Heavily inflamed eye closeup.
It’s Fireworks Time!
Everyone is getting ready to celebrate the United States with fireworks in a couple of weeks. But what preparations are being made to prevent eye injuries from fireworks? Fireworks cause more than 9,000 injuries per year, and the 4th of July is a large part of that statistic.
How do you prevent eye injuries from fireworks?
Of course, the biggest thing is to WEAR PROTECTIVE EYEWEAR. This can help with sparks, falling debris, or projectiles. Sometimes, even that is not enough. If you get something in your eye, here are some tips to follow:
- PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT rub your eyes! You may end up rubbing the chemical or debris around and cause more damage.
- DO NOT remove items that are stuck as they may be helping in keeping the eye in its current shape. Removing it may cause the fluid in your eye to leak out and worsen the injury.
- DO NOT apply pressure, as this may also lead to further injury.
- SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION! Your eye doctor is trained to help you feel better and save your vision. It is the best thing you can do.
Depending on the severity of the injury, it could be something minor like smoke in your eyes to something vision-threatening. If a projectile firework ruptures the eyeball itself, it could lead to blindness.
We want everyone to have a safe and fun 4th of July. It is ok to watch those fireworks, but only from a safe distance. Only licensed professionals should be lighting them off.
Happy Independence Day.
Millerwoods Health Care Campus
