Cortisone in the eye?
May 11, 2013 | 15,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Ralf Berg
Hello!
An acute "indirect" eye problem.
About 1 hour ago, I applied a cream to a skin eczema. When closing the jar, I wiped off the residue with my finger. I was close to my eye (did not wear glasses). Although I don't really believe that anything splashed towards my eye (the cream is quite thick) and I didn't feel any contact in my eye, I am now worried that maybe minimal particles could have entered my eye. Should I rinse my eyes just to be safe? Or did I just panic myself?
The composition of the cream: Nystatin 0.34 g, Triamcinolone 0.02 g, soft zinc paste 5.00 g, lanolin alcohol cream 14.64 g. The jar says "contains cortisone".
Best regards,
Bernd
Hello and good evening,
You don't need to worry.
1. The eye or conjunctiva reacts very sensitively to foreign bodies and substances that it cannot tolerate, and it quickly becomes red and tears flow to flush out the substances. If you haven't felt anything until now, no significant components have entered your eye. So DO NOT rinse your eyes!
2. The two active ingredients Nystatin (antifungal agent) and Triamcinolone (= mineralocorticoid, the cortisone mentioned in the package) are not toxic to the eye. There are also special eye ointments with both active ingredients. So no need to worry here either. Both active ingredients are also used in the eye for corresponding indications.
3. Of course, it is possible for a person to be allergic to ointment bases. But the two substances used here, zinc and lanolin, are considered hypoallergenic and are usually well tolerated.
So don't panic, even if small splashes may have gotten into the eye, nothing should happen.
I hope I could help you and wish you a pleasant Saturday evening.
Yours sincerely, Dr. R. C. Berg
