Corneal Abrasion and Ulcer : The cornea is a thin clear, transparent dome type layer that covers our eye’s iris and pupil. The cornea is like a window that lets light enter the eye. Tears defend the cornea against bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

The iris is the colored part of our eye, and the pupil is the black center. All light that enters our eye and allows us to see strikes our cornea first.

A corneal ulcer is an open sore that forms on the cornea. It’s usually caused by an infection. Even small injuries to the eye or erosion caused by wearing contact lenses too long can lead to infections.

Flying dust, specks of metal, grains of sand, a fingernail, an animal claw, or other foreign objects can scratch our cornea. Contact lenses can also scratch or irritate our cornea.

A minor scratch is called a corneal abrasion. (Most corneal abrasions are minor and heal quickly).

Sometimes a corneal abrasion is accompanied by inflammation in our eye. This is called iritis. An infected corneal abrasion can also become a corneal ulcer. Corneal ulcer is a serious condition.

What to look for with Corneal Abrasion?

Our cornea contains many nerve endings, so even a minor scratch may feel very uncomfortable and painful.

If you have sudden eye pain with tears and rapid blinking, as well as some eye redness, you may have a scratched cornea.

How is a Corneal Abrasion and Ulcer diagnosed?

After dropping muscle relaxant in the affected eye, to relax the eye muscles and widen patient’s pupil; give some fluorescein drops to the patient to highlight imperfections in the surface of the cornea.

A corneal anesthesia will help to temporarily ease pain. Now carefully examine the eye, using the slit-lamp and magnification tools, to check for scratches and foreign matter.

Corneal Ulcer

The main cause of corneal ulcers is infection, for example:

Acanthamoeba keratitis

This infection most often occurs in contact lens wearers. It is an amoebic infection and, can lead to blindness.

Herpes simplex keratitis

Herpes simplex keratitis is a viral infection that causes repeated flare-ups of lesions or sores in the eye. A number of things can trigger flare-ups, including stress, prolonged exposure to sunlight, malnutrition or anything that weakens the immune system.

Fungal keratitis

This fungal infection develops after an injury to the cornea involving a plant or plant material. Fungal keratitis can also develop in patients with weakened immune systems.

Other causes

Other causes of corneal ulcers include:

People who wear expired soft contact lenses or wear disposable contact lenses for an extended period (including overnight) are at an increased risk for developing corneal ulcers.

Symptoms of a Corneal Ulcer

Symptoms of an infection include:

  • Itchy eye,
  • Watery eye,
  • Pus-like discharge from the eye,
  • Burning or stinging sensation in the eye,
  • Red or pink eye,
  • Sensitivity to light.

Symptoms and signs of the corneal ulcer itself include:

All symptoms of corneal ulcers are severe and should be treated immediately to prevent blindness.

A corneal ulcer itself looks like a gray or white area or spot on the usually transparent cornea. Some corneal ulcers are too small to see without magnification, but the patient feel the symptoms.

Some patients may also develop a severe loss of vision along with visual obstruction due to scarring over the retina. Corneal ulcers can also cause permanent scarring on the eye. In rare cases, the entire eye may suffer damage.

Although corneal ulcers are hundred percent treatable with just D Eye drops, and most patients recover quite well after 10-15 days treatment, without any reduction in eyesight. File:Slit lamp and binocular microscope.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

How is a Corneal Abrasion and Ulcer diagnosed?

One test used to check for a corneal ulcer is a fluorescein eye strain. For this test, an eye doctor places a drop of orange dye onto a thin piece of blotting paper. Then, the doctor transfers the dye to the eye by lightly touching the blotting paper to the surface of the eye. Then the doctor uses slit lamp (a microscope) to shine a special violet light onto patient’s eye to look for any damaged areas on the cornea. Corneal damage will show green when the violet light shines on it.

If patient have an ulcer on his/her cornea, the doctor will investigate to find out its cause. To do that, the doctor may numb patient’s eye with eye drops anesthesia, then gently scrape the ulcer to get a sample for testing. The test will show if the ulcer contains bacteria, fungi, or a virus.

Allopathic Treatment for corneal abrasion and ulcer

Start with flushing out the eye with clean water or saline solution. Ask your patient to void rubbing eye. If patient has something in his eye, you (doctor) should use a swab or an instrument to remove the particle, use topical anesthesia.

If diagnose is a corneal abrasion, for signs of infection, you have to decide if patient need a topical antibiotic in the form of eye drops, pain killers, antihistamines (H-2 receptors) or D Eye drops that is best option for all above problems and is without any chemicals and steroids.

If you’re experiencing any symptoms of a corneal abrasion, see a healthcare provider right away for further evaluation.

Once the doctor discovers the cause of the corneal ulcer, he/she can prescribe a D Eye drops, antibacterial, antifungal, or antiviral eye medication to treat the underlying problem.

In case of inflamed and swollen eye, allopathic doctors always prescribe corticosteroid eye drops which could be create lot of other problems with the passage of time.

Prescribe medication to prevent infection for example, antibiotic eye drops or ointment for example:

  • Erythromycin ointment.
  • Ciprofloxacin drops.
  • Moxifloxacin drops.

Recommend an over the counter (OTC) oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), if required prescribe a topical analgesic.

If required use a bandage contact lens to allow the abrasion to heal and to reduce pain associated with blinking. In cases where the risk with contact lenses is high, recommend a pressure patch with gauze/tape instead.

Corneal transplants

In severe cases, the corneal ulcer may warrant a corneal transplant. A corneal transplant involves the surgical removal of the corneal tissue and its replacement with donor tissue, but like any surgical procedure, there are risks; This surgery may cause future health complications such as:

  • Rejection of the donor tissue,
  • Development of glaucoma (pressure within the eye),
  • Eye infection,
  • Cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens),
  • Swelling of the cornea.

 Home Treatment for Corneal Abrasion and Ulcer