First aid for foreign objects stuck in ears, eyes, nose

If a foreign object gets in your eye, try flushing it out with clean water or saline. Use an eyewash bowl or small cup.

Foreign body in eye

If a foreign object gets into your eye, try flushing it out with clean water or saline. Use an eyewash bowl or small, clean cup, placing the rim of the cup over the bone at the base of the eye socket. Blink your eyes several times in the water to help the object flow out.

To help others:

• Wash your hands thoroughly.

• Let the person sit in a well-lit place.

• Gently check the eye for foreign objects by pulling down the lower eyelid and asking the person to look up. Then hold the upper eyelid while the person looks down.

• If the foreign object is in the aqueous layer on the surface of the eye, try to wash it out.

Warning:

• Do not attempt to remove foreign objects that have penetrated the eyeball.

• Do not rub your eyes.

• Do not attempt to remove large foreign objects that make it difficult to close the eye.

Call your doctor when:

• You cannot remove the foreign object.

• Foreign object penetrates the eyeball.

• People with foreign objects in their eyes have abnormal vision.

• Pain, redness, or a feeling of foreign body in the eye that persists after the foreign body is removed.

Nasal foreign body

If a foreign object is stuck in the nose:

• Do not probe your nose with cotton swabs or other instruments.

• Do not try to inhale the object by breathing in forcefully. Instead, breathe through your mouth until the object is removed.

• Exhale gently to try to dislodge the object, but do not breathe forcefully or continuously. If only one nostril has the object, close the other nostril and exhale gently through the affected nostril.

• If the foreign object is visible and can be easily removed with tweezers, gently remove it. Do not attempt to remove a foreign object that is not visible or cannot be easily removed.

• Call an ambulance or go to a medical facility immediately if the above measures fail.

Foreign object in ear

You will usually know if something is stuck in your ear, but young children may not be able to tell. If something is stuck in the ear:

Type of immobile foreign body

Grains of rice, corn kernels, etc. can stay in the ear for quite a long time without causing any complications. If the foreign object is quite large, it can block the ear canal, causing tinnitus, hearing loss, or pain and coughing (due to the reflex stimulation of the ear branch of the Vagus nerve).

• Do not use instruments to probe the ear. Doing so may push the foreign object further into the ear and damage the delicate structures of the middle ear.

• If the foreign object is clearly visible, soft and can be picked up with tweezers, gently remove it. If the foreign object is hard, round… using tweezers may cause it to become slippery and push the foreign object deeper. In this case, use a hook or earlobe hook, insert it close to the wall of the ear canal behind the foreign object, and gently pull it out.

• Try using gravity. Tilt your head toward the ear with the object. Don't bang your head, but gently shake your head toward the ground to try to dislodge the object.

• Use warm water (370C) to pump into the upper wall of the ear canal. The water jet will follow the upper wall of the ear canal to the back of the foreign object and push the foreign object out of the ear canal.

Note: Do not inject water directly into the foreign object as this may push the foreign object deeper inside. Do not inject water into the ear if the foreign object is water-absorbent as this will cause it to swell.

Type of moving foreign body

Ants, flies... when entering the ear, crawling, running into the ear canal, causing rustling sounds, biting the thin skin in the ear canal, touching the eardrum causing ear pain, sometimes dizziness. These living foreign objects, if not handled properly, can cause complications such as biting, piercing and tearing the eardrum.

If they are still alive, do not pick them out immediately, touching them will make them burrow deeper, making it difficult to get them out and painful. Cockroaches usually burrow their heads in first, and their barbs and spines get stuck, making it impossible for them to get out. There are cases where cockroaches have their abdomens and legs severed but their bodies are still stuck, causing them to react and scratch the skin of the ear canal and eardrum.

In this case, it is necessary to scare the insect and make it crawl out or kill it by dropping mild alcohol or wine, peanut oil or bitter ear drops... (do not use gasoline, kerosene... as it can burn the ear canal...). When the insect is dead, the antennae and barbs are flattened, use tweezers to pluck it or pump water to push it out.

If the above methods fail or the patient continues to have ear pain, hearing loss, or a feeling that something is stuck in the ear, seek medical attention.

Foreign body penetrating the skin

Use tweezers to remove wood or fiberglass splinters, broken glass pieces, or other foreign objects from your skin.

• Wash the area with soap and water.

• Sterilize the foreign body removal needle by heating it over a flame for a few seconds or washing it with alcohol.

• Use a needle to gently remove the foreign object.

• Use tweezers to pick up the foreign object. A magnifying glass may help you see the foreign object more clearly.

• Clean and dry the area of ​​skin where the foreign object has penetrated. Apply antibiotic ointment.

• If the foreign object cannot be removed easily or is close to the eye, seek medical attention.

According to SKDS