Corneal Abrasion
What Is a Corneal Abrasion?
A corneal abrasion is a scratch, scrape on the surface of your cornea. Fingernails, makeup brushes and tree branches are common culprits of corneal abrasions. Some other causes of corneal abrasion are rubbing your eye and having very dry eyes.
Corneal Abrasion Symptoms
- -The feeling that something is stuck in your eye
- -Red, painful, watery eyes
- -Blurry or hazy vision
- -Being extra sensitive to light
Why Do Corneal Abrasions and Corneal Erosions Hurt So Much?
The cornea has many nerve cells. Cells called pain receptors transmit pain to tell us about possible damage to the eye’s surface. In fact, there are hundreds of times more pain receptors in our cornea than there are in our skin.
Corneal Abrasion Diagnosis
Your ophthalmologist will put dye called fluorescein on your eye’s surface. Then they will look at your cornea with an instrument called a slit lamp. The dye will highlight a cut or scratch on the cornea.