Treatments for a Scratched Cornea

Video Transcript

"I'm Dr. Jim Kirkconnell of Bellevue Eye Care Center in Nashville, Tennessee. There are occasions when patients come in with a scratched cornea. Now, a scratch can be the very mild laceration or an abrasion. It can happen from a fingernail scratch. It can happen from overwearing contact lenses and having them rub. And in the past, what used to be done was to patch the eye after evaluating it and putting in an antibiotic ointment, and that's really not done much anymore. What is done is to put a contact lens on which is considered a bandage. There are just a few that are approved by the FDA to do that. And then, typically you're going to put in an antibiotic drop four times a day or or whatever the need is, and then that's going to be evaluated either the next day or as as often as need be depending upon how bad the scratch or abrasion is. So, the patching is something that is still done depending upon the the level of discomfort, but it's it's not done very often in my office."