We understand that most people would rather attempt to solve a minor medical issue by themselves at home, rather than go into the doctor’s office and get checked out. It’s a common occurrence and one that in most cases turns out just fine. However, when it comes to your eyes, what might seem like an easy solution can quickly escalate into a major medical issue. At Pacific ClearVision Institute we have started to see a significant rise in cases where people attempted to correct their problem or alleviate their issue by utilizing a home remedy. Sadly, these remedies only made the situation worse, so we thought we’d give some friendly advice on attempting to correct your eye issues by at home by yourself.
First and foremost, if you are in serious pain, seek out immediate medical attention. A trained medical professional can assess your situation and correct it. Do not wait and see if the pain will subside. Even if it does, the cause of that pain may be quite serious. Even though the pain is no longer present, severe damage may have occurred that will require treatment and possible correction.
Next, if you are seeking to create a home remedy and an ingredient has a label that says “do not put in your eye”, please DO NOT PUT IN YOUR EYE. This seems like common sense, but we have seen multiple examples of people putting common household cleaners or cooking items in their eyes; items like honey, baking soda and vinegar, and we think we understand why. While those items may work to help reduce the swelling or the irritation of say, a bee sting, they simply do not work in your eyes. They will cause severe reactions and make your situation worse, not better.
Additional items like ginger, onion or lemon, are found in many common home remedies. While they may work on symptoms like swelling or irritation of the skin, again they will only worsen your eye issues. Your eyes are incredibly sensitive to foreign liquids and objects and can react quite negatively.
The eye and surrounding tissue is different than other parts of your body and should be treated as such. What works for one area, may not work for another and in fact be potentially dangerous. We strongly encourage you to contact your eye care provider to discuss any issues that may occur and follow the advice of that professional. While that may require a visit to the office, that visit to investigate, determine the issue and come up with a solution is definitely preferred to require immediate medical attention. It is far better to have a correct course of action and treat your issue.
