When a foreign object—a speck of dust, a tiny piece of metal—gets stuck in a child's eye, you may notice:

• Burning sensation
• Excessive tearing
• Overall redness
• Increased prominence of the blood vessels in the white of the eye

Besides causing pain, foreign objects can scratch the surface of the eyeball and for that reason should be removed as soon as possible.

How to remove a foreign object from a child's eye:

• Gently pull down the lower lid and encourage the child to open his eye as wide as he can. You then irrigate the eye with a gentle stream of lukewarm water from a pitcher of water.
• Or, have the child place his head under running water from a faucet. Run the water over the side of the eye toward the nose.
• To wash an irritant from baby's eyes, it's best to have two people, a holder and a flusher. Turn baby's head toward the side of the affected eye to allow the water to run across the eye and onto a towel. Continue flushing for at least fifteen minutes.
• If the stream of water does not remove the foreign body, try to locate the object and determine whether it is on the eyeball itself or is caught underneath the upper or lower eyelid. Pull down the lower lid to see if the object is there. If you suspect it is under the upper eyelid, tell the child to look down, and then pull the upper eyelid down over the lower eyelid. The lashes of the lower eyelid may dislodge the foreign body from beneath the upper eyelid.
• If this method is unsuccessful, tell the child to look down, and then grasp the upper eyelashes with your thumb and index finger and gently pull the lid away form the eyeball. Place a cotton-tipped applicator horizontally along the center of the upper lid. Pull the lid forward and upward thereby causing it to fold back over the applicator, exposing the underside. Using a wisp of moist cotton or the edge of a clean moist handkerchief, flick the foreign body from the surface of the eyelid.

Do not attempt to remove a foreign body form the surface of the eyeball. This should be done by a doctor. Never use dry tissue or cotton near the eye as this may scratch the eyeball.

When to call your doctor. If you have removed the foreign body from the eyelid and the child has no pain in his eyeball, you may safely assume there is no injury to the eyeball. If the eye still hurts, the foreign object may have not been completely removed or the eyeball has been scratched. In this case you should call your doctor. The doctor will examine the eyeball. If it has been scratched, the doctor may prescribe an antibiotic ointment to prevent infection. Only an eye doctor should remove slivers of metal or other objects embedded in the eye.

Chemical irritations. Irritating substances can splash into the eye. If this happens pour a glass of water into the child's eye or have him hold his eye under a gentle stream of water or immerse his eye in a pan of water. Because chemical irritations are extremely painful, a child may be unwilling to open his eyes to do this. You may have to hold his eyelid open while you irrigate the eye. Water irrigation should continue for at least 10 minutes and then you should call your doctor. After irrigation, it's best to cover both eyes with a blindfold, for a few hours, as this slows eye movement, which may aggravate both the pain and the injury. Explain why you are covering his eyes and provide lots of emotional support; children frighten easily when their eyes are covered.