EYE INJURIES IN THE KITCHEN

 

I love spicy foods as much as the next person from the West coast of Africa, Latin America, and India. So, when I cook, I'm generous with the peppers. There is usually more than one scotch bonnet as part of the ingredients. Most often, I blend my peppers with fresh tomatoes to make a tomato stew/sauce Nigerians eat with everything! If you are Nigerian/ Ghanaian or West African, You probably know this sauce. It is also the base for the popular Jollof rice.

On this unfortunate day, I chopped up an extra pepper, I swear I used a fork and a knife and washed my hands after. But apparently, some stubborn particles stuck to my fingers. I had cooked up a storm, and was mighty pleased with myself, eat my dinner and topped it off with a red velvet cake for dessert.  Ah! it was a good day. Then came time to take off my contact lenses. What happened next still haunts me to this day.  

I stuck my finger in my eyes and took the lenses off. A second later, my eyes were on fire! Lawd! the gates of hades took residence in my eyes. Insistent on cremating my eyes, they watered, the rivers of Mississippi. When I looked in the mirror, it was ugly. the inflammation was one for the books. I was not in hell, but my eyes parked in its driveway.

Sometimes, I like to fry my chicken after boiling it for 10 minutes. It helps with making a delicious chicken broth to make my stews and sauces. The chicken is never completely free of some juice, and when you drop it into the frying pan, okay not the air fryer. I'm old school and still like to fry my chicken the old way, my mama and her mama did.  If you are not careful the oil splatters up and can take out your eye! A pair of safety goggles will protect your eyes from any injuries.

Almost 2.5 million eye injuries happen in the home and mainly in the kitchen during cooking. It is wise to keep safety goggles handy. Trust me, you will need them. They are not only used for power tools. As I mentioned earlier, they are useful when you are frying the old-school way. They also protect your eyes from irritant fumes from cleaning liquids for kitchen surfaces.

Washing your hands several times is important. Don't be like me and flavor your contact lenses with peppers! And no matter how careful you are, sometimes accidents happen. Learn the basics of eye-related first aid.

If something gets into your eye,

• Do not rub it.
• Pull the upper lid down over the lower lid and blink several times, this lets the lower lashes help flush it out.
• Rinse with water or saline solution if available. Irrigate, irrigate, irrigate.
• If you can't get it out, call your doctor immediately

Foreign objects in the eye can be very uncomfortable. Don't wait more than a day to see your eye doctor and do not try home remedies, I have seen patients put all manner of stuff in their eyes like breast milk, urine, and even salt.

Cool tap water is a wonder, always use it when something gets in your eye first, and hopefully, it flushes it out with several blinks, if it does not work, call your doctor or go to the emergency room. DO NOT PUT STUFF in your eye at home.

If you get hit in the eye the first thing to do is apply an ice pack.