![]() Symptoms usually start with pain, redness, and loss of vision several days to a few weeks after an injection. ![]() This rare infection is called endophthalmitis (pronounced like “end-off-thal-my-tiss”). In about one in several thousand injections, germs may enter the eye through the needle tract after an eye injection. Infection is an extremely rare cause of pain after an eye injection. If a medication is determined to be the cause of inflammation, it is treated with prescription eye drops and the offending drug is not used again in that patient in the future. The doctor makes this diagnosis by examining the eye under the biomicroscope (called a slit lamp). Rarely, a drug that is injected into the eye can cause an inflammation that causes pain or blurred vision. Once the eye becomes dry or irritated for any reason listed above, it may take 1-2 days for the pain to go away and the eye to return to normal. It is best not to move the tissue left and right or up and down in a rubbing fashion. If the eye needs to be dried off, a clean tissue may be used with a gently damping or blotting motion in the corner of the eye where the lids come together at the bridge of the nose. Therefore, it is very important to avoid touching the eye for 15-30 minutes after an injection. In some cases, it may be necessary to forcibly close the eyes with each blink in order to be sure the lids close completely.Īt times a patient may unknowingly rub and scratch the eye after an injection because of persistent numbing after an injection. Similarly, if a patient does not close the eye completely with each blink, part of the eye can become dry. Therefore, the patient may need to purposefully blink frequently or simply rest the eye closed for a while after an eye injection in order to prevent drying. If the eye does not blink often enough, the surface may dry out and cause blurred vision, pain or foreign body sensation. During that time, the patient does not have the normal sensation necessary to indicate that it is time to blink. After the injection is over, the anesthetic may continue to work for 15-30 minutes. This often happens as a result of the anesthetic used in preparation for the injection. Sometimes, the surface of the eye may become dry after an injection because the patient does not blink frequently enough or not completely enough. ![]() Therefore, it is important for the eye doctor or technician to completely rinse the betadine off the eye after an eye injection in order to avoid pain later. If a large amount of betadine is used or if the betadine has not been thoroughly rinsed off the eye, it may cause blurred vision, persistent burning, itching, and/or a scratchy sensation like sand in the eye (called a foreign body sensation). Although betadine is given at the time of injection to prevent infection, only a small dose is needed. The key to eliminating pain after eye injections is to identify the underlying cause. What can be done to prevent pain after injections? There are many reasons why this may occur:ġ.) The antibiotic (betadine) may irritate the eye for hours after it has been applied to the eye.Ģ.) The eye may become dried out after the injection due to insufficient blinking.ģ.) The eye may be accidentally scratched by rubbing the eye while it is still anesthetized.Ĥ.) The drug that is injected into the eye may cause an inflammatory reaction.ĥ.) Rarely, a severe infection called endophthalmitis may occur after injection into the eyeball. Why do I have pain after eye injections?Īlthough pain during eye injections can usually be minimized with anesthetics given before the injection, sometimes there is pain for hours after the injection. ![]() ![]() It is very important to avoid pain as these injections may need to be given repeatedly over time. The injections may be given into the tissues outside the eyeball ( subtenon’s injections) or into the eyeball ( intravitreal injections). The eye conditions include macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, uveitis, and others. There are many conditions, which threaten loss of vision, that are treated by injecting various medications into the eye. ![]()
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