Victims of eye injuries are advised to seek prompt medical advice if the injury is at all serious or does not resolve with simple first-aid measures — for example, by washing out a foreign body using an eye bath.
Eye injuries can result from either a direct blow to the eye or the penetration of a foreign object. Nevertheless, the eye typically avoids severe harm due to the protective shielding of the surrounding bone and the rapid blink reflex.
A forceful impact to the eye can result in tearing of the iris (the colored part of the eye) or the sclera (the white of the eye), potentially causing the eyeball to collapse and leading to the risk of blindness. Less severe injuries may cause a vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding into the gel-filled cavity behind the lens), hyphema (bleeding into the front chamber of the eye), retinal detachment, or harm to the trabeculum (the drainage channel for eye fluid), which can trigger glaucoma (a sudden increase in fluid pressure within the eyeball).
Injuries to the central area of the cornea (the clear front dome of the eyeball) can lead to vision impairment due to scarring. Similarly, damage to the lens (the part responsible for focusing) may result in the formation of a cataract, causing a loss of transparency in the lens.