If something is on it or in it, he can safely remove it. The two things that you do not want to do are to rub your eye or touch your eye with anything as these things can irritate it more. Think about that next time you see someone scratch his or her butt. You poke your eye or something gets trapped under your eyelid, like dirt or sand. This is a scratch that happens on the white part of your eye. Normally they will prescribe steroid eye drops. Can Erythromycin Be Used For a Corneal Abrasion. WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. You should fully recover from a minor scratch without permanent eye damage. Covering the scratched eye will give your eye a rest because when it is covered you are not using it to see and causing strain on the affected eye. International Society of Refractive Surgery, Primeros auxilios para los rasguños en el ojo, feeling that something is stuck in your eye. © 2005 - 2019 WebMD LLC. An ophthalmologist can help fix the problem and can help you make safe decisions about your skincare products. Most cases of scratched eye are prevalent in those who wear contact lenses but it can also happen to a baby because their curious fingers like to feel things and they could accidentally poke themselves in the eye with their finger. It is advisable to get medical attention for your scratched eye but there are some things that you can do at home until you see your ophthalmologist. If you have a high risk of infection the ophthalmologist will not use an eye patch to help reduce the chance of an infection. The two things that you do not want to do are to rub your eye or touch your eye with anything as these things can irritate it more. If you've scratched your eye before, you’ll probably remember how it feels. You poke your eye or something gets trapped under your eyelid, like dirt or sand. You do not want to leave a scratched eye without medical attention for a long time because it could cause a lot of eye problems such as a corneal ulcer. As a result, you may not be able to figure out what caused it. ", National Eye Institute: "Facts About The Cornea and Corneal Disease.". If you feel like there is something in your eye, avoid rubbing it to stop further damage. Gently rinse your eye out with clean water or a sterile saline solution. To help relieve the pain instantly your ophthalmologist may give you a prescription for anesthetic eye drops. Your ophthalmologist may treat an eye scratch with antibiotic eye drops or ointment. It will normally completely heal within a couple of days but it depends on how severe the scratched eye was. Always wear eye protection when there is a risk of eye damage – for example working in a dusty environment or amongst thick vegetation and when doing DIY.