corneal abrasion - blurred vision and eye still tender one week later

I suffered a corneal abrasion one week ago. Got hit in face with small tree branch. Eye very painful, vision clouded. Went to urgent care. Diagnosed corneal abrasion and sent me home. Gave me Neo/poly/dex drops. Put one drop in eye 4 times a day for one week. Today is the seventh day, and the last day I am to use the drops.
Followed up with eye doctor (optometrist) on third day. She put dye in eye and used slit lamp microscope thing. She said abrasions were healing nicely, there is some clouding of cornea. This was mostly cleared up two days later at a second visit (five days after injury) and she said I didn't need to see her unless things got worse.

Today is day eight (it happened a week ago today). My vision is still slightly blurred and lights are slightly streaked (astigmatism?). I can read and use the computer just fine, the blurring is not enough to keep me from doing that, but still noticeable. I look at a point light source, and I can see a slight streaking effect. The eye has no visible symptoms - no redness, no swelling, no puffiness, etc. It is tender and drys out easily, and I tend to keep it closed part of the time.

Is this normal to still have some discomfort and drying after a week? How long do these symptoms normally last? Do vision changes like this eventually go away? And lastly, how long should I wait before going back to my eye doctor if I'm still having discomfort or vision changes don't go away? (Or should I have seen an ophthalmologist instead)?

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Normal or not depends on the size of the abrasion, your age, and any other eye problems.  Treatment for corneal abrasion varies from drops, to patching, to bandage contact lens.  See an EyeMD (ophthalmologist) if not better in a few more days.

Dr. O.

[Zootal]

For those interested - I went to see an Opthalmologist two weeks after the accident. She said I had cellular debris under top layer of cornea ( I think that is the correct description) as a result of the original injury. Symptoms were pain and tenderness in eye, light sensitivity. I could not keep the eye open for more than half a day. This went on for two weeks. The doctor prescribed steroid drops. A week later (three weeks from accident) 80% had healed and I can open my eye and see again! My vision is still a tad blurred, but it is slowly returning back to normal. There is just a bit of astigmatism left, and I'm pretty much stuck waiting to see if that will go away with time...or not.

Today, three weeks later, I can hardly feel anything out of the ordinary. Just a bit of light sensitivity and an occasional twinge in the eye to remind me that something happened that is not 100% healed.

I don't know at this time what the long term effects will be, if any.  

[justl0vely]

Hello, I am in a very similar situation.  I had a corneal abrasion. The opthalmologist put me on a series of eyedrops ( which included steroidal drops and antibiotic drops)  The pain/redness has gone away but I am stuck with blurred vision in one eye.  My vision is terrible (-6.0) and even if I have my glasses on, there's no difference in the visibility of the bad eye.  It's been roughly 2 weeks.  I'm told from the eye doctor that complete healing of my cornea will take weeks.  Shouldn't there be any progress in my vision by now?

[Zootal]

It took about six weeks weeks before my vision returned to normal and the light sensitivity went away. It was maybe a month before I noticed any improvement at all, and eight weeks before I felt my eye had returned to normal. I had weeks of light sensitivity, soreness, and dryness. I still have some cellular debris under the top layer of the eye, but fortunately it's not in my line of sight, and I can't see it or feel it.

How did you get the abrasion? Did your eye get hit pretty hard, or was it just a scratch? Scratches heal fast, but a blow to the eye can take many weeks to heal.

[Filip2010]

Hi guys,

I had a corneal abrasion 9 days ago. My daughter poked her finger/fingernail directly into my eye. Rushed to the doctor and he put a bandage contact lens onto my eye as I was flying the same day and the aircon in the plane could dry my eye and possibly make it worse. He also gave me some antibiotic eye drops. I have been to the optometrist since and the scratch seems to have healed but I am still suffering from blurred vision pretty much the same as when it first happened. I had the contact lens removed and I am about to finish with the drops as well. I am slightly worried that my vision is still blurred even though there is no scratch in my cornea. Is it ever going to get better?

[Zootal]

It took about 6 weeks for my vision to return to normal, even though the scratch healed in less than a week. Go see an ophthalmologist. I love my optometrist, but they don't have the training the ophthalmologists have.

[starr187]

My eyes were red everyday starting in April. I thought it was an eye allergy. I went to the doctor in June and he told me my eyes were just red and nothing was wrong. He also said I could continue wearing my contacts. I interchanged contacts and glasses for awhile. In July I noticed that my left eye was blurry (with my glasses on). I went to the doctor and he told me that I had an infection and a corneal abrasion. He gave me some antibiotics and within a few days the redness disappeared but the blurry vision remained. A week after that appointment, he took me off the antibiotics and told me to use lubricating drops in my eyes every 1-2 hours and an ointment at night. I have been following this regimen. My left eye seemed to be returning to normal but then I noticed that the blurry vision is coming back. I have another follow up in 3 weeks but I would like to is, Will this blurry vision eventually go away?

[Zootal]

Did you see an optometrist, or ophthalmologist? You need to see and ophthalmologist and see what they say. It took me 6 weeks or more for my vision to return to normal.

[starr187]

Yes, I've seen an opthalmologist. The first time I got the abrasion I saw him once a week. now he spread it out to every 4 weeks. The first week he gave me an antibiotic then the second week he told me to skip the antibiotic and to use lubricating drops throughout the day and ointment at night. I started the drops/ointment on July 19. It seems as if my blurry vision is improving but I can tell its not 100% yet. It's good to know that yours took 6 weeks. I was starting to get worried bc I read that it usually takes 1-3 days for a corneal abrasion to heal.
I hope once this heals I can go back to wearing contacts. I've been wearing glasses for the past 2 months.

[Zootal]

Corneal abrasions do heal in a few days, but damage to the eyeball can take months to heal. I still have a spot on my eye that is not normal, but it is not in my line of vision so the Dr. doesn't want to do anything about it. Hang in there!

[appplejack]

I've been worried because I had a corneal scratch a week ago and I still haven't got my normal vision back for my left eye. The abrasion stopped hurting and extreme photo sensitivity stopped in 2 days. Were you worried about your vision returning? What did your doctor say about it?
I've been 4 different ophthalmologists in the same hospital in a week because they have different doctors everyday. Their opinions differed and some of them contradicted each other. I was so worried when a doctor told me that I have an infection. At that time, it had been 3~4 days since the abrasion and I had been using anti-biotic drop for at least 2 days. He probably wasn't right because I saw another doctor and she told me that she doesn't know if the eye is infected unless she collects a sample and send it to the lab for testing. Anyway, I can't wait until I regain my normal vision.

[Zootal]

I was very worried about my vision! It took 6-8 weeks for my eye to return to normal. For almost a month I could hardly open the eye. My Dr. gave me steroid drops and told me to wait and see what happened. She wanted to remove the damaged part and see if it would heal normally, but with the steroid drops it finally returned to normal. I still have a spot on my eye, but it's not in my line of sight.

How bad is the vision in the injured eye? Do any of the doctors want to operate or do anything like that? If not, you are pretty much going to have to tough it out and wait. Like I said, it took 6-8 weeks for my eye to return to normal.

Hang in there, keep in touch with the doctors, and be patient. Give it a few weeks to heal, and then see what the doctors think.

[ksurf_k]

i have a corneal abrasion IN MY LINE OF SIGHT!!! over my irus hurts bad blurry for going on 7 days now please someone tell me it gets better, the second day i had it went to optomitris she looked at it put on ontment the a contact lense, then 2 days later she did the same thing and gonna go in again here in a couple days, very discouraged, is there any hope? vision very blurry :-(

[Zootal]

You need to see an OPHTHALMOLOGIST, not an optometrist. Go see a medical doctor, don't risk permanent damage to your eyeball.

It took my eye 6-8 weeks to heal. Be patient. I couldn't hardly open the eye for almost a month. Be patient, but please, go see a medical doctor (ophthalmologist).

[sca2985]

Sorry for such a late post but I had a corneal abrasion only a week ago and I can understand people's reason for recommending an ophthalmologist over an optometrist but it isn't always necessary.  It depends on the state, because a lot of optometrists have the equipment to check your eye properly and they even have the ability to prescribe medicine now (again, depending on the state. I'm in Illinois.).  I had my pharmacist recommend seeing an optometrist for a follow-up as opposed to an ophthalmologist because they can do the same things but it's typically cheaper. I just want to assure people that an optometrist might not be a terrible way to go. But of course, if you are concerned about your vision and an optometrist isn't doing it for you or it doesn't seem like enough then by all means, go to an ophthalmologist. But an optometrist was able to check my eye properly and tell me that it had healed without any sign of scarring. I still have some light sensitivity and major drying, but my eyes were already like that before, but with this miserable weather it has just intensified. I'm hoping it will go away soon. Good luck to everyone dealing with corneal abrasions, they really are unpleasant.

[Zootal]

For anything but a light scratch, one would be well advised to see an ophthalmologist. An optometrist is not a medical doctor, and does not have the extensive training in eye injuries that an ophthalmologist does. My optometrist had no clue what was wrong with my eye, and insisted it would heal in a few days. My ophthalmologist immediately recognized what was wrong, and knew what to do about it, and explained why it hurt and didn't heal for almost two months.

When in doubt, see an ophthalmologist. Don't put your vision at risk.

[RetroG]

I had a cornea abrasion on a Saturday night, went to an urgent care place who gave me the diagnosis and steriod/antibiotic drops and told me to go see an ophthalmologist.  Which I did Monday morning, who said the abrasion had already healed, my cornea was just swollen and to keep taking the drops and I should be OK in a few days.  Here it is Wednesday morning and my vision in my eye has not gotten any better, actually seems a little worse.  I guess I'll contact the ophthalmologist again or go see my optometrist, who actually has more modern equipment for examining the eye.

[cwatt1]

I'd contact the ophthalmologist rather than your optometrist.  Optometrists are great at determining refraction errors and prescribing corrective lenses, but for an eye condition like a corneal abrasion that is taking longer to heal than you were told, you need to see and eye M.D.

[Zootal]

I agree. Go see an ophthalmologist. My optometrist, who is trained and certified in treating eye diseases, told me the same thing. Yet I could hardly open the eye, my vision was cloudy and distorted and stayed this way for weeks. My ophthalmologist took one look and told me what was wrong and what my options were.

In the end, it took my eye 6-8 weeks to fully heal. A blow to the eye, or a bad scratch, does damage that takes weeks to heal.

[darsh702]

hey evn i hv cornea abrasion....its been 2 weeks...i consulted an eye doctor..he gave me some drops ....n nw its been 2nd week...all d symptoms have vanished...except blurred vision....i hv put on ma glasses den 2 its difficult for me to see things clearly from one eye.....so i wnted to ask will my ordinary vision be back...or not...n if it wil be back how much tym wil it tak...n will d number of ma glases increase...ma weight is 38kgs   height is 5 ft 5 inch...n i m 16 yrs old...plzz ans mee....m tensed alot...

[kirmokin]

Hey zootal I realize you haven't been active here on medhelp in over a year but hey worth a shot. I got a cornea abrasion last week, it was a plastic object that I was bending, I was not expecting it to have such resilience but anyways when released it sprung back and hit my eye. I had severe and bright astigmatism way down low and to the left for the rest of the day, and woke up with increased astigmatism above my normal input image. This astigmatism is still here a week later, not the orginial from the impact but the astigmatism I woke up with the day after. My eye doesn't feel particularly dry, but it is a tiny bit uncomfortable and something just doesn't feel right. At times it feels like an eyelash is poking into my eye but when I check in the mirror there is nothing there...
The eyedoc checked everything out, dye, slit-microscope etc, and said there was nothing abnormal other than my slightly elevated pressure.
Do you think this could be as you described, cellular debris under the cornea?

[Zootal]

Hi, glad to see that this message thread is still being read :-)

Did you see an optometrist, or an ophthalmologist? Until I went to see an ophthalmologist, I did not get answers and was assured all was well. The ophthalmologist, on the other hand, looked at my eye for ten seconds and goes "yup, I see the problem". As for the astigmatism - it lasted about six weeks, long after the pain was gone. Maybe two months or more before it finally faded. So yeah, it is possible for the astigmatism to persist for a very long time. Today it is completely gone, but there were some scary weeks, wondering if it would ever go away or not.

If you have not seen an ophthalmologist, go see one. My understanding of eye injuries is that they do heal, but not always in the 2-3 days some doctors or optometrists tell you. It can take two months or more in some cases. I still have the cellular debris, but it is not in my line of sight and causes no problem, nor does it cause any astigmatism

Good luck my friend, hang in there and be sure to see a real doctor, not an optometrist.

[kirmokin]

Yes and I must thank you for following up on the post, your post is the only case I've found after hours of googling which resembles mine.

I'm not quite sure what it was. Here in norway however we don't have any distinction between optometrists and ophthalmologists, we have.. opticians and eyedoctors, they are literally called eyedoctors.
I'm actually experiencing some increasing pain in the eye now, so I'm definitely going to go to another eyedoctor and have it checked out soon. This whole situation is really annoying me cause I've been improving my eyesight naturally the past 8 months and this stupid unexplained astigmatism after the poke has set me back a month or two in my progress, in terms of what I'm able to see. It wasn't even a very severe abrasion at all, no extreme light sensitivty or anything, and the immediate streaking (astigmatism) from the poke was gone in the morning.. It just seems odd that there would appear a new astigmatism in the opposite direction of the one from the poke.

[Zootal]

Here in the USA we have people that check your eyes and give you a prescription for glasses. They are not doctors, they don't do surgery or anything like that. They can treat minor wounds, but that is about it. We call them Optometrists, or eye doctors.

Then we have medical doctors that specialize in eye problems. They can do surgery, treat all diseases of the eye, fix anything that happens, etc. They do not usually prescribe glasses, though they can. They are Ophthalmologists, but we also call them eye doctors. Two very different class of people, both called eye doctors.

It is an important distinction because one of them just prescribes glasses and can treat scratches, but their training is limited because they are not medical doctors. The other is a regular medical doctor and highly knowledgeable about the eye

In my case, I went to an optometrist first, and they did not have the training to be able to tell me what was wrong.  When I went to the ophthalmologist, she, being a doctor, knew immediately what was wrong. I suspect you have the same thing in Norway, two different classes of "eye doctors". Find an eye doctor that is a medical doctor that specializes in the eye, not someone who just dispenses glasses.

I would be concerned if your symptoms are getting worse. Mine never did that, they just took a long long time to go away. Go find yourself a medical doctor and see what is going on with your eye.

And good luck, I hope everything works out OK!

[deepecov]

5 days ago my daughter scratch my eye in the pupil. Doctor said i have erosio cornea. My eye was swollen a lot but now it seems that is fine.  I still have blurry vision, but i feel fine. But when i look my self in the mirror i am noticing that my injured eye is smaller than the other. I am worried a lot, if it`s going to stay that way. How long it will take my eye to become normal in size? Is it going to heal at all? Please answer. Thank you  

[Crissy1079]

My 9 month old son scratched my eye too. I'm an American living in Austria so I forget what the dr  said since it was in German and my German is not so good but its scratched. But anyways it's been 2 months and almost every morning my eye hurts again, is sensitive to light, and waters really bad. I went back to the dr and he just said yea it's healing good continue with eye cream he gave me. That was 2 weeks ago. I'm finding a "private" eye dr now to go to. I don't really trust these drs over here. It hurts really bad every morning and gets better as the day goes on.

[adam243]

I had gas come back from a rifle into my eye.. the othrimipoligist (eye doctor) said debris entered my lense so they removed my natural lense and  inserted a artificial lense (cataract surgery)  24hrs after the incident....

It is now a week since the surgery and 8 days since the acident, on the day it aparently looked like the cornea was gone over by a sandblaster...
The day after they removed the patch all I could see was a total cloudy blur..
Its now a week since surgery and im beginning to get a reasonablefocus back to the point where I can make everything out....  however sight through the eye is still very cloudy and general sight is still  very blurry...

Is this going to continue to improve?