We provide a wide range of emergency eye care. Miami International Airport is only 15 min away from our office. Airport travelers and the general public with eye emergencies can receive immediately the following services:
- Examination of the eyes for irritation, allergies, minor injuries, contact lens over-wear syndrome.
- Immediate treatment with prescription eye-drops in stock. No need to go to the pharmacy and wait.
- Superficial foreign body removal: Did something fall in your eye? We can remove it immediately.
- Immediate contact lens services with 95% of prescriptions of contacts in stock. Travel size free contact lens solutions and cases.
- 15 min service on a new pair of glasses with single vision lenses 80% of prescriptions in stock.
- Minimal waiting. We give priority to all our emergencies and can generally accommodate slots in the same day for most cases. Always call us ahead to make sure we have a doctor available to see you!
Visit Our Miami Eye Doctors For Emergency Eye Care
Please note, emergency care at our Miami eye care clinic is Fee for Service. Please refer to our Schedule of Fees under Eye Care Services . This type of exam is often covered by medical plans with applicable copays but not covered by vision insurance plans because they are not a routine vision exam. We accept many medical insurance plans including marketplace (Obamacare) plans for these services. You can see the many insurance plans we accept here. If you do not have medical insurance, the self pay cost for a medical eye exam is $150 and will include a follow up to insure the recommended treatment is proving effective.
Eye doctors can handle most eye emergencies better than the emergency room or urgent care.
- Faster! Emergencies are seen first and as walk-ins.
- Cost effective. Average emergencies are $150 which is often less than urgent care.
- Better equipment. We have instruments & high power microscopes to properly treat & diagnose.
- Antibiotic & pain relieving eye drops are in stock. No trip to the pharmacy.
We are ready to look after ALL of your eye care needs in one location. In addition to the services you already rely on us for such as routine eye exams, contact lenses. designer frames and eyeglasses - think of your Optometrist first for:
- sore, red, or itchy eyes
- treatment of "pink eye" and other bacterial infections
- removal of foreign bodies from the eye (such as wood or metal)
- treatment of eye allergies or burns
- emergency eye care
This is convenient and cost effective for your whole family and you can be sure you are receiving the attention of an eye care specialist.
Eye Emergencies
We are always willing to help, should you ever experience an eye emergency. Our office provides emergency services for eye infections, eye injuries and other eye urgencies. We make sure you are seen immediately and not have to wait for ours at a hospital to be seen. State of the art equipment sometimes not available at emergency rooms allows us to examine the front surface of the eye and also scan inside the eye for infection or damage. We accommodate many eye emergencies such as:
- Eye infections
- Foreign materials stuck in the eyes
- Eye trauma
- Scratched eyes
- Sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes
- Lost or broken contact lenses or eyeglasses
- Flashes of light in the vision
- “Floaters” in the vision
- Red or painful eyes
- Uncomfortable, itchy, or irritated eyes
We understand the importance of eye care when you encounter symptoms such as those listed above. These are signs that an immediate evaluation or consultation is necessary - please call us to set one up if you are experiencing an eye emergency of any kind.
Foreign Body Removal
A foreign body is something such as an eyelash, sawdust, sand, or dirt can that gets into the eyes. The main symptom is irritation or pain. Depending on what it is and how the injury happened, the foreign body may pierce the eye and cause serious injury or it may simply go away with no long-term problem.
The foreign object may set off an inflammatory cascade, resulting in dilation of the surrounding vessels and subsequent edema of the lids, conjunctiva, and cornea. If not removed, a foreign body can cause infection.
If anything is stuck in your eye for more than a period of a couple of hours, you must immediately cease all attempts to remove it yourself. Keep in mind that the eyes are an extremely delicate organ and any attempts to try anything extra ordinary with them can only have negative and adverse results. If the foreign body you are talking about is not bothering you too much, then you are advised to visit an eye doctor to take care of it. If not you may need to call to emergency service of your region.
If there is a foreign body in your eye, such as a piece of grit, your eye doctor may try and remove it. They will put anesthetic eye drops in your eye first, in order to numb it and prevent any pain.
If the foreign body is easy to get to, it may be possible to remove it by simply rinsing your eye with water, or by wiping it away with a cotton wool bud or triangle of card. However, if this is unsuccessful, your eye doctor may try and remove the foreign body by lifting it out with the tip of a small metal instrument.
The foreign body could be stuck underneath your upper eyelid, especially if you can feel something there, or you have scratches or grazes (abrasions) on the top half of the transparent outer layer of your eye (cornea). If this is the case, it may be necessary to gently turn your eyelid inside out in order to remove the foreign body.
Once the anesthetic eye drops have worn off, your eye may feel a bit uncomfortable until your abrasion heals.
Whatever is happening with your eyes or if you suffer or even suspect that a foreign body has penetrated the outer eye layer better go without delay to the nearest treatment center. Doing nothing can lead to loss of vision, premature cataracts and damage to the retina so do not take any chances, delay is dangerous.
Eye emergencies Q&A
1) What is an eye infection?
An eye infection usually occurs when a virus or bacteria grows out of normal proportion. Occasionally, an infection can result from a fungus or parasite, which is much more dangerous. Only your eye doctor can do the proper tests to check which type of infection is present and prescribe an antibiotic or antiviral as needed.
2) Are eye infections dangerous?
Sometimes eye infections are severe enough to cause corneal scarring, which causes permanent vision loss. However, more often they are milder and will go away within 1-2 weeks. A mild infection can show up with redness, sensitivity to light, swelling of the eyelid, tearing, or yellowish secretions in one or both eyes. Signs of more severe infections are pain that is getting worse and blurred vision in one of the eyes. With any sign of and eye infection, you should seek an eye doctor and get an eye exam immediately.
3) Can my child go to school with an eye infection?
The 4 causes of pink eye are bacterial, viral, allergic and chemical. Only bacterial and viral are contagious and cannot go to school for 2-4 days. Usually students can return to school after using antibiotic eye drops for one day, but with viral pink eye it may take longer.
4) What should I do if I spill chemicals in my eye?
If you spill a chemical in your eye, wash with water immediately for 15 minutes. The easiest way is to go in the shower and hold your eye open under the water. Or you can put your head under a water faucet or use a designated eye wash solution. Rinsing out with water as quickly as possible is the most important thing you can do after a chemical spill in the eye, followed by seeing your eye doctor immediately for further treatment.
5) What should I do if I get sand, metal, or wood, in my eyes?
If you get something in your eye, try to gently rinse it out with water. Do not rub your eye since you can push the foreign body deeper into your eye. Make an appointment with your eye doctor as soon as possible to have it removed. Your eye doctor has a special microscope that allows them to pinpoint the exact location the foreign body in your eye and remove it properly. Eye drops that numb your eye help to make the process painless and quick.
6) I am seeing spots or floating colors suddenly? Seeing floaters, flashes of lights or a curtain covering part of one’s vision can sometimes be the sign of a retinal detachment which is an eye emergency that can cause blindness. Go to your eye doctor as an emergency walk-in for a dilation to ensure you have no holes, tears or a detached retina. If the detachment is corrected in 1-2 days much of the vision can often be restored, but the longer the retina is separated from its blood supply, the worse the outcome.
7) I feel like I have dirt in my eye when I wear contact lenses, is that dangerous?
When u wear contacts, you must be aware of any signs of infections. Contacts lenses should be used only for the period of time indicated by the doctors and should never be used to sleep. Contact lens overuse can cause irritation, allergic reactions, abnormal blood vessel growing into the cornea, and corneal infection that can get as severe as a corneal ulcer. Whenever you have any symptoms of pain, discomfort, sandy sensation, light sensitivity or blurred vision with contacts you must remove the contacts immediately and see you eye doctor right away.
8) I spilled some chemical in my eye, should I remove my contacts or leave them in?
Remove your contacts immediately and rinse with plenty of running water or saline solution for 15 min. Then go to see your eye doctor for an emergency consultation.
9) My child scratched my eye...what should I do? Is a scratch on the eye dangerous?
A scratch can be a mild or a very severe condition, depending on the location and depth of the scratch as well as the object that caused it. A scratched in the white part of the eye or conjunctiva, is usually minor and resolves within a couple days. However, a scratch in the center of the eye, the cornea, can potentially cause vision loss if not treated properly. Always see your eye doctor to determine the location of the scratch and the proper treatment for it.
10) I got hit in the eye with a baseball, is that dangerous for my vision?
Trauma to the eye can vary in severity. The signs of more severe damage after trauma are blurred vision or vision loss, double vision, and severe pain. In such cases, a visit to the Eye emergency room is indicated for a thorough evaluation of the eyes and an MRI or the orbits, the surrounding bone structures of the eyes, to make sure that a fracture did not occur.
11) My child is complaining that his eye hurts, should I make an appointment with the Optometrist?
Absolutely! Eye pain in children can be caused by bacterial eyelid infections, pink eye, a scratch or a foreign body. Young children sometimes cannot verbalize exactly what happened to them or how. Therefore, a thorough evaluation by your eye care specialist is indicated right away.