Eye injuries are the
most common cause of blindness in kids. And the
most common cause of eye injuries is sports. But a new study published in the June 2013 issue of the journal
Cornea puts the spotlight on chemical eye injuries resulting from contact with "silly string," "party foam," or fake snow.
The study looked all patients who came to two particular hospitals with eye injuries over a two year period. Around 100 patients had come with injuries related to party foam.
All patients suffered from chemical conjunctivitis (100%). Chemical conjunctivitis is also kown as chemical pink eye or "toxic pinkeye". It can also be caused by getting smoke, liquids, fumes, or chemicals in the eye. Chemical conjunctivitis can look like this:
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Image: Wikipedia |
79% of patients had superficial punctate keratopathy, which involves the death of small groups of cells on the surface of the cornea (the clear layer in front of the iris and pupil). Symptoms of superficial punctate keratopathy include the following redness, watering, and sensitive to light and decreased vision.
The study authors observed that 85 patients were seen in 2007 compared wit only 11 in 2008. The authors claim that the reduction was directly attributable to increased public awareness because of media coverage (newspapers, radio, and national TV) on the dangers posed by silly string.
Chemical eye injuries of the kind caused by silly string are usually easily treated in the optometrist's office.
We hope that this blog post will increase awareness and therefore contribute towards the prevention of this eye injury.
Source:
Cornea
Party Foam-Induced Eye Injuries and the Power of Media InterventionCornea 2013 Jun 01;32(6)826-829, A Abulafia, F Segev, E Platner, B Simon
Silly string image: Jake Garn,
www.jakegarn.com, used with permision.
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The study examined the comfort reported by patients throughout and at the end of a 10-hour day of wear. Subjects were surveyed on a 0–100 scale for comfort on two separate days.
On the first day, nothing was done to the lenses they wore throughout the day, and study participants reported decreasing comfort during the day. This result was expected, as many optometrists observe this in the clinic. Doctors have long argued about the cause of this discomfort. Was it due to ill-fitting lenses? Or was it due to changes in the surface of the eye caused by contact lens wear?
To answer that question, on the second day the lenses were removed after 5 hours of wear. After removal, either the same lens was reinserted, or it was replaced and a new lens. The assumption was that if lens comfort improved by removing and replacing the same lens, then the surface of the eye was to blame. On the other hand, if comfort improved after switching to a new lens, then the fit of the lens may be at fault. The control group wore lenses continuously for 10 ours with no reinsertion or switching to a new lens.
The results showed that there was no difference between the control group (that wore the lenses continuously for 10 hours) and either the group that removed and reinserted the same lens or the group that switched to a new lens. This lead the researchers to conclude that the increasing discomfort throughout the day was not related to the lenss. They suggested that the likely cause of increasing discomfort was a "fatigue-like response in one or more ocular tissues or stimulation of ocular surface nociceptors induced by the presence of the contact lens."
Source