To wash your eye, tilt your head so the affected eye is lower, hold your eyelids open with clean fingers, and let clean water or saline flow gently across the eye for at least 15 minutes if you’re dealing with a chemical splash, or 5 to 10 minutes for dust and debris. The key is starting immediately, especially with chemicals, and using a gentle, steady stream rather than a forceful blast aimed directly at the center of the eye.
What You Need Before You Start
The best options for flushing your eye are a commercial eyewash solution from a pharmacy or clean, lukewarm tap water. Saline solution also works well. You might see recipes online for homemade saltwater washes, but bacteria begins growing in homemade solutions within 24 hours, so store-bought is safer.
If you’re at home, a sink faucet, a clean cup, or even a shower head set to a gentle stream will work. If you have a squeeze-bottle eyewash from a first aid kit, that’s ideal. Whatever you use, make sure the water is lukewarm, not hot or cold, since temperature extremes can add to your discomfort.
Step-by-Step Eye Flushing
Wash your hands first. If you’re wearing contact lenses, try to remove them before flushing. Contacts can trap irritants against the surface of your eye and make rinsing less effective. If a lens is stuck, let the flushing stream flow over it for several seconds to loosen it, then try gently sliding it off.
Tilt your head to one side so the affected eye is the lower of the two. This prevents contaminated water from flowing into your unaffected eye. If both eyes are affected, alternate between them or lean forward and flush both simultaneously under a gentle faucet stream.
Use the thumb and forefinger of your free hand to hold your eyelids wide open. This feels uncomfortable, but it’s important. The space behind your eyelids, especially under the upper lid, is where debris and chemicals like to hide. Pull the lower lid down and, if you can, flip the upper lid slightly upward so water reaches those hidden pockets.
Direct the stream of water across the surface of the eye, moving from the inner corner (near the nose) outward. Let the water flow gently over the entire surface. Don’t aim a forceful stream directly at the center of your eye. Roll your eye around, looking up, down, left, and right while flushing so the water reaches every area.
How Long to Flush
For a small speck of dust, dirt, or an eyelash, flushing for a minute or two is usually enough. You’ll know it worked when the scratchy, irritated feeling goes away.
Chemical exposures are a different situation entirely. The standard recommendation from OSHA and the ANSI safety guidelines is a minimum of 15 continuous minutes of flushing. That sounds like a long time, and it is. Set a timer. Don’t stop because your eye feels better after a few minutes, since chemicals can still be doing damage underneath.
Alkali chemicals (like oven cleaner, drain opener, bleach, and cement dust) are especially dangerous because they dissolve through fatty tissue and keep penetrating deeper into the eye even after the initial splash. Acids (like battery acid or pool chemicals) tend to cause damage at the surface that actually creates a barrier preventing further penetration. This is why alkali burns are generally more serious and why thorough, prolonged flushing matters so much.
Flushing a Child’s Eye
Getting a child to hold still for an eye flush is one of the harder first aid challenges. Have the child lie down or sit in your lap with their head tilted back. Use your fingers to gently separate their eyelids, then pour water from a clean cup or use a gentle faucet stream across the eye. For chemical splashes, you need the same 15-minute flush you’d give an adult, so you may need a second person to help hold the child still and keep their lids open.
With very young children, wrapping them snugly in a towel (like a burrito) can keep their hands from grabbing at yours. Speak calmly and keep going even if they’re crying. Tears actually help flush the eye too.
What to Do After Flushing
Once you’ve finished, resist the urge to rub your eye, even if it still feels irritated. Rubbing can scratch the surface of the eye or push remaining particles back in. Don’t apply eye drops, ointments, or any medication on your own unless a doctor has told you to.
If the irritation was from dust or a minor splash and your eye feels normal after flushing, you’re likely fine. Keep your hands clean and avoid touching your eye for the rest of the day. If you wear contacts, switch to glasses until any lingering irritation is completely gone.
For the next day or two after a more significant irritation, wearing sunglasses can help since your eye may be more sensitive to light while it heals. If you have swelling around the eye area, a cold pack held against the outside of the closed eye can reduce it.
Signs You Need Emergency Care
Any chemical exposure to the eye warrants a trip to the emergency room after you’ve completed your 15-minute flush. Don’t skip the flush to get to the hospital faster. Immediate flushing is the single most important thing you can do for a chemical burn, and even emergency departments will start by irrigating your eye again when you arrive.
For non-chemical situations, watch for these warning signs after flushing:
- Persistent pain that doesn’t improve within an hour of flushing
- Vision changes lasting more than a few minutes, including blurriness, double vision, floating black spots, flashes of light, or a shadow covering part of your visual field
- A feeling that something is still in your eye even after thorough flushing
- Visible damage to the eye, including bleeding, a misshapen pupil, or anything embedded in the eye
Eye injuries can be deceptive. Something that looks minor on the outside may have penetrated deeper than you realize. If you’re unsure whether your injury is serious, getting it checked is always the safer call.