Eye doctor reveals the most PAINFUL things that have blinded her patients – including razor blades, Nerf guns and grass

An eye surgeon in Georgia has revealed the most common and painful injuries that have left patients blind.

Dr. Lauren Yancey, an ophthalmologist at the Georgia Vision Institute, took to TikTok this week to share a PSA about “how not to go blind.”

“Not everyone wants to live longer, but you definitely want to be able to see it if you do,” she said in the video, which has been viewed more than 45,000 times.

Dr. Yancey said her warnings come as spring reaches the U.S. and more Americans spend time outdoors.

The first tip from the ophthalmologist, who has 163,000 followers, was not to sleep in contact lenses.

“Change your lenses regularly because contact lens infections are horrible,” she said.

Dr. Yancey said you shouldn’t sleep with your contact lenses on because it can cut off oxygen flow to the cornea

About 45 million Americans wear contact lenses, and a third of those have admitted to sleeping in them, the CDC estimates.

According to the FDA, wearing contact lenses for extended periods of time, such as during sleep, significantly reduces the amount of oxygen reaching your cornea, the transparent part of the eye that lets in light.

Over time, this can lead to vision loss as cells in the eye die.

Dr. Yancey said she saw a patient that day who had a contact stuck “right in the middle of the visual field,” and it was unclear whether her vision would return to normal. “We just have to wait and see how it goes,” she said.

She also advised caution when opening boxes containing sharp tools such as knives, screwdrivers and box cutters. “Please don’t pull away,” she said. “Those are all things that I’ve had to sew eyes shut to open a box.”

“Reach down and pull back, don’t pull toward you. If you’re right-handed, it always goes straight into your right eye.’

She advised exercising caution when opening boxes containing sharp tools such as knives, screwdrivers and box cutters. “Please don’t pull away,” she said. “Those are all things that I’ve had to sew my eyes shut to open a box.”

“If you have children, never approach someone who is mowing the lawn,” Dr. Yancey said, noting that flying grass can cause eye damage.

Such injuries can lead to severe vision loss or complete loss of an eye.

Furthermore, Dr. warned Yancey said that as more people go outside in the spring, be careful if anyone is working in the yard because the grass clippings quickly shoot out and get into the eyes.

“If you are the parent, make sure your children don’t run outside while you are mowing a lawn, operating a weed remover or operating a (rotary cutter),” she said.

“If you are children, never approach someone who is mowing the lawn.”

‘Never try to attract the attention of your parents, friends or neighbors while they are sitting on the lawn mower or the bush hog or holding a weed eater or the like.’

“Normally it’s not the person operating the lawn mower, it’s the person who’s in the way of what’s spraying down the sides.”

Finally, Dr. Yancey recommended the use of Nerf Guns and other toys that fire projectiles due to eye injuries.

In 2018, a nine-year-old boy in Wales lost one eye after a friend shot him with a Nerf gun bullet.

Six years earlier he had gone blind in that eye when he was hit by a toy arrow.

The pellets have also been shown to damage the retina, a layer of tissue at the back of the eyeball, which can lead to blindness or blurred vision.

Dr. However, Yancey noted that eye damage can take years to become apparent.

This includes bleeding in the eye, known as hyphema.

“Normally that wouldn’t blind you now. It will only blind you later if it causes you to develop traumatic glaucoma later in life,” she said.

“You’ll probably do just fine as a child with just a hyphema, and later we’ll have to deal with all the problems that cost you.”

In the comments, Dr. Yancey also noted that she had a patient who lost an eye to a golf ball.