Corneal Abrasion Treatment: What to Do If You Scratch Your Eye

What is a Corneal Abrasion?

A corneal abrasion is a scratch or scrape on the cornea, the clear tissue covering the front of the eye. The cornea serves as a protective barrier and also helps focus light as it enters the eye, which means even a small injury to its surface can affect comfort and vision. 

A scratch may occur when a fingernail, tree branch, contact lens, makeup applicator, or small piece of dirt, dust, sand, wood, or metal touches the eye. Rubbing the eye while debris is trapped beneath the eyelid can also scrape the cornea. Because the cornea contains many sensitive nerve endings, even a shallow abrasion can feel very painful. You may experience watering, redness, light sensitivity, blurred vision, or the sensation that an object is still in your eye. 

If the pain is severe, your vision changes, or symptoms are not improving, an eye doctor can examine the cornea and determine whether additional treatment is necessary.

What Does a Scratched Cornea Feel Like?

A corneal abrasion often causes immediate irritation. Many people describe the feeling as if sand, grit, or another small particle is stuck underneath the eyelid, even when nothing remains in the eye. Blinking may make the discomfort more noticeable because the eyelid passes over the injured surface each time it closes. 

Common signs and symptoms include:

• Eye pain or stinging 

• Redness 

• Excessive tearing or watery eyes 

• Sensitivity to light 

• Blurry or hazy vision 

• A gritty or foreign-body sensation 

• Difficulty keeping the affected eye open 

How severe the symptoms feel can depend on the size and location of the scratch. A small abrasion in a particularly sensitive area may cause significant discomfort. Seek professional eye care if you develop severe pain, worsening redness, noticeable vision changes, or symptoms that continue to get worse instead of improving.

What Should You Do After Scratching Your Eye?

If you think you have scratched your eye, avoid rubbing or pressing on it. Rubbing can further irritate the cornea and may worsen the injury if a small particle remains beneath the eyelid. Gently rinse the eye with sterile saline or clean, lukewarm water. This may help flush out loose dust, dirt, or other debris. Blinking several times can also encourage your natural tears to wash away small particles. If you wear contact lenses, remove them as soon as possible. Leave them out while the eye heals and do not resume wearing contacts until your eye doctor confirms that it is safe. 

Do not use tweezers, cotton swabs, fingernails, or another object to remove anything that looks embedded in the eye. You should also avoid using old prescription drops or medication that belongs to someone else. Contact an eye care professional if an object cannot be rinsed away, pain is significant, vision changes, or symptoms are not beginning to improve. 

How Are Corneal Abrasions Treated?

Treatment for a corneal abrasion depends on how the injury happened, the size and depth of the scratch, whether any foreign material remains in the eye, and whether there are signs of infection. Contact lens wear can also influence treatment because people who wear contacts have a higher risk of certain corneal infections.   

For an uncomplicated scratch, treatment generally focuses on keeping the eye comfortable, preventing infection, and allowing the corneal surface to repair itself. An eye doctor can examine the eye and recommend the most appropriate care based on the injury.

Flushing or Removing Debris

If the scratch was caused by dust, dirt, or another small particle, getting that material out of the eye is often an important first step. Loose debris may rinse away with sterile saline or clean water. If something remains trapped under the eyelid or on the cornea, an eye care professional can use magnification and appropriate instruments to remove it safely. 

Do not attempt to remove an object that appears embedded in the eye. Injuries involving metal fragments, wood, power tools, high-speed particles, or another object that may have penetrated the eye require prompt professional evaluation.  

Antibiotic Eye Drops or Ointment

An eye doctor may prescribe antibiotic drops or ointment while the cornea heals. These medications can help reduce the chance of infection after the protective surface of the eye has been damaged. The medication selected may depend on how the abrasion occurred and whether you wear contact lenses. 

Contact lens-related abrasions require additional caution because certain bacteria can cause more serious corneal infections in contact lens wearers. If your eye was scratched while wearing contacts, remove the lenses and keep them out until your doctor says it is safe to wear them again. 

Lubricating Eye Drops Ointments

Artificial tears, lubricating drops, or eye ointments may help decrease friction and soothe irritation while the cornea heals. These products can keep the eye surface more comfortable as damaged cells regenerate. Thicker ointments may sometimes provide longer-lasting lubrication, particularly when blinking makes the eye uncomfortable. 

Not every type of eye drop is appropriate for an injured cornea. Avoid using leftover prescription medication or drops prescribed for another person. Your eye doctor can recommend a product that is appropriate for your situation. 

Options for Managing Pain

Even a small corneal abrasion may be painful because of the large number of nerve endings in the cornea. Depending on the severity of the injury, an eye doctor may recommend an appropriate method for managing discomfort while the eye heals. 

Numbing eye drops are sometimes used during an eye examination to make the eye more comfortable while the doctor evaluates it. These anesthetic drops are generally not intended for unsupervised home use. Repeated or improper use of topical anesthetics can delay corneal healing and may lead to serious complications. 

Prescription Dilating Drops

Some larger or more painful abrasions can trigger spasms in muscles inside the eye. In these cases, an eye doctor may use prescription drops that temporarily dilate the pupil. Relaxing those muscles may help reduce discomfort while the injury heals. 

Not everyone with a corneal abrasion needs dilating drops. Whether they are recommended depends on the size of the abrasion, the amount of pain, and what the doctor finds during the examination. 

Bandage Contact Lenses

For certain corneal abrasions, an eye doctor may place a special bandage contact lens over the injured area. A bandage lens is different from an ordinary contact used for vision correction. It acts as a protective layer over the cornea, helping reduce friction from the eyelid and making the eye more comfortable while the surface heals. 

Because putting a contact lens over an injured cornea can increase infection concerns, bandage lenses need to be prescribed and monitored by an eye doctor. Follow all instructions for follow-up care, and do not put your normal contacts back in while the eye is healing unless your doctor specifically tells you to do so.

When Should You See an Eye Doctor for a Corneal Abrasion?

Some small scratches improve quickly, but certain symptoms should be evaluated by an eye doctor. A professional examination can help identify deeper damage, retained debris, infection, or another condition that may cause similar symptoms. 

Contact an eye care professional if you experience:

• Severe or worsening eye pain 

• Blurry, decreased, or otherwise changing vision 

• Increasing redness or swelling 

• Discharge from the eye 

• A persistent feeling that something is stuck in the eye 

• Symptoms that are not improving as expected 

• An injury caused by metal, wood, plant material, or high-speed debris 

• A corneal abrasion related to contact lens wear 

• An object that cannot be rinsed from the eye 

How Long Does a Scratched Cornea Take to Heal?

Many small, uncomplicated corneal abrasions begin to improve within 24 to 48 hours and may heal completely within a few days. The cornea generally repairs its outer surface quickly, but healing time depends on the size, depth, location, and cause of the injury. Larger scratches may require more time to recover. Healing may also be slower when the abrasion is associated with contact lens wear, an infection, or debris that remains in the eye. 

As the cornea heals, symptoms such as pain, tearing, and light sensitivity should generally become less noticeable. Some mild irritation may continue briefly even after the injury has started improving. If your symptoms are not getting better, become more painful, or return after initially resolving, contact an eye doctor. 

In some cases, the repaired surface of the cornea does not attach securely and may reopen later. This is known as recurrent corneal erosion and can lead to repeated episodes of pain, watering, and sensitivity. An eye care professional can evaluate the cornea and recommend further treatment if healing is not progressing normally.