If superglue hit the eye

... It was outside the city. The lamp holder broke in the back light of the car, and it is forbidden to drive with such a malfunction. It is necessary to glue, and then additionally for strength to fasten something else. The author of the original of this article was offered gel superglue, to which he was not used, because he brought the usual, inexpensive, flowing. The repair was successful, but the tube, as always, stuck to the fingers. By unplugging it, the author accidentally pressed it, and a drop of glue hit him in the corner of his eye ...

The author found the strength not to blink, began to hold the eyelids in the open position with clean fingers, and shouted loudly. Friends ran up, and all together entered the room. One of them, using contact lenses, brought a saline solution and washed his eyes several times; at that time it was impossible to blink. After making sure that the glue was completely washed off, the author tried to blink carefully, and he did it.

Then he gently washed off the hardened glue from the lower eyelid and eyelashes. He was sure that he was nearly blind in one eye. When everyone calmed down, the author decided to find out what usually happens in such cases, and what to do in them.
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As it turned out, nothing terrible happened. More precisely, the terrible happened, but not very. A review of 53 such cases in 30 years , made by Dr. Sagili Chandrasekhara Reddy, showed that none of them resulted in serious damage. In most of them, the doctors removed the glue with forceps, cut the glued eyelashes and washed the eyes. And everyone went home with two active eyes. That is, in this respect, superglue is safer than silicate glue, which in the eye often leads to complications and blindness.

Oddly enough, nothing changes if the superglue gets into the eye a lot. This happens more often than it seems: in the dark, tubes of glue are mistaken for tubes of eye drops. Also, children often go to eye hospitals with superglue in the eyes. But even then, the eye is usually saved.

Brown Emergency Medicine also reports a favorable outcome in a similar situation. If superglue has stuck to the eyelid or even the eyeball, doctors wash it with warm water, cover it with a bandage and leave it. Superglue itself peels off within 1 - 4 days.

The main thing in contact with superglue in the eye is to keep calm. If anything, everything said further is not an official medical instruction. Try hard not to blink. Superglue polymerizes in the presence of moisture, if you blink, the eyelids can stick together and also stick to the eye apple. Do not panic. Rough actions can damage the eye more than glue itself. Do not try to wipe the eyes, especially to remove the glue with any objects.

Rinse eyes with clean water or saline for contact lenses, if any. Use only eye safe products. Do not try to dissolve the glue with acetone, nail polish remover - all this will damage the eye even more. Not sure if the tool is safe - do not try to use it.

Immediately call experts. They know what to do in such cases, and they have everything necessary for this. Hardened superglue can damage the soft tissues of the eye mechanically, which, in turn, can lead to infection, so the help of specialists immediately after first-aid should not be neglected. If everything happened on a camping trip, you can use eye drops (only real!) And apply a bandage yourself, but after the hike, see a doctor anyway.

Do not be afraid of superglue. But if you do not want to spend the night in an eye hospital, remember the standard: "... easier to warn than to cure / extinguish /, etc.". The simplest thing is to wear glasses before working with glue. Any - corrective, sunscreen, for the Bulgarian, any. The main thing to wear them.