Definition
The upper layer of your eyes is made up of tissues and protects your eyes and this layer is known as the cornea. You can also call it a window because it allows light to go in your eyes, your tears protect the cornea from bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Many times you try hard to avoid infection but still have a wound in the cornea, and that wound is called a corneal ulcer.
What is a corneal ulcer?
A wound in the cornea is known as a corneal ulcer and is often caused by an infection. If you have ever had a minor injury to the eye or if you wear contact lenses for a long time, you may still get an infection that causes a corneal ulcer in your eye. It can also be quite painful, due to which your eyes will become very red and maybe your eyesight may also be lost.
Causes of corneal ulcer
The main reason for this is infection:
Acanthamoeba keratitis
This is a type of infection that often occurs in contact lens wearers. It can also be an amoeba infection and in many cases, you can also lose eye light.
Fungal keratitis
This infection develops due to a tree or plant. And in most cases, it develops in people with weak immune systems.
Bails palsy
This is a type of disorder and affects your eyelids due to which you cannot completely close your eyes. This can cause the cornea to become dry and the ulcer is greatly aggravated.
Herpes simplex keratitis
Herpes simplex keratitis is a type of viral infection and due to that infection, there are frequent wounds in your eyes. There can be many reasons behind this such as stress, harmful rays of the sun, or a weak immune system.
Other causes
Other causes of corneal ulcers include:
- Dryness in eyes
- Injury in eyes
- Bacteria
- Inflammatory disorders
- Contact lenses
- Vitamin A deficiency
Symptoms of corneal ulcer
- Trouble seeing in bright light
- Red or pink eyes
- Watery eyes
- Itchiness in the eye
- Eye irritation
- Eye ache
- Feeling as something is in your eyes
- Not able to see clear
- Eyelid inflammation
A corneal ulcer is a serious disease, it is also able to make you blind so treat it immediately.
Diagnosis of corneal ulcer
During the examination of the eyes, the doctor diagnoses corneal ulcers. And to check this, the doctor tests the fluorescein eye stain. For which the doctor puts a drop of orange dye on a blotting paper and touches the surface of your eyes and transfers the dye to the eye.
After this, the specialist examines the damaged part of the light under the microscope. And when the light falls on the cornea, the damaged part appears green. And after doing this test, the doctor realizes that if you have a corneal ulcer due to an infection, then he can take a tissue sample from your eyes.
Corneal ulcers prevention
Although there are many ways to prevent corneal ulcers, the best of them is to go to an eye specialist immediately as soon as you start seeing any signs of infection in the eye or if you have an eye injury.
In addition, follow the following tips.
- Remove the contact at bedtime.
- Always keep contact lenses clean.
- Wash hands before touching the eyes.
- If something goes in your eyes, wash immediately with water.