Corks to Eye Put the 'Pain' in 'Champagne'

Dec. 29, 2006— -- Ushering in the New Year is a time of celebration and laughter.

But when your eye takes a direct hit from a Champagne cork, it's no laughing matter.

Improperly aimed popping of Champagne corks is one of the most common causes for holiday-related eye injuries, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

"Within a fraction of a second, you will have no chance of getting away or blinking," said Dr. Thomas Steinemann, associate professor of ophthalmology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and spokesman for the academy.

This is because the small Champagne cork is under 90 pounds of pressure -- which is three times the pressure inside a typical car tire. With this in mind, it is little wonder that in the United States, nearly half of Champagne cork injuries cause blindness in the eye that takes the hit.

The eye doctors know exactly what can happen with Champagne cork accidents because they see them every year.

"[I] saw this frequently when in New Orleans," said Dr. Randall Olson, director of John A. Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City. "This is a completely preventable injury."

"Usually we see this type of injury around New Year's. In fact, it is a very common injury," said Dr. Peter Kaiser, an ophthalmologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

"The worst was a patient whose eye wall ruptured from the force of the cork, and [the outside of the eyeball] had to be stitched closed."

A number of different injuries can occur depending on how far away the bottle is from the eye and how directly the cork is aimed at the eye, doctors said.

"Your eye works like a camera; the front part of the eye is the lens, and the back part the film," said Steinemann.

"Sometimes [the cork] comes out with such force it can deform the eye. In deforming the eye, the iris gets torn and bleeding occurs. So, in the front part of your eye, you can get a tear or a blood clot."

Injuries to the back of the eye can cause bleeding in the space in front of your retina, the "film" of the camera. The retina can also tear, detach, or swell.