New Delhi: People celebrate Diwali all over the world by lighting candles, bursting firecrackers. But, do you know firecrackers can cause serious eye injuries if not taken proper caution. Most of the eye injuries are caused by sparklers, tubri, chakra crackers, even bystanders are at the risk of getting affected.
The common ocular injuries one can face are- irritability, watering of eyes, corneal abrasions. Along with that, there can be retinal complications and open globe injury which can lead to potential blindness. A person can also face chemical injuries due to the presence of chemicals in the gunpowder.
Dr Dhruv Chauhan, Medical officer, Delhi govt hospital said, “Various ingredients in crackers including potassium perchlorate , Nitrate of Perlite powder, Magnesium aluminum-alloy powder can be toxic to general health if burst in large quantities by masses together and often in general leads to “Red eye syndrome” causing reddish and burning eyes along with itching.” “Often too young kids and asthmatic people or patients of respiratory issues are more prone to its effect and should be kept at a distance . Therefore it is advised to cover your eyes while bursting crackers with glasses or shield,” the doctor said.
Children are at high risk of causing damage to their eyes upon exposure to sparklers, firecracker smoke. Dr Chinmayee Gowda, Junior Resident, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Pondicherry advised parents to supervise the kids and should ensure all the safety measures. “Its need of the hour to educate and inculcate environmental and health friendly behaviour from childhood. Around 50 per cent of the victims are children, most of the eye injuries relate to open globe rupture, closed globe injuries, contusions, corneal damage. Failure to check on safety measures, lack of rules, rebellious behaviour of youth, absence of supervision by parents and poor quality of crackers are the leading causes,” said the doctor.
Dr Neha Chowdhury, Ophthalmologist pointed out some common injuries reported during Diwali–
- Bruise around the eye may cause due to bursting sparklers or smoke from firecrackers
- Globe injury- Full thickness injury or injury to the globe without ocular wall rupture
- Lamellar laceration, a person may face partial thickness wound around the eyewall
- Laceration, full thickness injury of the eyewall
- Irritated eyes- Redness or swelling are one of the common symptoms caused from bursting firecrackers
- Dry eyes- Due to smoke from bursting firecrackers, a person can face symptom when eyes don’t produce enough tears
- Penetrating injury and perforating injury- It’s an open globe injury with an entrance and exit wound.
How to protect eyes?
- If your eyes are hit by foreign elements from firecrackers, hold the eyelids open and flush with water continuously
- If your eyes are hit by a large object, first try to flush it with water. If it’s still stuck, please get checked with doctor immediately
- For symptoms like increased swelling in eyelids, decreased vision, please report it to a doctor
- For chemical injuries, try to flush your eyelids with water for half an hour. If it’s not helping you, seek assistance for a doctor immediately.
– Inputs shared by Dr Pankaj Banerjee, Ophthalmologist.
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