Corneal Foreign Body

What is a corneal foreign body?
The cornea can sometimes act like a sticky substance when it comes to certain objects. Metal frequently gets "stuck" to the cornea and cannot be removed, even with vigorous rubbing. When this occurs, special microsurgical tools are needed to get the metal off of the cornea.

If metal or any object is allowed to stay on the cornea for more than 2-3 hours, it will frequently become embedded in the cornea and will be more difficult to remove. For this reason, it is important that you see a qualified ophthalmologist when ever you suspect something is in your eye, so that the object can be completely removed.

If the object is not completely removed are if it remains in the eye for longer than a few hours, the cornea may create a scar around the object. This scar can cause blurred vision and glare.

For this reason, we will usually re-check the person 1-2 weeks after the removal of a foreign body to make sure that there is no scar formation. If there is a scar, special drops can be used to minimize the blurred vision and glare associated with these scars.