(And How To Avoid Them)

Have you or a loved one ever injured your eye? It can be incredibly painful and very scary when you have an accident that could damage your vision. It’s a good reminder that our sense of vision, which we often take for granted, could be stolen from us in an instant.

An estimated 2.4 million eye injuries occur each year in the United States. Whether at home, at work, or while playing sports, the good news is that — by simply wearing protective safety eyewear — up to 90% of eye injuries can be prevented.

We see a lot of eye injuries in our office. A lot of them happen in our patients’ homes. Here are five of the strangest eye injuries we’ve seen, and how you can avoid them:

1. A Chili Pepper Contact Lens Catastrophe

College is a learning experience in every way. When kids first strike out on their own, sometimes they learn painful lessons. A young college student came to our offices with red, swollen, painful eyes. She thought it was an eye infection, but her symptoms didn’t seem typical of an eye infection, so we dug a little deeper. Eventually, we pinpointed the cause of her discomfort: After chopping hot peppers for dinner, her eyes started watering. She rinsed her hands briefly (briefly!) before removing her contact lenses. In doing so, she got some capsaicin – the compound that puts the “hot” in hot chili peppers – on her lenses. When she put the lenses back in her eyes the next morning, some capsaicin got trapped between the contact lens and her eye. Ouch!

The Takeaway: Whether handling hot peppers, horseradish, ginger, or even pickle juice, wash your hands very thoroughly before touching your eyes (or lips, or nose)! Another tip: Wear disposable gloves when handling jalapenos or other spicy foods.

2. The Dog Toy Ricochet

We all love our pets, but sometimes they can cause accidental injuries. One of our patients came to see us after her puppy got the zoomies and launched a fairly heavy rubber chew toy up into the air that bounced off the coffee table and hit her in the eye socket. The incident caused a tiny blood vessel in her eye to burst and bleed, so she had a bright red spot in her conjunctiva. She also had a mildly black eye for a few days. Luckily, there was no permanent damage, but now she’s a lot more careful around overly enthusiastic pups!

Lesson Learned: Pets feel like family, but they can be unpredictable (especially with the zoomies). Take extra caution when playing with them, consider wearing safety glasses if you’re playing inside, and save the heavy toys for outside, where there’s plenty of space.

3. An Eyelash Curler Surprise

Anyone who has used an eyelash curler can sympathize with the teen who came into our office with an injury from using one. As she hurried to curl her eyelashes before school one morning, the eyelash curler slipped right before she squeezed it, scratching her cornea when it caught part of her eye. Instead of gorgeously curled eyelashes, she got to wear a patch for a few days.

The Takeaway: Take every precaution while applying eye makeup and curling eyelashes. Use a mirror with good lighting and don’t rush. In addition, never share eye makeup with anyone (nope, not even your mom or sister) and clean applicators regularly.

4. The PT Band Backlash

This one happens more often than you may think. A physical therapist was helping one of our patients correct a shoulder imbalance by using a stretchy resistance band. He wrapped it around the door handle to do his exercises. After a few weeks, the stretchy band snapped in half – and one half of it hit our patient in the eye. It caused a retinal detachment, which is a very serious injury that can result in blindness. We referred him to a retina specialist for emergency eye surgery to repair the retina later that same day.

Lesson Learned: Bungee cords and rubber or elastic stretchy bands can snap unexpectedly and with force. Position your face away from the line of recoil, or wear safety glasses when using them.

5. The Vacuum Cleaner Debacle

Want a story that makes housework even less enticing? A patient injured her eye while unclogging her vacuum cleaner hose. After stretching and shaking the hose, she brought it near her face to look inside more closely, when a burst of dust shot out into her face and eyes. As a result, she had a scratched cornea and a thoroughly red, irritated eye.

The Takeaway: Housework can be dangerous! Never look into a nozzle or hose that could still be under pressure without wearing proper eye protection – and remember that chemical cleaner fumes can also irritate eyes.

The Eye Injury Common Denominator

Do you know what the common denominator in all of these at-home eye injuries is? All were preventable! With precautions, awareness, or safety glasses, none of these would have happened.

You only get one set of eyes to last you a lifetime, so treat them with the diligent care they deserve—even if you’re just doing chores, cooking dinner, or playing with your dog.

When it comes to protecting your eyesight, prevention is the key!