things, like individual eyelashes or grains of sand, often get flushed out on their own through a combination of tearing up and blinking, per Mount Sinai. And though it might feel like it’s helping, optometrists warn that you definitely should not rub your eye when something is in it.
“Anything that seems embedded in the eye, regardless of material, is risky to remove by yourself,” Takoo adds.
How to get something out of your eye
If you do need to examine the eye more closely, make sure to wash your hands first.
Flushing the eye with a sterile saline solution, making sure to get under your eyelids, can be helpful. The most important thing to remember is to avoid tap water directly in the eyes, as it can cause infection.
“If you have a contact lens stuck in your eye, it’s important to remember that the contact lens can’t get ‘lost in your eye’ or disappear ‘behind your eye’ since there are tissues that act as a barrier,” Takoo explains. “Knowing this can help patients feel at ease when looking for a contact lens in their eye. However, if you are ever unsure if it’s still stuck or not, it’s a good idea to seek additional care.”
As a general rule of thumb, any time you get any metal, wood or organic materials in your eye, it’s smart to see an eye doctor “to ensure the safety of your vision and rule out any signs of infection,” Takoo says. Other reasons to seek additional care can include continued irritation, watering, burning, eye pain, mucus discharge, sensitivity to light, reduced vision and any flaking, discharge or sores on the eye or eyelid.
“It never hurts to get your eyes checked by a medical professional if you’re feeling uncertain,” she adds.
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