Poked myself in eye with paper?!

Poked myself in eye with paper?

accidently i poked myself in the eye yesterday. vision is ok but when i blink it burns slightly. i put eye drop. recently(within last three months had eye exam with dilation) is there anything else i should do? should i worry about the slight burn when i blink

Yep. You have a corneal abrasion. This means that some of your corneal epithelium has been removed by the paper. The fact that your vision is clear means the abrasion is probably not in the visual axis. When your corneal epithelium is disrupted or removed this exposes corneal nerve cells. This makes them much more responsive to stimulation whether it be from blinking (that's what makes your eye may feel scratchy or burn after an abrasion) or other otherwise normal stimulation. The nice thing is that corneal epithelium regenerates faster than any other epithelium on the body. Even severe abrasions can resolve within 2 to 3 days. From your description it sounds like your abrasion was not that severe so you probably will be feeling fine by tomorrow.

It would have been nice to have seen an eye doctor soon after the abrasion so he or she could have prescribed a topical antibiotic to minimize the risk of a corneal infection at the site of the abrasion. Since it appears you have done well and are pretty close to healing it probably is not necessary now.

One word of caution. Sharp type abrasions, such as you see with paper or maybe fingernails, sometimes can damage the basement membrane of the cornea and lead to recurrent corneal erosions later. This is a condition where the epithelium grows over the injury but is not able to bond well to the basement membrane. This can cause the epithelium to erode (rip off when you wake up from a night of sleep). If you notice recurrent pain or discomfort in the mornings you need to see your eye doctor for treatment of recurrent corneal erosion. Hopefully, though, that won't be a problem. Hope this helps.