Have you ever thought about how much you use your eyes on a daily basis? From the time you wake up in the morning until the time you go to bed at night, you constantly rely on your eyes to tell you where you are, what surrounds you and how to get from point A to point B without falling over things.
What if you could no longer see? Unfortunately, according to Ideal Eyecare, over 25,000 people each year become partially or totally blind as the result of a car crash per the National Federation of the Blind.
Eye injury symptoms
You likely will know immediately if your car crash produces an eye injury or a head injury that negatively affects your eyes. Immediate symptoms include the following:
- Losing your central or peripheral vision
- Feeling like you are looking through a gray curtain
- Noticing flashing lights in one or both eyes
- Noticing floaters in one or both eyes
- Experiencing a severe headache and/or nausea
- Experiencing double vision
Never ignore these symptoms. Seek immediate medical attention.
Retinal detachment
Retinal detachment represents one of the most common car crash eye injuries. Your retinas sit at the backs of your eyes and relay incoming light to your optic nerves. When they partially tear away, you experience partial blindness. When they completely tear away, you can see nothing at all.
Ophthalmic surgeons have the following four surgery choices to repair your retinas:
- Cryopexy
- Laser surgery
- Pneumatic retinopexy
- Scleral buckle
Whichever procedure your surgeon recommends for your specific retinal detachment, you must undergo it within 24 hours in order to minimize your risk of permanent blindness.