Features of a cigarette burn and its treatment

Eye injury can lead to irreparable consequences: cloudiness, blurred vision, discomfort, hemorrhage, retinal detachment and even blindness.

If the organ of vision is affected, you should not self-medicate and look for the cause without a specialist.

A suitable place to go is an ophthalmology clinic; an emergency room is not suitable in this case.

If a stroke occurs, it is important to visit an ophthalmologist as soon as possible to determine the changes that have occurred, their cause, conduct a full diagnosis and prescribe comprehensive treatment.

What happens to the eye after a blow?

An eye injury can occur as a result of a domestic accident, a blow with a fist, a ball or snowball, or a fall. Changes in the organ of vision and their degree depend on the cause, strength and location of the impact (lens, eyeball or other part), and the speed of the moving object.

If there is a blow to the eye, the patient experiences discomfort, pain of varying strength, photophobia and redness, blurred vision and blurred vision.

When an injury occurs, hemorrhage occurs. It can be localized in various parts of the organ of vision (hemophthalmos, hyphema).

The structures of the eye temporarily shift back, the fibrous capsule rapidly increases in width. This leads to flattening of the cornea and its deflection inward, increasing intraocular pressure. Swelling may occur.

If intraocular pressure increases, this leads to pupil dilation and tearing. Detachment of the iris and retina is possible.

When the lens gets into the area, it becomes displaced and subluxated. This provokes rupture of the lens and the development of cataracts.

With excessively strong impacts, there may be a fracture of the optic canal or orbital walls.

What to do?

Immediately after ash gets on the mucous membranes of the organ of vision, it is necessary to rinse the eye with cooled boiled water. It is not recommended to use a flow one, as it can cause infection. If the burning sensation is strong, then you should fill a basin with cool water and lower your face. You need to keep your eyelids open for as long as possible. The procedure can be repeated until the symptoms disappear completely. To disinfect the wound, you can wash the eye with a weak solution of potassium permanganate of a light pink shade or a solution of Furacilin tablets.

An ophthalmologist may prescribe the following moisturizing and antibacterial drops:

• "Albucid";
• "Levomycetin";
• "Balarpan";
• "Taufon";
• "Penicillin";
• "Solcoseryl";
• "Vitabact".

Instillation with drops should be carried out for up to 5 days.

Drops should be instilled 2-3 times a day for 4-5 days or complete disappearance of symptoms. Dosages and concentrations of drugs for children are selected by a pediatrician so as not to cause repeated burns of the cornea. Before going to bed, it is recommended to apply ointments to the eyelids to help relieve swelling and redness of the skin. Applying lotions immediately after getting ash in the eyes is contraindicated. The most effective liniments include Hydrocortisone, Korneregel, Cyclomed.

To quickly remove ash from the eyes, it is necessary to increase tear production using moisturizing drops, inhaling menthol or onions.

Among the folk remedies, lotions made from crushed raw potatoes are recommended, which are placed on closed eyelids to stop swelling. The duration of the procedure is 10-15 minutes. You can wash your eyes with cold decoctions of lemon balm, chamomile or weak black tea. However, it is important to monitor the temperature so as not to cause a re-burn. Deterioration of the condition indicates an allergic reaction. In this case, Ketotifen drops are indicated.

Reasons for decreased visibility

Everything that happens to the organ of vision after an impact can lead to blurring and deterioration of visibility:

• temporary spasm of accommodation;
• damage to part of the eye;
• hemophthalmos – hemorrhage into the vitreous body;
• hemorrhage in the front part of the organ of vision (hyphema);
• retinal disinsertion;
• destruction of the eyeball or rupture;
• retinal swelling;
• fracture of the optic canal;
• cataract;
• increased intraocular pressure and, as a result, detachment of the iris.

Degree of burn after a cigarette

At the moment of smoldering, the cigarette tip heats up to a temperature of 300 0 C, and at the moment of inhaling it can increase to 1000 0 C. If we consider that the temperature of human protein folding is 42 0 C, then it is not difficult to imagine what happens to skin tissue after how they got burned. Cigarette burn has some features:

• even short-term contact with a smoldering cigarette leaves a mark on the skin. If the exposure time is increased by at least a couple of seconds, a burn appears;
• the small area of ​​the lesion makes it difficult to determine “by eye” the degree of injury;
• Contamination of the wound occurs instantly, because Tobacco and paper, when burned, release tarry substances that clog the burn and penetrate deep into the skin.

In medicine, there are 4 degrees of thermal damage, differing in intensity:

• The first degree is characterized by a change in skin color, slight inflammation and barely noticeable pain. Only the upper stratum corneum of the epidermis is affected;
• the second degree is more serious. The victim feels very painful sensations, the deeper subcutaneous layers are damaged, which provokes the appearance of blisters, the affected area becomes red and inflamed;
• the third degree is divided into two stages: 3-a and 3-b. In the first case, high temperatures penetrate deep into the skin. Blisters do not appear, but there is an open wound surface from which the ichor comes out. In the second stage, the germ layer of the skin with nerve endings, which is responsible for regeneration and restoration, is damaged. With such a lesion, a person experiences severe pain. Most often, such a burn consists of a rim, which is shrouded on all sides by a second-degree burn;
• the fourth degree is the most serious. The burn penetrates deep into the skin, affecting muscle and even bone tissue. The edges of the burn wound are completely charred.

Important: Why do spots appear after a sunburn and how to deal with it?

Most often, the victim is diagnosed with a 1st and 2nd degree burn, the so-called superficial. In order to get a serious 3rd or 4th degree injury, you need to hold the cigarette on your skin for a long time.

Diagnostics

Determining the causes of visual impairment and possible complications includes the following measures:

• visual inspection;
• examination of the intraocular fundus;
• study of the condition of the eyeball, components of the organ of vision for integrity and damage.

If necessary, X-rays, MRIs, and ultrasound examinations are performed.

These diagnostic procedures make it possible to identify the condition of the tissues behind the eyeball, the characteristics of hemorrhage, the degree of damage and possible displacement of the ocular structures, study the condition of the optic nerve and orbit, and exclude the presence of a foreign body in the eye.

Possible complications

If a burn is not treated promptly, it will lead to complications. The presence of contamination in a burn wound increases the risk of infectious inflammation. Possible consequences of thermal injury include:

• soft tissue abscess;
• epidermal necrosis;
• toxic necrolysis;
• sepsis (blood poisoning).

When the germ layer is damaged, hypertrophic scars are formed that protrude above the surface of the skin. They do not resolve and require surgical correction. In isolated cases, blood poisoning with coccal infection occurs. This reaction occurs in response to local infectious inflammation of the skin. Sepsis occurs with the formation of ulcers on the skin and internal organs.

Treatment

To prescribe treatment, you must contact an ophthalmologist.

General principles of therapy:

• To prevent the development of tetanus, an infection transmitted through injured epithelium, a special serum is injected and medications are given.
• Levomycetin, Tobrex, Sulfacyl sodium, Normax or other antibacterial, antimicrobial drugs are instilled into the damaged eye to prevent infection.
• For hemorrhage, it is prescribed intramuscularly or orally in the form of tablets Dicynon, Etamsylate, Calcium Gluconate. To strengthen the walls of blood vessels, vitamins Ascorutin are additionally recommended.
• To relieve inflammation and pain, tablets, powders or injections are used in case of excessive pain: Nise, Nimesil, Movalis or Meloxicam, Nurofen, Analgin, Diclofenac or Voltaren.
• Eye injury is accompanied by a depressed psychological state, so sedatives are additionally recommended: Persen, Motherwort, Valerian, Afobazole and others.
• If the diagnosis reveals serious damage to the structural units of the eye, their rupture, surgical intervention is necessary.

In severe cases, hospitalization is necessary.

Prohibited techniques

If a person has received an eye burn from welding, then the following methods of so-called “treatment” will not lead to anything good:

• Rubbing. Of course, the patient at this moment feels as if sand was poured under his eyelids. However, this sensation is caused by an inflammatory process, and not by the presence of any particles in the eyes. Therefore, friction can only complicate the situation.
• Rinsing eyes with tap water. The fact is that in this case you can easily get infected, but such cleansing will not give the desired effect. Only boiled water can be used for such manipulations.
• Grandmothers' advice: putting honey, aloe juice, tea leaves into the eyes. These methods should absolutely not be used, since their effect can be exactly the opposite.

Prevention

To prevent the development of complications after a blow to the eye, you must adhere to the following recommendations. They constitute first aid for injury:

• To reduce swelling and resolution of the hematoma, it is recommended to sleep half-sitting.
• After the blow, apply cold to the eye every hour for two days, wrapped in a cotton cloth. After this period, replace the cold with heat and massage the tissues around the hematoma.
• Regardless of the degree of the blow, its manifestations, consult an ophthalmologist to clarify the consequences and possible complications.

If there are no changes in the eyeball, symptoms after a blow to the eye disappear within 2-3 weeks. If they do not go away or get worse after this period, you should consult an ophthalmologist.

What is strictly forbidden to do if you are burned by a cigarette?

A cigarette burn cannot be treated with vodka, alcohol or cologne. These aggressive substances tend to cauterize tissue and increase the severity of damage.

It is also not advisable to use iodine and brilliant green, since they will increase inflammation, but you can use these agents to treat the area around the burn to reduce the likelihood of infection. Do not pop blisters or remove scabs from the wound. This way you break the natural barrier that prevents germs from entering.

Important: Applying a burn patch

If you have a cigarette burn, do not use iodine.

When making a cold compress, do not apply pure ice to the wound, otherwise frostbite will be added to the thermal burn. Do not lubricate the burn with greasy products. This will only make the situation worse and will not allow the wound to heal properly.

If possible, do not cover the damaged area with a bandage, allowing the wound to breathe. The only exceptions are those situations when the burn is located at the site of friction of clothing or at the site of direct contact with water, dust or chemicals.

Useful video

First aid for a blow to the eye and relief of the consequences of injury.

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Alexandrova O.M.

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Retinal burn: causes

• Exposure to bright light after prolonged exposure to darkness.
• The influence of ultraviolet radiation. Although this does not threaten a person with loss of vision, there are cases when sunlight, which is reflected from the snow, sharply enters a person’s eyes and can harm him (the so-called snow blindness, which is often found in the north of Russia, for example in the city of Vorkuta). In addition, a burn to the retina can occur due to the fact that a person watches a solar eclipse without glasses.
• Exposure to light from a spotlight and laser beams.