'Thought It Was Eye Drops'... Woman Who Accidentally Used Super Strong Adhesive Gains Attention

Applied ointment to dissolve adhesive but it was ineffective

A woman in the United States caused a stir by sharing the condition of her eye after mistakenly applying super glue as eye drops and experiencing severe pain.

According to the New York Post, Reed Hartzman (22), who lives in New York, shared her experience of putting adhesive in her eye through her social media account.

Photo by 'icyylyd' TikTok capture

On the day of the accident, she picked up a plastic container to put eye drops in her eye as usual and, without thinking, dropped a drop of the solution into her eye. However, as soon as the solution touched her eye, Hartzman felt extreme pain and was unable to open her eye.

The solution in the plastic container she had absentmindedly picked up was not eye drops but super glue. Her eyelids stuck together instantly, and she immediately went to the hospital.

Thanks to the doctor's quick action, Hartzman was able to open her eye again, which had been tightly sealed shut. Although she had to endure redness and slight vision damage, it is reported that there is no major hindrance to her daily life.

Hartzman said, "It was an accident that happened in an instant. No one should make the same mistake as me," adding, "The medical staff applied an ointment to dissolve the glue in my eye, but it was minimally effective, so they used tools to separate my eye."

She also emphasized, "It was midnight at the time of the accident, so I accidentally picked up the wrong bottle. It was a very painful experience. Everyone should always double-check when using eye drops."

In Korea as well, accidents involving mistaking adhesives for eye drops and applying them to the eyes continue to occur. According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission, a total of 152 cases of eye drop misapplication accidents were reported to the Consumer Injury Surveillance System (CISS) from 2018 to 2020.

The items mistaken for eye drops were △antifungal medication 40% △medicines such as seborrheic scalp treatment 24% △super glue 18% △cosmetics 4% △e-cigarette liquid 3% △others 10%.

If a non-eye drop solution is mistakenly applied to the eye, do not rub the eye but rinse it with clean saline or water. In particular, in the case of super glue, there is a risk of secondary damage, so it is essential to visit an ophthalmologist for removal.