She Strengthens

Accidental Exposure: What to Do If You Get Semen in Your Eye

Stay Calm and Act Fast

If you’ve found yourself in an unexpected situation where semen has gotten into your eye, don’t panic. Follow these steps to relieve irritation and prevent potential complications.

Resist the Urge to Rub

Your first instinct might be to rub your eye, but resist the temptation. Touching or rubbing your eye can spread the fluid to other areas or push it deeper into your eye, making things worse.

Rinse and Repeat

Head straight to the sink and rinse your eye with water or a saline solution (like contact solution or eye drops) as soon as possible. If you wear contact lenses, leave them in for now – they can help protect your eye until you rinse.

• Keep your eyes open and splash water or saline solution into your eye area.
• Ask someone to gently pour water or saline solution into your eye area and move your eyelids up and down to wash.
• You can also hop in the shower to flush it out.
• Rinse again with your eyelid pulled shut.

Contact Lens Wearers: Take Extra Precautions

After a thorough rinse, remove your contacts and rinse again. Clean your contacts as you would normally to disinfect. This will remove any remaining semen.

Find Relief from Irritation

Even after an initial rinse, your eyes might still be irritated. Keep flushing out your eyes with water or eye drops. Applying a hot or cool compress, like a damp washcloth, can also provide relief. If you’re still experiencing discomfort, try an over-the-counter pain reliever like ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

What to Expect

You may experience some blurry vision and stinging, which is normal. The acids, zinc, chlorine, enzymes, and sugar in semen can all irritate the eyes. Your eyes might remain red for up to 24 hours, but if they start to cause you more pain, get redder, or water continuously, call your doctor.

Complications: What You Need to Know

While semen in the eye usually only causes temporary discomfort, there’s a small chance it could lead to more serious issues.

• Styes: Itching and rubbing your eye could make you more vulnerable to a staph infection, which can cause a stye.
• Pink Eye: You can get pink eye (conjunctivitis) from semen bacteria, including STI bacteria like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.
• STIs: The risk is low, but it’s possible to get an STI from semen in your eye, including HIV, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

Get Tested

It’s always better to be safe than sorry. If you have any doubts, make an appointment to get tested for STIs about 14 days after the incident.

Takeaway

If you get semen in your eye, flush with water or saline solution until the irritation subsides. Avoid touching or itching your eyes. While the vast majority of the time, the burn’s the worst part of getting semen in your eye, it’s essential to talk to your doctor if pain or symptoms persist. When in doubt, get tested for STIs.