Are there medical professionals here tonight? I need help.?

Question

I work in a kitchen and I had oven cleaner sprayed in my right eye. I followed the instructions and rinsed my eye under running cold water for 15 minutes. My boss gave me some eye drops and it made my eye sting again, so I rinsed some more. I had visions of my eye dissolving and losing my eyesight. I'm much more calm now. My eye feels tight and is only a little blurred right now. I live in a small resort beach town in Alabama, so there was really nowhere I could go tonight. I guess I'm going to wait and see how my eye feels in the morning and what it looks like. Can anyone give me any best case and worst case scenarios? I mixed myself a toddy, so I'm a little more relaxed now. Any and all information is needed. thank you.

Answer 1

There are two basics concerns one should have about anything that you get in your eyes that isn't supposed to go there. 1) Can the chemical cause damage by poisoning the body 2) Can the chemical do damage to tissue by its actual chemical composition.

As far as the poisoning aspect don't worry about this one. As to case number two -- all chemicals fall into one of two categories. They have a ph that makes them either acids or bases. A neutral ph is 7. Any ph above 7 is a base. Any ph below 7 is an acid. The further from 7, whether higher or lower, the more irritating and potentially toxic the chemical is. Acids tend to cause their damage relatively soon after they come into contact with tissue BUT unless the acid is VERY acidic the damage tends to be painful but resolves well over time. Now BASES can not only cause immediate pain but if the ph is extremely high then major consequences can occur down the road hours or days after exposure.

The bad news is most cleaners are bases. The good news is that the manufacturers know that people like you and me will invariably accidentally get these cleaners into body orifices where they weren't supposed to go. Therefore, other than industrial strength cleaners, household cleaners simply are not made with bases strong enough to cause these long term problems. So, since you did what you should with rinsing, I would be very surprised if you don't do just fine over the next day or so. If you don't feel alot better tomorrow, go on in and have it looked at but I really think with time you should be fine. Hope this helped.

Answer 2

First of all, your boss should have sent you to a doctor right after it happened. As an employee, you have a basic right under your state's workmans comp law to have medical care performed at your employer's expense. My advice is to go see an opthalmologist for examination and treatment of your eye. There may be more here than meets the eye (no pun intended) here so you need to get it done as soon as possible. Your eyesight is something you don't want to lose. Have him bill your employer for his charges.

I have a background in the para-medical sciences and I have also worked in the construction industry where in the course of my job as an industrial medic and safety inspector I am very familiar with this type of situation.

Answer 3

Call Poison Control.

Poison Control is not like 911, which you should only call in emergencies. They encourage you to call even if you just have questions and it isn't an immediate life or death situation. And they will definitely give you more accurate info than anyone on here. 1-800-222-1222

Answer 4

you have flushed your eye...i would put a patch on my eye or tape it shut over night..you need to let the natural moisture in your eye help heal it from having the chemical in it...i would not use any more eye drops...go to the dr tomorrow they will more than likely give you some meds with antibiotics for the eye..also call that poison control number but i dont think its a poison situation...and you have flushed your eye for now...