When emergencies arise

During normal office hours we make every effort to accommodate emergency patients with red or painful eyes, ocular foreign bodies, and those with sudden vision changes or flashes of light. If your health insurance plan requires authorization from your primary care physician please let us know in advance to help expedite your office visit.

After hours emergency will be handled by our on-call doctor. Just call the emergency number provided on our office answering machine and the on-call doctor will be contacting you shortly. At Lifetime Eyecare we take emergency vision and eye care needs VERY seriously. 

Please note:

• If we are not immediately available to assist or direct you and you feel that you have an urgent problem that requires immediate attention report to the nearest emergency room or call 911 for an ambulance. 
• Trauma to the eye requires prompt medical attention. If anything penetrates an eye, no attempt should be made to remove it. The eye should be loosely covered, DO NOT push on your eye. DO cover your eye with a rigid shield, if one is available. However, do not put anything under the shield that would press on your eye. A rigid shield can be fashioned from the bottom of a paper cup. Alternatively, put your glasses or sunglasses on, which will also provide protection. The injured person should seek emergency room care immediately.
• If you get an acidic or caustic chemical in your eye (e.g., chemical burn), please stop reading this and irrigate your eye with clean contact lens solution, if none is available, you may use clean tap water. Do this for 15 minutes, and then go directly to the nearest emergency room.
• For minor or less urgent injuries, contacting our office is often the wisest choice. Remember that eye care is a very specialized field that requires special equipment: the direct approach is the wisest, quickest and, often, least expensive option.
• Flushing the eyes with water is also the preferred treatment to remove loose foreign objects.

Warning signs that may indicate an eye condition requires emergency medical attention include:

  ·         persistent pain

  ·         sudden sensitivity to light

  ·         new-onset flashing lights

  ·         new-onset red, painful eye and

  ·         any sudden change or loss of vision

  ·         Post-operative patients with pain in or around the eye, infectious discharge, increased redness, or decreased vision (in either eye)

The following symptoms require contacting Lifetime Eyecare as soon as possible:

•·         Red eye

•·         Sensation of a foreign body present

•·         Excessive tearing

•·         Presence of pus or crusting