Stop rubbing your eyes!
Recently, ophthalmologist, Dr. Teh Wee Min shared in a Facebook group a case he stumbled upon with one of his patients.
On June 22nd, a man came in and complained about an insect that had entered his eye while he was riding his motorcycle, and then he explained that he used his hands to rub his eye to try to remove the insect.
However, he still felt a little uncomfortable and decided to see Dr. Teh.
Dr. Teh who is based in Seremban, said that upon checking the patient’s eye, he found the presence of a red ant head with its jaw still clenched onto the patient’s eye, Ouch!
His caption read: “A patient came to see me today with a complaint of an insect entering his right eye while riding his motorcycle. He rubbed his eye and ‘removed something’, but still felt uncomfortable.”
Dr. Teh further elaborated that the patient was lucky that it was at the white part of the eye and not the cornea, which is the central transparent area of the eye, because if the ant had injected its toxins into it, the patient’s vision would’ve been severely affected.
Photo via Facebook (Teh Wee Min)
Speaking to SYOK, Dr. Teh explained that the patient’s cornea can be permanently cloudy, or blind, if the ant had gotten to it, and the only way to treat it at this time would be to have a corneal transplant.
He has also seen similar incidents like this but with a bee sting!
Dr. Teh also advised the public to not rub their eyes if there is something in it as it may cause abrasions on the cornea, but try to irrigate using clean water instead.
But, if that doesn't relieve the pain, he advises to go and see a doctor!
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
