What can cause a chemical burn in the eye?
You can have eye damage because of chemicals in solid, liquid, powder, or aerosol products such as:
- soaps
- disinfectants
- solvents
- nail polish remover and cosmetics
- general cleaning products
- drain and oven cleaners
- laundry and dish detergents
- bleach and ammonia
- fertilizers and pesticides
- battery acid
- vinegar
The two most common types of ocular chemical burns are:
Alkali burns: These trusted Sources are caused by a water-soluble (high pH) base compound commonly found in drain cleaners or industrial cleaning chemicals. Alkali burns are far more dangerous to the eye because tears can't move through high pH agents, allowing the alkali to penetrate deep into the eye and cause extensive tissue damage.
Acid burns: These are caused by low pH chemical exposure such as hydrochloric acid found in swimming pool cleaners or sulfuric acid that's found in car batteries. Human tears can quickly move through these acids and neutralize the low pH, which will limit the chemical penetration and tissue damage.
What happens when soap gets into your eyes?
Usually, we are careful of soap going in our eyes while bathing or washing our face, yet sometimes soap does enter our eyes causing discomfort and pain. You might even fear that you have done some long-lasting harm to your eyes. In this article, we discuss if having soap in your eyes is a cause of concern and what can be done immediately.
Soap in the eyes does cause discomfort, redness, and pain. This is because of the difference in pH of our eyes and soap. Eyes have a pH of around 7 which is neutral. A variety of soaps have a pH of 9-10 which is alkaline. Our eyes have a low tolerance for alkaline substances. Thus when soap gets into the eyes causes a burning sensation.
The front surface of your eyes is very reactive to stimuli, so any contact with external substances can cause a great deal of pain. If left untreated the presence of soap in eyes could cause damage to the surface of the eyes.
What should you do if you get soap in your eyes?
1. Avoid rubbing your eyes once soap gets into your eyes. This is because rubbing spreads the soap around the surface of your eyes which worsens the discomfort and pain. Rubbing of the eyes activates one ingredient present in a soap called sodium lauryl sulfate, a foaming agent, and thus worsens the discomfort.
2. The first thing that you should do is gently splash clean water in your eyes to wash excess soap in and around your eyes. Normally water should not be used to wash inside of the eyes because of the presence of impurities, but in such an emergency it is okay to wash gently. This can be done by cupping cool water in both hands and gently splashing in your eyes. Remember forceful splashing can itself cause injury. Keep washing till the burning sensation in the eyes goes away.
3 If you have a contact lens in your eyes and soap gets in your eyes remove the contact lens immediately.
4. Use some artificial tears or lubricating eye drops if the burning continues. You can also use normal saline 0.9% in an eye cup to wash out excess soap in your eyes. Usually, this stops the discomfort.
5. If this does not help then you need to visit your doctor.
