Itchy, watery eyes are pretty common during allergy season.

But what if your red, irritated eyes aren’t reacting to pollen in the air?

Perhaps while working in the yard some debris flew into your eye and scratched your cornea. Or you rubbed chemicals in your eye while cleaning the kitchen. Or, while repairing the deck, you were hit in the eye by a flying board or nail.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports that nearly half of all eye injuries occur at home.

Children are also susceptible to eye injury from things such as pencils, silverware, falls during play and contact with household cleaners, paint and other chemicals.

Sight advocacy organization Prevent Blindness offers some great safety tips for kids at home, including using safety gates, padding sharp corners and securing dangerous substances where kids can’t get a hold of them.

Make sure kids wear eye protection while playing sports, and only play with age-appropriate toys.

The most important thing you can do to avoid eye injury at home, according to the AAO, is wear eye protection.

If an eye injury occurs at home, there are things you can do immediately to protect the injured eye until you can get medical help.

The AAO offers this comprehensive list of first aid for different eye injuries, including cuts or punctures, chemical burns and blows to the eye.

In all eye injuries, the Academy advises:

• Don’t touch, rub or apply pressure to the eye.
• Don’t try to remove the object stuck in the eye.
• Do not apply ointment or medication to the eye.
• Only flush with water when eye has been exposed to chemicals.
• See a doctor as soon as possible, preferably an ophthalmologist.

From routine eye exams to complex eye surgery, the eye specialists at Edward-Elmhurst Health can take care of all your vision needs.