Question
My husband was playing with our six month old puppy this morning, and the puppy accidentally scratched my husband in the eye. It happened very quickly, the dog's claw actually made contact with my husband's eyeball. He instantly developed a swollen, blood red "blotch" in his eye. I was surprised the eye wasn't tearing blood. He says that his vision is fine and it's not really bothering him. He has rinsed his eye out with saline eye drops and doesn't want to see a doctor about the scratch. I'm concerned about what sort of germs could have gotten into his eye since dog feet/claws aren't generally thought to be clean.
The "blotch" on his eye is a little bigger than a pencil eraser and just to the left of his pupil in his left eye. Should I force him to go to a doctor to get it looked at, or treat him like an adult and let him make his own decision?
Answer
Dear Kristen,
A corneal scratch would actually be very painful and also give blurred vision.
What seems to have happened is a blood clot in the white of his eye which is called 'sub conjunctival haemorhhage'
This is usually self limiting. The eye looks bad but the blood clot starts clearing after Day 3 or 4 and does take at least 2-3 weeks for it to disappear completely esp if a large patch.
Since this was an injury, it is always better to get it checked up even with a local optometrist.
The rinsing of the eyes was a good idea as first aid.
Hope this helps,
Regars,
Dr Anand Shroff
www.shroffeye.org
