Eye Injury Lawyers
Vision one of the most vital senses of our being. Any injury or trauma to the eye can be devastating.
There are several types of eye injuries, varying in severity from minor to medical emergencies. Even in cases where the trauma seems minor, you should still seek medical attention. There is no substitute for the health of one’s vision.
If you have suffered a serious eye injury as the result of an accident or a dangerous product, it is important to immediately protect your right to compensation.
Causes of Eye Injury
Common causes of eye injuries include:
- Assault or abuse
- Accidental blows from hands, balls, or sporting equipment during recreational activity
- Penetration by pieces of glass, metal or other material from industrial work or motor vehicle accidents
- Being hit with projectiles like bullets, darts, fireworks, etc.
- Chemical splashes
Symptoms of Eye Trauma
Symptoms of eye trauma may include:
- Ongoing pain
- Vision problems
- Cuts to the eyelid
- One eye does not move as well as the other
- One eye sticks out of the socket
- Blood inside the cornea (the clear covering of the eye)
- Unusual pupil size or shape
- An object embedded in the eye
- Something under the eyelid that isn’t removed by blinking or tears
Common Types of Eye Injury and Treatments
Common conditions associated with an eye injury and trauma include:
Penetrating or Foreign Objects
If your eye is penetrated by a piece of metal or glass, DO NOT try to remove it yourself, or allow anyone else to try to remove it, except for a medical professional in a sterile environment. You may cause even worse damage by doing so. Protect your eye with a shield or paper cup and go to the emergency room/urgent care center immediately.
Traumatic Iritis
Traumatic iritis is inflammation of the iris, or the colored part of the eye, that occurs after a poke in the eye or a blow to the eye. If this happens, seek treatment right away – this can indicate a very serious injury, with a risk of permanent vision loss.
Hyphema
A hyphema is bleeding between the cornea, or clear part of the eye, and the iris, or the colored part of the eye, caused by significant blunt force trauma to the eye area. A hyphema is a medical emergency – seek immediate medical treatment.
Orbital Blowout Fracture
An orbital blowout fracture is a break to one or more of the bones surrounding the eye. This is also a medical emergency that needs immediate treatment by a medical professional.
Corneal Abrasion
Corneal abrasions are scratches on the surface or clear part of the eye. This is a common result of rubbing the eye when there is dirt or grit in the eye, or being scratched or poked in the eye by a sharp object.
Corneal abrasions are highly susceptible to infection while they are healing. An eye infection can cause serious harm to your vision, or even blindness. If you have scratched your cornea, don’t rub your eye. Even patching it may create an environment that can help develop an infection. Instead, loosely tape an eye shield or paper cup over it, and seek medical attention as soon as possible – within 24 hours at least.
Corneal abrasions can be very painful. They also cause extreme sensitivity to light and redness – wearing dark glasses may help while healing.
Chemical Exposure
Chemical exposures and burns to the eye can be caused by splashing liquid, transferring a chemical from the hands to the eyes, or being sprayed in the eye by an aerosol.
Some substances burn but are harmless if rinsed out right away. Others can cause severe eye damage and even blindness, depending on the chemical involved:
- Acids cause considerable redness and burning but can be washed out easily with clean water.
- Alkali substances are deceptively serious because they don’t cause as much immediate pain or redness. Examples of are oven cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners and even chalk dust.
If your eye is exposed to a chemical, put your eye under a steady stream of lukewarm tap water. Let the water run into your eye and down your face for about 15 minutes.
Call your eye doctor or an urgent care center and explain what happened, and exactly what the substance in your eye is, and follow their recommendations.
Or if your vision is still blurry after rinsing your eye, go immediately to your eye doctor or urgent care center. You may apply a cool, moist compress on your eye, but don’t apply any pressure or rub it.
Bruising and Swelling
A sharp blow to the eye, such as by a fist or a fastball, may cause bruising and swollen eyes. Treat this type of eye injury with an ice pack immediately after the blow to reduce the pain and swelling.
You may wind up with a black eye, and you should see an eye doctor to make sure there’s no internal damage.
Subconjunctival Hemorrhages (Bleeding in the Eye)
This eye injury looks more serious than it actually is. A subconjunctival hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel between the white of the eye (sclera) and its clear covering (conjunctiva) breaks and leaks blood behind the cornea. The bleeding may be in a small section of the eye, or can extend over the entire eye, making the whites of the eye bright red.
This is a common result of even a minor injury to the eye. It is painless and does not cause temporary or permanent vision loss. It will clear up on its own within a few weeks or so. There is usually no treatment required.
Protect Yourself from Eye Injury
In most eye injury cases, people were not wearing any sort of eye protection. Proper precautions can prevent most eye injuries. Wear protective eyewear during activities like yard work, woodwork, repair work, playing sports, cleaning with chemicals, and cooking. This can be as simple as wearing polycarbonate sunglasses or even reading glasses – polycarbonate is lightweight and impact-resistant. Safety goggles and sunglasses made from polycarbonate are also inexpensive and can be purchased at hardware stores or pharmacies.
How do I know if I have a case?
If you have a serious eye injury that will result in permanent impairment, or lengthy and extensive treatment, you may have a case if that injury was caused by another person’s negligence or wrongdoing. Examples are severe eye injuries that happened due to a car accident caused by another driver, a slip and fall injury in a store, a defective product, or an assault. If you feel your eye injury fits that criteria, it is important to speak with an eye injury lawyer about the specifics of your case.
What Can a Lawyer Do for an Eye Injury Victim?
The right law firm can help you not only to obtain the best medical care, treatment and therapy for now and in the future, but to also help you collect much more money from insurance companies and other sources than you could collect on your own.
Why TorkLaw?
As a plaintiff’s personal injury only law firm, we exclusively represent victims and families of serious and catastrophic injuries. Our contingency fee allows every injured victim to have the absolute best legal representation possible – this means that you pay no money up front – we are only paid if we win your case.
Call our eye injury attorneys today at 888.845.9696, or complete the form on this page, and we’ll call you within 24 hours.