Your doctor might try to get the object out of your eye by flushing it out, or they may use needles or other instruments. If the object has pierced your eyeball and is stuck inside your eye, you might have a special X-ray or ultrasound taken to see exactly where it is.
How to Get Something Out of Your Eye: Foreign Objects, Chemicals, and More
If you have something stuck in your eye, you may be able to use a simple wash method to help get it out.
However, there are certain times when you may need to go to the emergency room, like:
- if there’s an object stuck in your eye
- you have a serious eye injury
- you think you have a chemical burn to your eye
Before you decide to rub your eye, it’s important to know what may actually help you get something out of your eye and what may make it worse.
Here are ways to help yourself or someone else when something is in an eye.
A variety of items can get into your eye. This might include:
- everyday objects
- chemicals
- contact lenses
As long as these aren’t embedded in your eyelid or eyeball and haven’t caused any significant injuries, you may be able to safely remove them at home. Here’s how:
How to remove an object from your eye
Sometimes, moving your eyes around with your lids shut or blinking rapidly for a few seconds may be enough to get a foreign object out of your eye.
If these methods fail, consider first aid for removing an object from your eye. This involves an irrigation method, which relies on the use of water or saline solution to flush objects out, such as:
First, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. You may flush the object out of your eye with two methods:
- A cup of water. Fill a clean cup with lukewarm water. Place the rim of the cup on the bottom of your eye socket and gently pour, creating a stream of water through your eye.
- A shower head. Stand under a steady but gentle stream of water in your shower as you hold your eyelid open. Make sure the water stream is on a soft stream setting.
Repeat the flushing method for several minutes at a time or until you no longer feel the object stuck in your eye.
Removing chemicals from your eye
To remove soap, shampoo, or cosmetics from your eye, you may use one of the two flushing methods above.
In the case of household or professional-grade chemicals, rinse your eyes for 15 minutes and seek professional medical help immediately for advice on your next steps.
- saline solution
- eye irrigation kit
- distilled water
- medicine dropper
- sterile gauze
- an eye patch
What to do if you wear contacts
Remove your contact lenses before flushing your eyes with water. This helps to ensure a better irrigation process.
Also, double-check your contacts to make sure the object you’re trying to remove isn’t stuck on the actual lens. You may need to replace your lenses if something has torn or damaged them.
It’s possible for your contact lens to become stuck in your eye. In this case, you’ll need to use the irrigation method described above to help remove your lens.
If your lens is still stuck, talk with a healthcare professional for help.
Do this to safely remove something from an eye:
- Use a new unused eyewash kit from your first aid kit.
- Wash the eye using a small cup with saline or tap water.
- Use a gentle stream of water in the shower to rinse the eye.
- Go to the ER or call 911 immediately for an object embedded in the eye, bleeding from the eye, an eye burn, or another serious eye injury.
Don’t do this if you have something in your eye:
- Don’t use dirty hands near your eye.
- Don’t scratch or rub your eye.
- Don’t use a towel or other piece of cloth to touch your eye.
- Don’t apply pressure to your eye.
- Don’t attempt to remove any embedded objects or particles.
What Should I Do if Something Gets in My Eye?
Nothing can stop you in your tracks like getting something stuck in your eye. Eyelashes, a fiber from your sweater, and even the smallest speck of dirt can feel like a boulder and bring a waterfall of tears. Chances are that tears will wash the object out of your eye.
If it doesn’t, there are a few things you can try. What you should do depends on what’s in your eye and where it is.
First Steps
Before you get started, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Don’t rub your eye. It can cause a scratch on the surface of your eye, also called a corneal abrasion.
- Don’t use cotton swabs or sharp things like tweezers to touch your eyeball.
- Always wash your hands before you try to get something out of your eye.
- If you wear contact lenses, take them out to make sure they won’t get scratched or torn. Indeed, the foreign body sensation may actually be caused by a torn contact lens, so don’t try too many times to remove a lens that’s not there. That could make an existing scratch worse.
How to Look at Your Eye
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell exactly where something is stuck in your eye. Make sure you have enough light to see what you’re doing.
Follow these steps to check your eye:
- Open it really wide. You might be able to see the object on your eyeball.
- Pull your lower lid down and look up into the mirror.
- Lift your upper lid up and look down into the mirror.
How to Get Debris Out of Your Eye
If the thing in your eye is a small speck like dirt, sand, a bit of makeup, or a fiber, there are a few things you can do to try and get it out:
If the speck is stuck in your upper eyelid, pull your upper eyelid down over your lower eyelid and let go. When your upper eyelid slides back, the speck might come out.
If the speck is in your lower eyelid, pull the eyelid out and press on the skin underneath so you can see the pink part of the inside of the eyelid. If you can see the speck, you can try to get it out with a damp cotton ball, being careful not to touch your eyeball. You can also run a gentle stream of water over the inside of your eyelid.
Pus or Mucus
Gunky pus or mucus can dry into an itchy or uncomfortable crust. You can get it from a cold , allergies , or pinkeye . Or you might have a blocked tear duct or problems with the oil glands in your eyelids, which can clog things up.
Here’s what to do:
First, break up any crusty discharge. Put a warm, moist washcloth on your closed eye for a few minutes. Warm the washcloth again with water if you need to get the gunk off. Then take damp, warm cotton balls or a corner of a washcloth and gently wipe your closed eye from the inner corner to the outer corner. Repeat with new cotton balls until the eye is clean.
Keep it clean. Wash your hands before and after.
Warm is best. Don’t use hot water. Your eyes, eyelids, and nearby skin are delicate.
Don’t spread infection. Use a new washcloth for each wipe if you have an infection like pinkeye . Use two washcloths if you have pinkeye in both eyes, so you don’t transfer the infection from one eye to the other.
When to Flush Out Your Eye
Sometimes, you’ll need the help of clean water or saline. Try it if:
- A speck in your eye won’t come out
- There’s more than one speck in your eye
- Chemicals get into your eye
Fill a container or eye cup (you can get eye cups at the drugstore). Dunk your eye in it, then open and close your eye a few times.
Sometimes, it takes a team effort. You may need to lie down on your side and hold your eye open while a friend drops the water or saline into your eye from the side.
Once you get the object out of your eye, you should start to feel better in an hour or two.
Chemicals
Lots of household chemicals can hurt your eyes. They include things such as bleach, drain cleaners, dishwasher detergent powder, glass polish, fertilizers, and lime products like plaster and cement.
Flush it. Rinse your eye with cool water or saline solution right away for at least 15 minutes. You can do this over a sink or in the shower. If you wear contacts, take them out, but don’t stop rinsing your eye while you do it.
Get advice. When you finish rinsing, call your local poison control center or the national hotline at 800-222-1222. They can tell you what to do next, based on the chemical. For things like soap and shampoo, a good rinse is probably all you’ll need. If you’re unsure, call the hotline.
Go to the ER. If the poison expert tells you to go to the ER, take the container of the chemical, so doctors will know exactly what it is.
When to Get Help
Your eyes are sensitive and delicate. Get medical attention right away if:
- You get harsh chemicals in your eye.
- Something has poked a hole in your eye.
- Something has pierced your eye and is stuck there. Don’t try to take it out yourself.
- You can’t get specks of dirt or sand out of your eye.
- It still feels like there’s something in your eye after you’ve tried to get it out, but you can’t see it.
- Your eye bleeds.
- You can’t close your eye.
- Your vision changes.
- Your eye doesn’t feel better, or it starts to feel worse, even though you got the object out.
When you get help, your doctor will want to take a look at your eye. They may put different kinds of drops in your eyes, such as:
- Medication to make your eye numb
- Dye so they can see any scratches on your eyeball
- Meds to widen your pupils
Your doctor might try to get the object out of your eye by flushing it out, or they may use needles or other instruments. If the object has pierced your eyeball and is stuck inside your eye, you might have a special X-ray or ultrasound taken to see exactly where it is.
Your doctor might give you antibiotic ointment to put in your eye to prevent infection. If there’s a scratch left on your eye after the offending object is removed, you may have to wear an eye patch while it gets better.
Show Sources
Photo credit: Ocusfocus/Dreamstime
Harvard Medical School: “Foreign Body In Eye.”
AARP: “Foreign Object in the Eye.”
El Camino Hospital: “What to Do if You Get Something in Your Eye.”
Mayo Clinic: “Foreign object in the eye: First aid.”
Nemours Foundation: “Pink eye (conjunctivitis),” “Eye injuries.”
Paediatrics & Child Health: “Colds in children.”
UpToDate: “Patient education: Chemical eye injury (The Basics).”
American Academy of Ophthalmology: “Crusty eyelid or eyelashes,” “What is blepharitis?” “Quick home remedies for pink eye,” “Epsom salts for chalazion,” “Recognizing and treating eye injuries.”
Children’s Hospital Colorado: “Eye — Pus or discharge.”
Australian Government Department of Health: “Eye discharge.”
Cleveland Clinic: “First aid for eyes.”
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: “Eye exposures.”
National Capital Poison Center: “The baby drank shampoo.”
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