If your child has eye pain, swelling, bruising, double vision, or a possible broken eye socket after a fall or hit to the face, get clear next-step guidance based on their symptoms.
Tell us what you’re seeing so you can get personalized guidance on possible child orbital fracture signs, when urgent care may be needed, and what to do next.
An orbital fracture is a break in one of the bones around the eye socket. In children, this can happen after a fall, sports injury, collision, or other blow to the face. Some injuries cause obvious swelling and bruising, while others are harder to spot. A child may complain of pain with eye movement, double vision, numbness in the cheek, or trouble opening the eye. Because symptoms can vary, it helps to look at the full picture of how the injury happened and what your child is experiencing now.
Swelling around the eye, tenderness, and bruising can happen with many eye injuries, but they may also be seen with an orbital fracture in a child, especially after a direct hit or fall.
If your child says they see double, has blurry vision, or avoids moving the eye because it hurts, that can be an important warning sign that needs prompt medical attention.
An eye that looks sunken, out of place, or harder to move normally, along with numbness in the cheek or upper lip, can happen when the bones around the eye are injured.
Go to the ER if your child has significant pain, rapidly increasing swelling, or cannot comfortably open the eye after the injury.
Urgent evaluation is important if your child has double vision, blurry vision, trouble focusing, or says they cannot see normally after the injury.
Seek emergency care if the eye appears sunken, pushed forward, out of alignment, or if your child has marked pain or restriction when trying to look up, down, or side to side.
A clinician may examine eye movement, vision, swelling, and facial sensation. Imaging such as a CT scan is sometimes used to confirm whether there is a broken eye socket in a child.
Depending on the injury, your child may need evaluation by emergency medicine, ophthalmology, ENT, or facial trauma specialists to guide safe treatment.
Some fractures are managed with close follow-up, activity limits, and symptom care, while others may need more urgent treatment if vision, eye movement, or bone position is affected.
Possible signs include swelling, bruising, pain around the eye, pain with eye movement, double vision, blurry vision, numbness in the cheek or upper lip, or an eye that looks sunken or out of place. Because some symptoms are subtle, a medical exam is often needed.
Yes. Some children have limited external bruising even when there is a fracture around the eye socket. Complaints like double vision, pain when looking up or down, nausea after the injury, or facial numbness can still be important clues.
Go to the ER right away if your child has vision changes, double vision, severe pain, increasing swelling, vomiting after the injury, trouble moving the eye, an eye that looks out of place, or any concern for a serious facial injury.
Treatment depends on the type of fracture and whether vision or eye movement is affected. Some children need monitoring and specialist follow-up, while others may need urgent imaging or surgical evaluation. The right next step depends on symptoms and how the injury happened.
Answer a few questions about the symptoms, vision changes, and how the injury happened to get personalized guidance on a possible orbital fracture and whether urgent care may be needed.
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