Emergency Eye
Care in Missouri
If you are experiencing an eye emergency — sudden pain, injury, or new changes with your eyes or vision — call an Eyecare Specialties location now. Our experienced eye doctors and dedicated staff will help you get the treatment you need as quickly as possible.
BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY!
Whether you are looking for a comprehensive eye exam, new glasses or contacts, or more, our experienced optometrists and opticians are ready to serve you!
Come to Us for Your Eye Emergency
Our eye doctors diagnose and treat most eye emergencies, using advanced medical equipment and treatment methods to assess and address the underlying causes of your problem.
While your first instinct may be to go to your local ER, many eye emergencies can be solved right here in our office, and there are advantages to calling us first. You may have to wait a long time to be seen in an ER, and your care will be much more expensive than at your eye doctor. Additionally, the optometrists at Eyecare Specialties are dedicated to issues relating to the eye — if we can’t solve the problem in your case, we can direct you to a specialist who can.
We always leave appointment space for emergency eye care to make sure that you get in as soon as possible.
Contact Us If…
If you are experiencing any of the following eye emergencies, contact us right away:
- Foreign object in the eye
- Particles in the eye
- Chemicals in the eye
- Vision loss
- Blurry or double-vision
- Floaters or flashes
- Eye injuries or cuts
- Eye infections, lumps, or styes
- Painful, uncomfortable, itchy, irritated, or excessively dry eyes
- Complications with contact lenses or glasses
FAQs: What Should I Do If…
While we recommend you seek professional help if you have any concerns, in some cases you can remove a foreign object from the eye yourself by following these steps:
- Everyone involved should thoroughly wash their hands using soap and water.
- If you have someone with you, have them try to find the object in your eye. If you are alone, use a mirror to find it.
- Try blinking a few times. Even if the tears don’t naturally flush the object out, they will lubricate it to make removal easier.
- Try to flush the foreign object out using room temperature water. If you are using a faucet or shower, keep the water pressure low. This may take a minute or so.
- Try gently pulling your upper eyelid over your lower eyelid and rolling your eyes. This can dislodge the foreign object.
- Use a cotton swab to wipe the corners of your eye, while you focus your eyes in the opposite direction of where the object is.
Never rub your eyes. If these steps don’t work, or you still feel pain, contact us right away.
Try to flush out the debris with room temperature water, using low water pressure. If you still feel something in your eye after a few minutes, contact an eye specialist.
Rinse the eye thoroughly using room temperature water at a low pressure. Begin as soon after exposure to the chemical as possible and continue for up to 30 minutes depending on the chemical and how much you have been exposed to. During or after rinsing, contact your eye doctor.
Call us immediately. Depending on your symptoms, we may give you instructions that you should follow right away before you get to an emergency eye care provider.
Call us right away. Double vision in particular can indicate the start of a stroke, and we’ll help you diagnose what’s causing your altered vision.
If the pain is sudden and short, but you can’t identify an injury, infection, or object, it usually isn’t a cause for concern and should pass. If you experience frequent or ongoing pain, contact us.
Contact us immediately. We’ll advise you on your next steps depending on where you are bleeding from and your other symptoms.
Minor and occasional floaters or flashes in your vision are common. However, sudden, intense, or many floaters or flashes may indicate retinal detachment, and you should contact us right away.
Schedule an appointment for your eye doctor to look into the pressure increase. In many cases, there are no problems, but it may indicate vision-threatening conditions.
BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY!
Whether you are looking for a comprehensive eye exam, new glasses or contacts, or more, our experienced optometrists and opticians are ready to serve you!