my son got sand thrown in his eye and it is swollen. we did rinse it out with water. what is the next step?
ahhh. sandbox eyes. i see this quite often. the next step assuming he is still crying rubbing his eyes and complaining is to see a medical provider to see if he has a corneal abrasion - a painful scratch on the cornea. you will need to take him to an urgent care facility. the medical provider will put a drop or two of an anesthetic solution to numb the eye (instant relief! ). a tiny amount of bright-yellow fluorecein dye will be put in the eye to reveal any scratch. it can be seen using a "black light" in a darkened examination room. if he does have a tiny scratch he will need some antibiotic drops or ointment for a few days while it heals. these things are painful but fortunately they heal very fast.