Emergency Eye Care

Who better to see for any eye care urgency or emergency than the Doctors of North Shore Eye Health and Wellness? Do not spend your time waiting for an appointment with your Primary Care Physician or in an Emergency Department. Instead, come straight to the eye care experts! Our Doctors and Staff are here for you, 24/7. No need to make an appointment! Just call or stop in at any time during regularly scheduled clinic hours. After hours? Call our office and our On-Call Doctor will be in touch with you to address all of your needs.

Below is a list of common ocular urgencies. If you or anyone you know are experiencing any of the symptoms outlined below, make sure to call or stop by the office to discuss and be evaluated. We are the eye health experts, let us help you get back on track!
​​​​​​​

Red (pink) Eyes: ADULTS

The most common causes of red eyes are dryness, allergies, contact lenses, infections, and autoimmune disorders. Emergent red-eye consists of chemical exposure to the eyes, thick/excess mucous, extreme light sensitivity and pain or a foreign body in the eye.

Red (pink) Eyes: CHILDREN

If you think your child has a “pink” eye we should be the first ones you call for help. Possible pink eye symptoms include red, watery eyes that could be sore or itchy. The eyelids could also appear red and swollen. It is common to have excess mucus and crusty eyelashes that are stuck together when the child wakes up in the morning.

Signs/Symptoms of Red (pink) Eyes

Floaters and Spots/Flashes of Light

Eye floaters are small moving spots that appear in your field of vision. They may be especially noticeable when you look at something bright, such as white paper or a blue sky. Eye floaters move as the eyes move. They generally appear to dart away when you try to focus on them. Most eye floaters are caused by small flecks of a protein called collagen that reside in the back gel-like compartment of the eye called the vitreous humor.

Eye floaters can appear in many different shapes, such as:

• Black or gray dots

• Squiggly lines

• Threadlike strands, which can be knobby and semi-transparent

• Cobwebs

• Ring-shaped

Once you develop eye floaters they usually do not go away, though they tend to improve over time. If you only have a few eye floaters that don't change over time, it usually does not indicate a serious eye problem. In addition, a unique form of eye floaters is associated with the visual aura of migraine headaches that usually subside after 20-40 minutes.

It's important to see a doctor if:

• Eye floaters seem to worsen over time, especially if the changes are sudden in onset.

• You experience flashes of light or any vision loss accompanied by eye floaters.

• You develop eye floaters after eye trauma.

• You have eye pain along with eye floaters.

Serious Possible Eye Disorders Associated With Eye Floaters Include:

• Retinal detachment

• Retinal tear

• Vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding)

• Vitreous and retinal inflammation caused by viral infections, fungal infections, or auto-immune inflammation

​​​​​​​The vast majority of the time, floaters are more of a nuisance than anything. However, due to their association with potentially serious eye disorders, we encourage all patients with new-onset floaters to be evaluated with a comprehensive, dilated eye health examination.

Vision Loss

Sudden loss of part or all of one's vision could be serious and can be a symptom of a significant problem elsewhere in your body. It does not necessarily have to be the complete loss of vision. It could be a partial loss of vision, or a blurring of the visual field, or changes to your color vision. In some cases, the affected area might just be the periphery, and often the vision loss only affects one eye. In other cases, the vision loss may appear as a gray splotch that blocks sight.

Sometimes the loss of vision might only last a few seconds. In other cases, the impairment can last minutes or even hours, or the rest of your life. If you have experienced a sudden loss of some or all vision in one or both eyes please call North Shore Eye Health and Wellness immediately.