Urgent eye care
Optometrists are primary eye care providers. If something is going on with your eyes or your vision, we should be your first stop. We diagnose ocular conditions and prescribe medications, treatments, and procedures as needed, and if it is something we do not offer here, we refer you to a specialist who does.
A small number of situations need a hospital instead, and they are mostly about injury rather than symptoms. This page sorts the two.
Call us — these all need to be seen
Each of these needs an examination rather than an answer over the phone. Call and we will find you a time.
Sudden changes in vision
- Any sudden loss of vision, in one eye or both
- A new curtain or shadow moving across your vision
- New flashes of light, or a sudden increase in floaters
- Sudden onset of double vision
A painful or red eye
- Severe eye pain, with or without nausea, and haloes or rainbow rings around lights
- A red eye with pain, light sensitivity, or blurred vision
- Contact lens pain, or an infection related to lens wear
- Shingles around the eye, and cold sore infections affecting the eye
- Welder's flash and other ultraviolet burns
Injuries to the surface, and swelling
- Corneal scratches and abrasions
- Something on the surface of the eye, or grit that will not settle
- A swollen eyelid, whatever it looks like — styes, chalazia, and spreading swelling
- Blood across the white of the eye
- Conjunctivitis — bacterial, viral, or allergic
- A sudden dry eye flare that will not settle
You are seen and treated by an optometrist here. We examine the eye with a slit lamp, measure the pressure inside it, and dilate and examine the retina, and OCT and retinal photography are part of how we work up an urgent problem.
Go to an emergency department instead if
- Vision loss came on with weakness, slurred speech, or a facial droop — call 911
- The eye was struck with force — a ball, an elbow, a fall, a tool
- Anything may have penetrated the eye, or a fragment came off grinding, hammering, or drilling
- There has been a chemical splash — flush first, see below
- We are closed
One timing exception. We can arrange urgent specialist care during the week. After midday on a Friday that is often no longer possible before the weekend, so if you lose vision suddenly on a Friday afternoon, start at an emergency department.
If you are unsure, err on the side of safety.
Before you call: chemicals and foreign bodies
Chemical splash. Start flushing immediately with clean water or saline and keep going for at least 15 minutes. Do this before you phone anyone — the first few minutes matter more than the call does. Hold the eyelids open and let the water run across the eye from the inner corner outward. Then go to the nearest emergency department, and bring the product name if you can.
Something embedded in the eye. Do not rub it, do not press on it, and do not try to pull it out. Cover the eye without putting pressure on it and go to an emergency department.
Something on the surface of the eye — a speck of metal, grit under the lid, a gritty feeling that will not settle — is a different problem, and one we deal with here. Call us for that one.
Wearing contact lenses? Say so when you call
If your eye is red or painful and you wear contact lenses, lead with that. A red painful eye in a contact lens wearer is treated as a different problem than the same eye in someone who does not wear lenses, and it changes how quickly you need to be seen. Mention it even if you had already taken the lenses out.
What to have ready when you call
- What you are feeling — pain, vision change, redness, light sensitivity
- Which eye, or both
- When it started, and whether it is getting worse
- Whether you were wearing contact lenses when it started
- Any injury, chemical, or foreign material involved
Call or text rather than showing up. Staff can see the whole schedule, including openings from cancellations, and will make room where they can. If we cannot see you quickly enough for what you are describing, we will say so and tell you where to go instead.
Making sure you get the care you need
Coming here first is about access: getting the care the problem actually needs, straight away.
Most of the time that care is here. We examine the eye, make the diagnosis, and start treatment.
Sometimes it involves things beyond our scope of practice. When it does, we liaise directly with the appropriate specialist or urgent care service and send our findings with you, so the next step is set up rather than left for you to arrange. What no clinic can provide is a CT or MRI, intravenous medication, urgent surgery, or admission — that is what a hospital is for.
After hours, weekends, and holidays
We are open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, and we do not offer after-hours or weekend service. Our holiday hours are posted at the bottom of every page.
If something sight-threatening happens outside our hours, go to the nearest hospital emergency department rather than waiting for us to open. If you are unsure whether your symptoms need urgent care, Health811 (formerly Telehealth Ontario) offers free nurse advice 24/7 at 1-866-797-0000.
What to bring
- Your health card (if applicable)
- Any glasses or contact lenses you are currently using
- Details on symptoms (when it started, what changed, any injury or exposure)
- A list of current medications
What to do next
If you are experiencing urgent symptoms, call the office now. If you prefer to book online, choose the earliest available time and include a short note about your symptoms.
For deeper symptom-by-symptom explanations, read the urgent eye problems FAQ.
Related pages
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