Eyes hurt after welding: what to do, first aid for eye burns, drops and folk remedies

Each profession is dangerous in its own way. If we consider welding work, then it must be performed by an experienced specialist, while observing safety precautions. Sometimes even the slightest carelessness can lead to serious consequences. First of all, your eyes should be protected. If you do not protect them with special glasses, your eyes will hurt after welding. This process cannot be called pleasant, so it must be treated as quickly as possible. What proven folk or pharmacy remedies should you use if your eyes hurt after welding?

Symptoms

Do your eyes hurt from welding? This is the result of non-compliance with safety regulations. To protect the visual organs from this unpleasant symptom, you must wear a special mask. They are equipped with special glass, which can be used to minimize the impact of welding on the eyes. If you ignore this rule, you can get a retinal burn. Symptoms of the lesion manifest themselves in different ways. It depends on the degree of burns. There are 4 of them in total, and each has its own clinical picture:

Mild degree. It is characterized by a slight burning sensation, hyperemia, itching of the eyes, and clouding of the cornea.
Average degree. It is accompanied by severe pain, increased sensitivity to light, erosion of the ocular cornea, and the formation of a film on the conjunctiva.
Third degree. With such a lesion, severe clouding of the cornea, swelling of the eyelids, deterioration of visual function, and nagging pain develop. A person may also feel the presence of a foreign object in the eye.
Last degree. It is accompanied by extremely severe and unpleasant symptoms, as well as severe pain. A person develops complete blindness, discoloration of the cornea, slow death of the conjunctiva, and tissue necrosis. Due to severe pain, it is difficult for a person to open his eyelids.

Eyes after welding may hurt due to the influence of UV rays on the cornea, which are formed during the welding process. The more intense these rays are, the more severely the organ of vision gets burned. With excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, a person risks losing his vision completely.

Degrees of burn resulting from electroophthalmia

When working with a welding machine, there is a risk of picking up “bunnies”. As a result, you can get burns of varying degrees:

Mild burn. Redness occurs, the cornea becomes cloudy, and itching appears in the eyelid area.
Average. Pain occurs and a film forms on the conjunctiva. There is a flickering of “bunnies” and photophobia is observed.
Heavy. In addition to the presence of pain, swelling of the eyelids occurs. There is a sharp deterioration in visual acuity and a feeling of the presence of foreign objects in the eye appears.
Particularly heavy. The conjunctiva begins to decompose. The cornea becomes colorless. Blindness sets in.

First aid

How to help your eyes after welding? First of all, you should not ignore the symptoms that arise. If you help a person in a timely manner, you can not only alleviate his condition, but save his vision.

In addition, first aid to a person who has caught bunnies from welding comes down to the following:

To relieve eye pain, a person must be given an anesthetic. Analgin and Ketanov are best suited. In addition, first aid involves the use of anti-inflammatory drugs - Tavegil, Diclofenac.
Rinse your eyesight with a large volume of purified water.
If small metal particles have entered the eye, you should use a sterile cotton pad or black cloth to remove them. If you cannot cope with this process on your own, then you should consult a doctor, as he has special equipment.
Apply a cold compress to the skin of the eyelids. You can use a cold decoction of chamomile for this. In addition to the cooling effect, chamomile will prevent the development of inflammation. The duration of the cold effect is 5-10 minutes.
Treat the eyelid skin with antiseptic ointment. Tetracycline ointment has proven itself to be excellent.

As soon as a person has been provided with first aid, an urgent need to visit a doctor for consultation. Examination and timely diagnosis are excellent prevention against various eye complications.

What to do if your eyes hurt from welding

If signs of retinal damage appear, it is necessary to protect the person from bright light - put on glasses, take him into a dark room. Then eliminate the main manifestations of the injury, call a doctor, or take the victim to the hospital.

First aid

To eliminate pain and other unpleasant consequences of electroophthalmia and preserve vision, you need to properly provide first aid to the victim.

First aid rules:

Rinse damaged organs of vision with plenty of purified water.
If small particles of metal get into your eyes, you can remove them with a cotton pad; you should not try to get rid of larger elements yourself, so as not to damage the integrity of the tissue.
Give an analgesic tablet - Ketanov, Analgin.
Apply a cold compress to your eyes for 7–12 minutes.
Treat damaged organs of vision with antiseptic drugs - tetracycline ointment.

Gently apply tetracycline ointment to your eyes for severe pain.

Important! If signs of a burn appear, do not rub your eyes or rinse them with tap water, as it contains a lot of chlorine, which further corrodes the damaged mucous membrane. It is forbidden to instill Albucid - the drug contains preservatives that can provoke a severe inflammatory process.

Eye drops after welding

If a person has seen enough of welding, eye drops and ointments are used to eliminate the consequences of the burn; in rare cases, the ophthalmologist may prescribe medications in tablet form.

Group of drugs	Drug name	Treatment regimen
Vasoconstrictor drops - eliminate swelling, help relieve pain	Octilia, Okumetil	Three times a day, 1 drop, duration of therapy – 3 days.
Eye drops with analgesic, freezing effect	Lidocaine, Novocaine, Tetracaine	1 drop per day for two days. Longer treatment is allowed only on the recommendation of an ophthalmologist.
Drops from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs	Clodifene	1 drop every 4–6 hours for three days.
Antibacterial agents – help restore damaged tissues, reduce the risk of complications	Tobramycin, Gentamicin	1-2 drops every 5-6 hours. Duration of treatment – 7 days.
Antihistamines – help relieve swelling and itching	Dexamethasone	In the first day after injury - 1-2 drops every 2 hours, then the procedure can be carried out 4-5 times a day.

Treatment with folk remedies

At home, you can treat eye burns using lotions and drops made from natural ingredients.

The simplest and most affordable method of treatment is to apply warm compresses from strong tea leaves; the tea should be without additives or flavorings. The duration of the procedure is 10 minutes, it needs to be done 4-6 times a day.

What to do if you caught bunnies from welding:

Grind raw potatoes in a blender, place the pulp between two layers of gauze, apply to damaged red eyes for a quarter of an hour. Sessions need to be performed every 5–6 hours.
Mix aloe juice and melted honey in equal parts, instill 1 drop of the mixture in the morning and evening. The medicine accelerates regeneration processes and eliminates inflammatory processes.
Brew 240 ml of boiling water and 10 g of crushed chamomile inflorescences, leave in a closed container for a quarter of an hour, strain. Soak cotton pads in the infusion, apply a compress for 10 minutes, repeat the procedure 3-4 times a day.
Oak bark accelerates the process of regeneration of the conjunctiva - brew 220 ml of boiling water, 5 g of crushed raw materials, leave for 2 hours. Soak cotton pads, apply to eyes for a quarter of an hour, do the procedure at least three times a day.

Potato compress will restore your eyes well

Treatment

Eye treatment for welding can be done using effective pharmaceutical and folk remedies. If your eyes have been burned from welding, it is important to wash them first. You can use either purified water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After this, you can use the drops. But let’s dwell on this in more detail.

Drops

When a person has seen enough of welding and his eyes hurt because of it, treatment can be carried out at home. Surgical intervention should be used only if the last stage of the pathology is observed.

Drug treatment

There are specially created products for treating eye burns. For treatment, you should know which welding eye drops can be used.

Auto-darkening filter for welding.

Home therapy involves the following actions:

Use of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Special drops work as anesthetics and create a freezing effect.
The use of medications to relieve swelling and prevent inflammation (usually drops or ointment).
Taking antibiotics to speed up the recovery of corneal tissue.

The use of “any” eye drops and medicinal gels is unacceptable. You need to know what drops you can put in your eyes after welding. Lidocaine drops have an analgesic effect. Sulfacyl sodium can be instilled as an antibacterial agent. Drops called Floxal also have a bactericidal and antimicrobial effect.

What not to do

In order not to worsen a person’s condition after welding work, you must adhere to the following tips:

Do not rub your eyes, as this will only intensify the pain.
Do not use regular tap water to wash your eyes.
There is no need to rush to use traditional medicine. They should be postponed for a day, and first consult with a specialist.
Do not use eye drops at your own discretion. Not all drugs help cope with burns.

Traditional medicine

If an accident does occur, it will most likely manifest itself at home.
Therefore, it is not always possible to promptly visit a doctor. You should know how you can help the patient at home. In fact, there are many folk remedies that are used for burns. So a compress of chamomile infusion constricts blood vessels and has a calming effect. Pour boiling water over 2 tablespoons, after 10 minutes moisten cotton pads and place on eyes. There are many different folk methods for treating eyes after welding. You can treat your eyes with honey. A certain amount of honey (by eye) is dissolved in warm water until a sweet solution is obtained. Soak cotton swabs and place them on the victim's eyelids. Helps with swelling after welding work.

How long will your eyes hurt?

Symptoms of a burn do not appear immediately. Symptoms increase gradually over 7 hours. If there is no damage to the retina, the pain will be felt for a couple of days. In this case, there is a feeling of anxiety, spasms and lacrimation. But after a while all this passes. If the mucous membrane is burned, the course of therapy is determined by the doctor, so the duration of the pain will be determined taking into account the severity of the injury. Often, after completing a course of therapy, pain still occurs.

Any thermal injury cannot go away in one day. In order for complete recovery to occur, you must endure unpleasant symptoms for 7 days, or maybe longer. it all depends on the complexity of the pathology. If a person feels relief the next year, then this is not a reason to refuse treatment. All therapeutic measures must be carried out daily. It’s better not to go to work, but to take sick leave.

Treatment methods

If welding comes into contact with the eyes, a medical examination is performed to determine the degree of burn and mechanical injury. Therapy is performed on an outpatient basis if surgery is not necessary. The victim is prescribed a treatment regimen that includes drugs of different effects.

Drops with antibacterial, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and vasoconstrictor effects. Among the popular ones: Proculin, eye drops Vizin, Oftalmodek, Visoptin. The products relieve pain, relieve swelling, itching and other unpleasant symptoms.
Antibiotics (Levofloxacin, Tobrex, Gentamicin ointment) prevent the development of concomitant diseases and eliminate the pain effect. Duration of use – at least 5 days (drip 4-5 times a day).
Moisturizing and decongestant drops (Octilia, Visoptic) are used twice a day (during the first 2-3 days) to relieve redness of the eye and swelling of the eyelids.
Eye drops with an analgesic effect (Novocaine, Tetracaine, Alcaine, 2% Lidocaine) relieve itching, stinging and burning, a feeling of sand in the eyes, pain. The drugs cannot be used for a long time; the risk of corneal clouding increases. Instillation is carried out no more than 2 times a day. Duration of use – 2 days.

If there is no improvement within 3-5 days of therapy, the patient is recommended to undergo additional research, which most often shows the need for surgical intervention.

When to see a doctor

Painful sensations in the eyes after welding are a symptom that should not be left to chance. It is necessary to immediately visit a doctor when you cannot eliminate the “bunnies” and pain in the eyes after welding on your own. This cannot be done without the help of a doctor, because it cannot be ruled out that unfavorable changes are already observed in the visual system.

If the symptoms that arise are not treated, this can lead to the following complications:

corneal clouding;
corneal ulcer;
corneal erosion;
decreased visual acuity;
keratitis.

To prevent the development of new problems, you need to visit an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. It is especially important to do this when the pain increases every hour and it becomes impossible to tolerate it. If after a burn there is a sharp drop in visual function, the patient should definitely visit a doctor the next day.

Eye pain after welding is a common symptom of workers who do not follow safety rules. There is no need to think that such symptoms are not serious. If you treat this carelessly, it can cause decreased vision and other dangerous complications. There is no point in delaying treatment; you need to provide first aid to the victim, and then seek qualified help.

Sources used:

Polyak, B.L. Damage to the organ of vision / B.L. Pole. - Moscow
Morozov, V.I. Diseases of the visual pathway. Clinic. Diagnostics. Treatment / V.I. Morozov, A.A. Yakovlev. - Moscow
Krasnov, M.L. Medicinal reference book for an ophthalmologist / M.L. Krasnov, N.B. Shulpina. — M.: State Publishing House of Medical Literature

Reason to urgently seek help

When a welder has picked up “bunnies”, he should turn to the first aid station for help. If a person cooked without a mask, it is necessary to examine the organs of vision for the presence of scale particles. If foreign bodies are detected, the mucous membranes are wiped with a clean cotton swab and washed with boiled water.

We recommend reading: How to make sliding gates yourself

The following signs are reasons to immediately visit an ophthalmologist:

long-lasting pain in the eyes;
red color of the sclera;
decreased visual acuity;
headaches, dizziness.

What causes electroophthalmia?

We know that when looking at bright light our eyes experience significant discomfort. This is easy to notice if you look at the sun, but the discomfort will pass after a while. But some light burns have very negative consequences. Welders are constantly at risk of such eye burns. A plasma or electric arc that is constantly in front of a worker’s eyes poses a great danger to his eyes. Of course, welders take personal eye protection measures by wearing special masks, but cases of eye burns constantly occur in this area of production. This injury is called electroophthalmia. What should you do if your eyes are burned during welding, and what consequences may arise?

Symptoms of injury

Electroophthalmia has several degrees of severity depending on the severity of the burn. Accordingly, the symptoms of injury vary. However, it does not necessarily come from looking at a sparkling arc, but a thermal burn may occur in the absence of a mask from high temperature. However, most often this is a light burn of the mucous membrane, which negatively affects the cornea and retina.

Common signs of such visual damage are:

photophobia;
severe lacrimation;
redness of the whites;
acute pain in the eyes;
spasms of the eyelids.

After receiving an injury, you should visit a doctor as soon as possible to determine the severity of the injury. Indeed, with significant damage, vision may deteriorate and irreversible changes in the structures of the eyes may occur.