The eyes have it. (or not)

Ive posted before on the use of safety glasses in your BOB, but something I never thought of til I read the post on RX glasses and Meds. What of emergency eye med's. Does anybody know what to do incase of a eye injury? I certenly dont. What are the common procedures for the different kind of eye injurys? What are the different kind of over the counter meds for eyes? The eyes are criticial yet nobody ever thinks about them. As survivalist we must think about them first without them our chances of surviving are pretty close to Zero.

The eyes are fairly hard to fix if were talking a serious eye injury. Even something getting stuck in their is staying their till atleast you get help from someone with tweezers.

The only thing that springs to mind would be like some kind of antibiotic drops. If you get a scratch on you eyeball from something getting in you eye, the last thing you want is for it to become infected.

Best to keep a pair of safety glasses on you and use them, any kind of eye injury is a seriosu thing and in a survival situation you dotn want to be half blind and in pain all the time, that would lead you down hioll in a speedy fasion.

Most drugstores sell an over the counter eyewash and it is recommended that one cleanse/flush the eyes with clean water. I have added Visine to my First Aid Kit and a pair of goggles to my "Go Bag".

Hmm don't understand why this thread went no place its a very important subject. It is very strange how some threads take and some don't.

Eye injuries can occure in the least plausable scenario.
Protective eye wear is helpful if your in a situation where you expect flying debri, but i have also seen eye injuries just from running thru the bush, or diving for cover.
Another more common eye injury is blindness due to glare from either snow reflecting sunlight, or direct glare from the sun or the sun reflected from a body of water.
eye drops are a saline solution similar to what the eye produces naturaly.
Sterile water will achieve similar results.
if it's a scratch or similar intrusion by a object, it's best to flush the eye, apply antiseptics to the eye lids, and bandage both eyes to imobilize the injured eye as much as possible.
In the event of a glare or flash burn there's a home remedy that I can vouch for.
take a white potato, cut it in half, scoop out the meat of the potato and form a patty which is then applied to the eye and bandaged in place.
The starch in the potato will draw out natural antibodies to help heal the injury, and it sooths the eye.
Poultice should be changed evey 12 hours.
I'm thinking a thread just on home remedies might be a good idea

I used to work with sheet metal and the stray piece of metal in the eye was not an uncommon occurence. The best way to remove metal was with a magnetic 1/4 inch driver bit and a phillips bit. Put the philips bit into the magnetic driver and touch the piece of metal in the eye. It works like a charm when eye washes fail. But only works on metal. The is another remedy for scratched corneas and minor eye injuries but it is illegal, so i won't post it.

Anything that will increase blood flow to the eye will help in healing as long as it isn't a major puncture or cut.

(IMO)

reply to post by angryamerican


I'm an eye doctor (student.. only a few more months... ughh) here's my take

You can't really go wrong with an antibiotic so get either Zymar or Vigamox as your antibiotic. Overuse isn't going to make matters worse at all... these are some of the safest eyedrops ever made.

If you have glaucoma, smoke maryjane or obtain a pile of your meds (Xalatan is your best choice, BTW... Alphagan is right there as well)


If you have a complicated situation, as with any health field, you will have to have a professional in the field help you out. My travel kit contails dialating drops, numbing drops for foreign body removal (these are unsafe to use long term.. the only place you may get them prescribed is in the ER where the doctor has no clue) steroids and antibiotics. Some state I can use anti-virals in; I have a bottle of these as well (for Herpes... the above the belt variety)

Visine is a terrible choice, you get rebound redness and itchiness after using it. Since you probably are obtaining these drops in an illegal fashion anyways, obtain yourself some Patanol or Pataday. The best OTC drop to get or redness/allergies is Zaditor, imo (Alaway is similiar)

Luckily in my state I can prescribe may orals, so I have the advantage of access to many drugs that optometrists in other states do not. I can prescribe Epi-pen (need it in office), oral steroids, oral painkillers like oxycontin, etc etc. This all comes with the ability to understand pharmacology though.

Short recap- OTC Zaditor or Alaway for itchy red eyes... Visine is the worst
If you are into prescription meds, the ones your doctor has prescribed + 4th generation flouroquinolone like Zymar or Vigamox.

You may want to conisder a supply of doxycycline and triple antibiotic ointment (bacitracin ung..) if you have lid/lash infection problems styes etc..

if you have any other questions, fire away.

Oh, and if you drops you use do not have an impact or your eye gets worse, this is a ginormous red flag to seek tx somewhere else. you should never get worse upon instilling medication.

Originally posted by Noah-What
I used to work with sheet metal and the stray piece of metal in the eye was not an uncommon occurence. The best way to remove metal was with a magnetic 1/4 inch driver bit and a phillips bit. Put the philips bit into the magnetic driver and touch the piece of metal in the eye. It works like a charm when eye washes fail. But only works on metal. The is another remedy for scratched corneas and minor eye injuries but it is illegal, so i won't post it.
(IMO)

This magnetic screw bit is a good idea- just be careful to not embed the object any further...

And this thread also reminds us that in sitx you will not have access to contact lens solution or supplies; an up to date glasses prescription that has been filled will make you feel tons better. If you must have contacts, always keep a extra big supply of daily dispoables (very expensive and space wasting) or a good supply of extended wear (eaisier to harm your eyes this way though)

I do not recommend homemade saline because your water source will be dirty and there is less regulation in water than 3 years ago. This could cause Acanthamoeba out breaks and you will lose your eye.


Polycarb is recommended in your spectacles unless you cannot tolerate it visually (less than .1%) because of it's durability. I've watched lab tests where bullets bounce off polycarb.

Sorry for my spamming of this thread.... I probably needed to read the whole thing before I got overly excited..

reply to post by slidebyem



I haven't seen you spamming at all in fact It is great how you jumped in with your knowledge thanks for sharing.