Is there any possibility of permanent eye damaged from being punched twice

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

Hi !!! So I came back to this blog because I was talking with friends in a voice chat and this randomly came to mind because I never thought about it until now :

So , a character in an au I'm writing with my friends (if you've seen my last post , yes this is the same guy that got his shoulder dislocated) gets punched in his left eye by a robot [for context on material , the robot is metal , but is not necessarily designed with combat in mind , so she's not too strong but still causes damage nonetheless] , and this gives him a black eye . Weeks later , he is attacked and hit in that same eye , but instead of a punch , is hit with the back of a flashlight [for context , the material is one of a normal flashlight] , giving him a black eye once again .

I want to know , considering he got hit hardly in the eye twice [even if both occasions were separated by a couple of weeks] , would this cause any kind of permanent damage to the characters eye ? Such as not being able to see through it , etc.

Sorry if this doesn't make the best of sense , I'm not the best with writing lol .

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Do you want him to have permanent eye damage? A lucky/unlucky hit could probably give him eye damage even if it's only the one hit.

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

honestly kind of depends . I'm not too sure how I feel w/ him getting permanently . Mainly depends on what kind of permanent damage we're talking . If you can give specifics ofc !

[azurelunatic]

I'm a layperson but eyes are so delicate that you could have so much go wrong! It looks like that kind of injury would be classified as "blunt trauma". A lot depends on how well the blow lands, how much force gets absorbed by the eye and how much gets absorbed by throwing him backwards or other parts of his face. Also, with a black eye, the swelling from the bruises could squeeze the eye and cause a problem that way.

I found https://www.college-optometrists.org/clinical-guidance/clinical-management-guidelines/trauma_blunt which is intended for doctors and has a lot of medical terminology but doesn't have any gross pictures.

It will likely hurt, although the bruising will likely be visible for longer.
He might have his eye start watering wildly, which could interfere with his vision and if he has bad sinus drainage he could get a sinus infection.
He could lose some or all of his sight, and it might or might not get better.
He might be oversensitive to light.
He could get double vision.

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

since you mentioned it depends on how hard the punch was n whatnot , while me n my friend weren't too sure on how hard it was, i think this line of the first instance of punching could help ? not sure but this was from a roleplay from my friend : https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1204243334617374740/1263700946400186459/image.png?ex=669b30b8&is=6699df38&hm=a0343a739c3ec6ec50d7ff7ddea47c89ee4496ed6b6c37dd6a8a8db669f286d9&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=1347&height=133

hope this helps give some kind of more detail on the potential injury . if not sorry 4 the trouble ^^

[full_metal_ox]

Here’s a very famous example of blunt-trauma-induced permanent eye injury:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAy5VFfiRKo

And here’s the disher-out’s side of the story; sorry for the sensationalistic true-crime framing, but the narrator does make it clear that eye (and head injuries period) are serious business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn_XAIq_jmY

[moon_custafer]

I thought of Bowie too!

Agree with the above comments that eye injuries are a toss-up and whatever you want to have happen plot-wise would be plausible, even with just the one hit.

[jadelennox]

I am not a doctor or any kind of medical specialist, but both my partner and I have retina issues and we've both been told that a head impact could cause a retinal detachment (and in my case, that was also apparently true before my now-healed detachment). So, sure, if you want it to, though at least if it were that case there'd be a pre-existing condition. The character might not know about the pre-existing condition, though. In my case, the pre-existing condition was "extreme myopia" which a layperson doesn't tend to think of as a risk factor.

(Shukla, Manoj; Ahuja, O P; Jamal, Nasir. Traumatic retinal detachment. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology 34(1):p 29-32, Jan–Feb 1986.)

Also obviously a strike to the head could literally damage the eye, of course.

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

I may be . really dumb and for that I'm sorry but I can't seem to understand this completely ? Could you explain it in a more simple way if possible ? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question to ask I'm just not the best at understanding stuff ^^

actual doctors, please don't laugh at me for this, I'm doing my layperson best, lol

[jadelennox]

If you have any number of physical conditions, your retinas might be poorly attached at the back of your eye. Very nearsighted people don't have spherical eyes. Instead, our eyes are shaped more like eggs or olives. This is one of the physical conditions that makes a retina more poorly attached.

If the retina is poorly attached, and you get smacked in the head, it can start to peel right off (over a period of hours or days), and if you don't get prompt surgery, you can lose vision in the eye.

Re: actual doctors, please don't laugh at me for this, I'm doing my layperson best, lol

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

ooh ok !!! thank you for this reply !! ^^ The character is nearsighted but idk how exactly nearsighted if that makes any sense lol . Again though , ty for the comment !!

[rugessnome]

The retina is the part of the eye that is actually sensitive to light, and if it comes apart (detaches) from the tissue behind it (including apparently in small bits where the fluid in the eye gets behind it due to a tear or hole in it), that can interfere with the signal-to-brain part of vision (and perhaps also--I am not clear on this--disrupt the supply to the retina of like, blood/nutrients/important chemicals for vision to happen), causing vision loss.

"extreme myopia" is, in simpler terms, being very nearsighted. This usually comes with eye shape and possible structure differences that apparently increase the risk of having a problem with the retina if you get hit in the head.

(also a layperson, just decent at understanding moderate amounts of medical jargon)

[full_metal_ox]

…"extreme myopia" is, in simpler terms, being very nearsighted. This usually comes with eye shape and possible structure differences that apparently increase the risk of having a problem with the retina if you get hit in the head.

That’s me—-although one benefit is that aging-related farsightedness (the reason older people need reading glasses) can take longer to set in; at sixty-three, I remove my glasses to read.

(Note that conditions like diabetes can also contribute to shakily attached retina.)

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

oooh i think i have myopia myself [I wear glasses for nearsightedness] but idk if its extreme .. The character in question also has nearsightedness but unlike me , doesn't . really wear glasses for it . ^^

[full_metal_ox]

Dystopian situation where glasses aren’t readily available?

[full_metal_ox]

Are you in a position to take martial arts classes? That might give you some perspective on your action choreography, as well as a sense of what sorts of stresses lead to what sorts of injuries (and how to prevent and treat them.)

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

I don't exactly know about any martial art classes nearby me + even if i did i'd likely forget abt them eventually before even signing up lol . sorry if this is confusing .

[the_siobhan]

Speaking as somebody who has been punched in the face a few times, one thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that the eye does tend to be set back a bit in the skull. So if you are hit with something broad (a closed fist by somebody who has a large hand for example) most of the impact is going to land on the bone surrounding the eye socket. That can cause cracks to bones - and some fantastic bruising to go along with it - without actually hitting the eye itself.

Something small like the back of a flashlight is much more likely to fit into the eyesocket and hit the eye itself, so can potentially cause much more direct damage.

[drfizzsmedicalkit]

oooh ok !! I don't have an exact clue on how big the robot's hand is [pointing this out bc of the example you gave] but I've come to the assumption its p much the same size as an average human hand [considering that is what it looks like] .

but yea , so i assume based on your reply , the second incident where he got hit is more likely to cause permanent damage rather than the first incident ?

[hamatebones]

Yes, I think it's worth mentioning that a huge number of eye injuries don't involve a direct hit on the eye at all. The eye is a small target! It's set way back in the head compared to foreheads and noses and cheekbones!

However, it's very possible to bust a nose or a cheekbone (less true of foreheads) and have THAT affect the eye. A first base coach in pro baseball was hit in the face a couple of years back and lost an eye, not because the ball hit him in the eye, but because it dislodged his cheekbone which squashed the eye socket, and pop. Similarly, there's a famous pitcher who had a ball hit right back at him and hit him on the bridge of the nose going about 130 MPH, and uh, after he healed his eyes looked in two different directions.

(Baseballs, which are very hard, and also going at very high speed, are very able to break bones. It's a lot more difficult to break someone's face with a fist or a light object swung from within arm's reach. Not impossible, but difficult.)

[the_siobhan]

Oh yeah. Even localized swelling can put a lot of pressure on the eye.

[silveradept]

Not an opthalmologist, but getting hit in the eye can definitely cause permanent damage, whether it's the destruction of the eye, the detachment of the retina, a cornea scrape, or similar damage. (Humans like their eyes, though, so as had been mentioned, must things that go after the eye are more likely to hit and hurt the skull around it.)

It's also possible that any damage that could hurt the eye could also be forceful enough to cause concussions or other brain injuries that might result in having visual processing issues. If someone's getting walloped hard enough to bruise, brain injuries ate also something to consider.

[octahedrite]

Yes, if he got hit hard enough to damage the optic nerve.