Give us a Call When Stuff Happens, Save a Trip to Emerg.
Blog vol 5.30. Give us a Call When Stuff Happens, Save a Trip to Emerg.
In the past few weeks, I have seen a couple of two year olds for emergency visits. The parents after doing some online research, called our office about their little one’s eye problems. If there has been a minor accident or the sudden onset of eye redness, discharge, or pain, call us right away. The other options are to head to your GP, an after-hours clinic, or the local Hospital Emergency Room (ER). You are not likely to see an eye care professional in any of those places.
I am reminded of the winter of 2020, when all the world was scrambling to deal with Covid 19. With very little to go on as to how contagious or how virulent the bug was, the last place you wanted to be was the ER. If there was any time in my career that I really felt needed, it was at that time. We were fortunate enough to get our hands on the necessary protective gear (N95 masks, gloves, and eye shields) and were able to provide care at that time. That meant that patients could see me at our office. I stayed open on certain days of the week to meet the need, all by my lonesome, with one of my university student children for support.
Not only did we see our own patients, but we saw any patients that needed to be seen. It was tiring and did not pay super well, but it was a much needed help in a difficult situation and was really very rewarding. These people were worried enough about their eyes to come in, we were able to treat and reassure. The same goes for those little ones (or big ones) who need to have their emergency looked after. We have hand- held equipment, like a biomicroscope, for home visits. It works great for a stressed out two year old and not so calm mom or dad. (the ER doesn’t have one of those, btw).
One of my little patients had scratched their eye on something, was having lots of pain, a red eye, and light sensitivity; they needed intervention. Some fluorescein dye with a cobalt blue light under a microscope showed the scratch on the cornea clearly, no question. A prescription for antibiotic eye ointment and in a few days they return as happy as a lark. And you would be surprised what a toilet brush can do when it is used by a two year old on the eye. A quick look, a treatment plan, and a bunch of reassurance and understanding can go a long way. No, you are not a bad parent. Hey, stuff happens.
We have extracted bits of embedded metal and other bits of things from eyes, we have treated pink eye, severe allergies, investigated “flashers and floaters” and sudden vision loss, treated UV and chemical burns, retrieved “lost” contact lenses, and, of course, dealt with many minor scratches or impact to the eye. You really are going straight to where you need to be by seeing your optometrist.
Til next week,
The good doctor
