Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Dang That Caterpillar Hair In My Eye!

It's been a crazy couple of days for me.  I had an eye issue, with my good eye - the one I can actually see with - so I was both concerned and scared.  I called the emergency line over the weekend and the nice doctor on call (different doc than mine) called me in some eye drops but the membrane around my eye kept on getting more irritated and progressively more painful as each day went by.  I have been to my Ophthalmologist's office twice in two days.  I hope the issue is taken care of. The first time my doc found a fiber in my eye.  Good - that's out of my eye now.   The second visit he found a caterpillar hair lodged in the corner of my eye which would also migrate to other places in the membrane causing pain.  Great news!!! I do believe that my doctor got everything out of my eye this time. This little bugger caused my eye to get scratched up.  Geeesh!!  My eye is feeling better now, thank goodness!   I am just glad that my great doctor found out what the problem was with my eye.  After looking at Wikipedia, apparently those little caterpillar hair buggers can cause tremendous damage when they enter your system depending on the type of caterpillar the hair came from which may coincide with what region you live in. 

From Wikipedia:

"Caterpillar hairs have also been known to cause kerato-conjunctivitis. The sharp barbs on the end of Caterpillar hairs can get lodged in soft tissues and mucus membranes such as the eyes. Once they enter such tissues, they can be difficult to extract, often exacerbating the problem as they migrate across the membrane.


This becomes a particular problem in an indoor setting. The hairs easily enter buildings through ventilation systems and accumulate in indoor environments because their small size, which makes it difficult for them to be vented out. This accumulation increases the risk of human contact in indoor environments."

This type mentioned above is what I had.

But, depending on the type of caterpillar hair it has the capacity to cause alot of damage to your body:

"Caterpillar hair has been known to be a cause of human health problems. Caterpillar hairs sometimes have venoms in them and species from approximately 12 families of moths or butterflies worldwide can inflict serious human injuries ranging from urticarial dermatitis and atopic asthma to osteochondritis, consumption coagulopathy, renal failure, and intracerebral hemorrhage.[22] Skin rashes are the most common, but there have been fatalities.[23] Lonomia is a frequent cause of death in Brazil with 354 cases were reported between 1989 and 2005. Lethality ranging up to 20% with death caused most often by intracranial hemorrhage."

Who would have thought something so tiny could cause so much bodily damage?  

11 comments:

lady di said...

I am happy you are well and have made your transition into butterfly.
Happy Thanksgiving

LandShark 5150 said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Supi said...

Glad your eye is feeling better. Speedy recovery to you.

Opus #6 said...

Oh, geez, I'm glad that thing is out of your eye.

Have a great Thanksgiving, T!

Unknown said...

Something else to worry about when monkeying around in the garden.

Happy Thanksgiving.

innominatus said...

I had no idea these hairs were a problem like this. Yikes! I used to play with them as a kid. Glad that things are working out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

I'm glad you're better. I've never heard of such a thing. Makes me want to walk around with my eyes shut ... sort of like a Democrat.

Happy Thanksgiving Teresa.

Anonymous said...

OUCH!

Happy Thanksgiving

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving from the staff at Goomba News Network®, a Division of Nickie Goomba Ltd.

Most Rev. Gregori said...

Wow, that sounded painful. Just reading about made my eyes itch and water.

When I was a kid, about 12 years-old, I picked up a fuzzy yellow caterpillar, held it for a minute or two and then put it down. Two hours later, I was one big walking rash from head to toe itching and burning like crazy along with a fever. I had to be rushed to our local emergency department where I was pumped full of some sort of anti-biotic. I have never touched a caterpillar since.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Nate said...

Glad to hear the problem's solved. I was going to make a joke about using a magnifying glass next time you want to look at a caterpillar, but...

Yeah, some caterpillars have dangerous hairs on their bodies - they use them as protection against predation, though usually by the time the hairs can work the caterpillar's already history.