Recently, the living room in our house caught on fire. The entire house was engulfed with smoke, and the heat melted vinyl mini-blinds several rooms away. I put the fire out. At the time, tears just poured from my eye, and now my vision is extremely blurred. Could fighting the fire have damaged my eyes?

Deena

The front structure of the eye is called the cornea. In people with normal vision, the cornea is crystal clear, allowing light to pass through to the retina. Either the intense heat or chemical-laden smoke generated by a house fire can "burn" the cornea's surface, leading to eye pain and tearing.

It is important to see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible after your eyes are exposed to fire or chemicals because certain medications can speed healing and prevent permanent injury to the eye. Even if the exposure to fire and/or chemicals occurred a while ago, it would be prudent to get a checkup to determine if there is any lasting effect on your vision. A mild burn injury will often heal over days to weeks, often with no permanent damage the eye. However, it is also possible for someone with relatively mild exposure to chemicals and/or fire to develop dry eyes.

Finally, people need to be aware that any time an eye is exposed to chemicals, whether in gas or liquid form, the first thing that should be done is to immediately flush the eye with water. The water will dilute the chemical and hopefully wash most of it away. Prolonged or intense exposure to certain chemicals can cause scarring of the cornea and blindness. In such cases, even corneal transplants may not restore vision. Therefore, you should always take precautions to protect your eyes when working with or around chemicals.