On the afternoon of September 18, Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital said that the hospital regularly receives and treats cases of patients admitted due to foreign objects flying into the eyes, affecting the patient's cornea and vision.

Notably, in one day, the hospital received two cases that had to be hospitalized with a diagnosis of corneal burns caused by cactus sap splashed into the eyes.

Two cases that had to be hospitalized were a 64-year-old woman (Dong Trieu), and a 53-year-old male patient (Uong Bi), who was unfortunately hit in the eye by cactus sap while clearing bushes around his house.

After that, both cases showed signs of pain, irritation, difficulty opening their eyes and quickly went to Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital for examination. At the hospital, the two patients were diagnosed with corneal epithelial erosion, corneal conjunctival burns and were hospitalized for monitoring and treatment.

According to MSc. Dang Thi Phuong - in charge of the hospital's eye department: Letting cactus sap splash into the eyes can cause corneal burns, eye infections, and can affect the patient's vision.

What you need to do is quickly wash your eyes with saline or clean water to remove as much cactus resin as possible from the eyes. Then quickly take the patient to a medical facility with an eye specialist for examination and timely treatment.

Never rub your eyes or use any medication without a doctor's prescription.

Medical experts warn that although the cactus plant contains many active ingredients that can cure diseases, this medicinal herb is still toxic, so to avoid potential health risks, patients need specific instructions on dosage, usage, etc. from a traditional medicine practitioner.

When using cactus as a medicinal herb, you should pay attention to:

- Do not let the cactus resin come into contact with your skin or eyes because the toxicity of cactus resin is quite high.

- If using cactus for cooking or drinking, wash thoroughly to remove all the sap. If the sap is not completely removed before use, it can cause poisoning with symptoms such as dizziness, itchy mucous membranes, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

- There are many types of cacti but not all of them can be used for medicinal purposes, so you need to find the right type of cactus and flat cactus to use.

- If you roast the cactus stem or leaves to treat illness, you need to control the temperature, avoid placing the leaves on your back when they are too hot because it can cause burns.

- Do not use cactus to treat diseases for a long time because it can cause irritation of mucous membranes, diarrhea,...

- You should choose fresh, fleshy cactus stems to use in medicinal remedies because this is the factor that helps ensure the highest active ingredient content.

- Do not use cactus to treat pregnant women and nursing mothers.