Hit in the Eye

[jlewbc]

Three days ago I was hit in the eye when a bottle cap shot off while I was opening said bottle.  It made a rather loud bang and from my guess the cap was traveling at a pretty good clip when it hit my eye. I am used to things flying at my eyes, so I was able to shut my eyelid quick enough that the cap didn't contact the eye proper. However, this left my eye swollen shut for the next day. After I was able to open it I could see the my eye was incredibly red, except the 'colored area,' (sorry for being so foolish, but terminology escapes me at the moment) which was mostly fine, a little red at the bottom. Over the last couple of days the redness has been going away, except around the sides of my eye (the part you can't see normally, unless looking off to the side) which is still really red, and my vision has been returning. However, I can still feel some pain in the eye and some 'fuzziness' in my vision.

My question is this: How long should this healing process take? At what point, if any, should I become more concerned and perhaps try and seek medical help. Note, I do not have insurance (young college-debtor), so medical options are limited, but if this is something that will permanently damage my vision, which was fine before, then I would like to know what might be done. Thank you for your time.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

Listen carefully:  Go to see local ophthalmologist right away or go to emergency room right away - you could have serious damage to eye.

MJK MD

[jlewbc]

Note: I just noticed (while looking at my eye in the mirror) that the pupil of the injured eye is bigger than the pupil in my uninjured eye. That probably has something to do with the fuzziness, but, is this a worrying sign? Again, thank you for your time.