Eye Emergencies

Any sudden change in your vision is a serious emergency. This includes losing vision in part of your eye, one eye, or both eyes. Vision loss can happen in minutes or over a few hours. You may see dark spots, shadows, or complete darkness where you could see before. Most sudden vision loss happens without pain, which makes it different from other eye emergencies.

Intense, constant pain in your eye is often a sign of a serious problem. The pain may feel like pressure, stabbing, or throbbing. It might come with headache, nausea, or vomiting. This type of pain is very different from mild irritation and needs immediate care. Severe eye pain with nausea often means dangerous pressure buildup in your eye.

New flashing lights or a sudden increase in floaters can mean your retina is detaching or bleeding is happening inside your eye. These symptoms are serious warning signs that need emergency care.

• Bright flashing lights, especially at the edge of your vision
• Many new dark spots floating in your vision that appear suddenly
• A dark curtain or shadow moving across your sight
• Blurry vision along with the flashes or floaters

Getting any type of chemical in your eye causes immediate burning, pain, and redness. This can happen with household cleaners, work chemicals, pool products, or garden chemicals. The eye may water heavily and be very sensitive to light. Even small amounts of any chemical can cause serious damage and need immediate washing with water.

Any injury you can see around your eye needs emergency care. Even small cuts can mean serious damage inside your eye that you cannot see.

• Cuts to the eyelid or around the eye area
• Objects sticking out of the eye that should never be removed
• Blood in the white part of your eye or inside the colored part
• The eye looks different in shape, size, or position than normal
• Bruising and swelling around the eye after any injury

Suddenly seeing double when both eyes are open can be a sign of serious eye or brain problems. This is especially urgent if it comes with eye pain, headache, or other vision changes. Double vision that starts suddenly is different from mild eyestrain and needs immediate medical attention. If the double vision goes away when you close one eye, this is more serious than if it continues.

Severe eye problems can cause symptoms beyond just eye pain. These signs often come with serious eye emergencies and need immediate attention.

• Pupils that are suddenly different sizes or odd shapes, especially after injury
• Nausea and throwing up with severe eye pain
• Extreme sensitivity to light that is much worse than normal
• Eyes that are very red and swollen, especially if getting worse quickly

Some symptoms always need emergency care right away without calling first. Go directly to the nearest emergency room for sudden vision loss, severe eye pain with nausea, any chemical exposure, visible injuries with bleeding, and objects stuck in the eye. Don't wait to see if symptoms get better because waiting can cause permanent damage that cannot be fixed.

For some problems, you can call ReFocus Eye Health Camden before going to the emergency room, and we can guide you on the best place to get care. Problems like mild eye pain, redness without other symptoms, small foreign objects that move when you blink, or minor irritation might be handled in our clinic. However, when in doubt, it's always better to seek immediate emergency care.

Eye emergencies don't only happen during office hours. If you have a serious eye emergency at night, on weekends, or during holidays, go to the emergency room immediately. The emergency room can provide initial treatment and contact one of our eye doctors if specialized care is needed. Don't wait until morning if you have severe symptoms.

Many people wait too long to get help for eye problems because they hope symptoms will improve or they're worried about costs. With eye emergencies, waiting can cause permanent damage that cannot be repaired. It's always better to get checked quickly than to risk losing your vision forever. Most insurance plans cover emergency eye care when it's medically necessary.

Sudden vision loss, severe eye pain especially with nausea, any chemical in your eye, visible injuries, objects stuck in your eye, and new flashes or floaters are always true emergencies. If you have any doubt about whether your symptoms are serious, it's always better to seek immediate care than to wait and risk permanent damage to your vision. When in doubt, call our office and we can help guide you on what to do next.

For severe emergencies like chemical burns, sudden complete vision loss, severe injuries with visible damage, or objects embedded in your eye, go directly to the emergency room immediately. For other problems like mild pain, redness, or minor irritation, you can call ReFocus Eye Health Camden first for guidance. We have more specialized equipment and expertise for eye problems than most hospital emergency rooms, but hospitals can provide immediate life-saving care.

If your vision is affected in any way, you have severe pain, or you feel dizzy or nauseated, absolutely do not drive yourself. Have someone else drive you, call a family member, use rideshare services, or call for emergency transportation. Driving with vision problems or severe pain puts you and other people at serious risk of accidents and can make your eye injury much worse.

Bring a complete list of all your medications including eye drops, your insurance cards and photo ID, any glasses or contact lenses you normally wear, and someone to drive you home if possible. If a chemical caused your emergency, bring the container or label so doctors know exactly what got in your eye. Also bring any protective eyewear you were wearing when the injury happened.

Many eye emergencies cannot wait until morning without risking serious permanent damage. Retinal detachment, chemical burns, severe injuries, sudden vision loss, and acute glaucoma attacks all need immediate care regardless of the time. If you're having severe eye pain, sudden vision changes, or any chemical exposure, go to the emergency room right away. Don't risk your vision by waiting.

Most insurance plans cover emergency eye care when it's medically necessary. Our staff at ReFocus Eye Health Camden can help verify your coverage and work with your insurance company to handle billing. However, don't let insurance concerns delay emergency treatment because waiting can make problems much worse and more expensive to treat. Vision loss from delayed treatment cannot be fixed.

Emergency eye care time varies greatly depending on your condition and what treatment is needed. Simple problems like removing a foreign object might take 30 to 60 minutes, while emergency surgery for retinal detachment can take several hours. Our staff will keep you and your family informed about expected treatment time throughout your visit and let you know if delays occur.

Our eye doctors use numbing eye drops and other pain control methods to keep you as comfortable as possible during emergency treatment. Most procedures cause little to no pain when proper numbing is used. Some treatments may cause mild discomfort or pressure, but we work hard to minimize any pain. We will prescribe pain medication if needed for your recovery at home.

Never delay emergency eye care because of cost concerns. Many hospitals and clinics have financial assistance programs for people who cannot pay. Emergency rooms cannot turn you away for inability to pay. Some eye emergencies, if left untreated, will cause permanent blindness that is much more costly to live with than the treatment would have been. Ask about payment plans and financial assistance after you receive treatment.

Children may not be able to describe their symptoms clearly, so watch for signs like covering one eye, squinting, crying when looking at lights, refusing to open their eyes, visible injuries, or complaints of severe pain. Any chemical exposure, visible injury, or sudden behavior changes related to their eyes should be treated as an emergency. Children often recover better than adults when treated quickly.

Yes, many eye emergencies can cause permanent partial or complete blindness if not treated quickly enough. Retinal detachment, acute glaucoma, chemical burns, severe injuries, and blocked blood vessels can all result in permanent vision loss. However, when treated promptly by experienced eye doctors, many of these conditions can be managed successfully with good visual outcomes.

Ignoring eye emergency symptoms is very dangerous and can result in permanent blindness, ongoing pain, and much more complicated treatment later. Many eye emergencies get progressively worse without treatment. What might be fixable with simple treatment early on could require complex surgery or cause permanent damage if ignored. The risk of permanent vision loss is never worth waiting to see if symptoms improve.

Wear proper safety gear during all potentially dangerous activities, handle all chemicals very carefully and store them safely, use good lighting to prevent accidents, get regular eye exams especially if you have risk factors, and teach children about eye safety. Make sure everyone in your family knows to seek immediate help for sudden eye symptoms. Prevention and early treatment are always better and less expensive than dealing with emergency complications.