Should I go to a hospital emergency room if I’m having problems with my eyes? In many cases, your eye doctor can provide the help you need. This is especially important right now to reduce impacts on busy ERs due to winter colds and flu and minimizing your exposure to a variety of diseases in waiting rooms.
The following situations could qualify for emergency eye care:
- · getting hit in the eye,
- chemical burn,
- sudden onset of blurry or loss of vision,
- eye scratches,
- flashes of light or floaters, and
- abrupt headaches with or without visual impacts.
If you have lost or broken eyewear or are low/out of contact lenses and don’t have a backup pair of glasses, your eye doctor can help.
Experience itchy or dry eyes? Irritating as these symptoms can be, it would not be considered urgent or an emergency. Same goes for your annual eye exam or wanting to chat with your eye doctor about trying contact lenses for the first time. These inquiries are important, of course, but can wait until your next appointment.