Eye Problems Over Christmas: What to Do If You Need Urgent Eye Care

neilp171
Dec 19, 2025
2 min read

Eye Problems Over Christmas: What to Do If You Need Urgent Eye Care

The festive period is a time for family, celebration and relaxation — but unfortunately, eye problems don’t always take a holiday.

At Parkhurst and Co, we want to make sure our patients know exactly what to do if they experience eye problems over Christmas or the New Year, particularly when practices may be closed or operating reduced hours.

We would also like to take this opportunity to wish all our patients a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Eye Problems Can Happen at Any Time

We often see an increase in urgent eye concerns during holiday periods. These can include:

Sudden blurred or reduced vision
New flashes of light or floaters
Sudden onset double vision (diplopia)
Painful, red, or light-sensitive eyes
Eye infections or inflammation
Eye injuries or foreign bodies

While some eye problems are minor, others require urgent assessment and should never be ignored.

When Should You Seek Urgent Eye Care?

Seek urgent advice if you have:

Sudden loss or significant reduction in vision
Sudden onset double vision (diplopia)
Flashes/floaters, especially if increasing
A dark shadow or “curtain” across vision
Severe eye pain
Red eye with reduced vision
Eye injury/trauma or chemical splash
Or any other problems which give you concern
Emergency EyeCare

Who to Contact If We Are Closed

If we are closed, please do not wait:

NHS 111 – call 111 for urgent advice and local triage
Evolutio Ophthalmology – Urgent Eye Care – 0800 112 0070
Eye Casualty / A&E – for severe symptoms, serious injury, sudden vision loss or sudden diplopia

What If My Eye Problem Is Not Urgent?

If symptoms are mild, long-standing, and not worsening, you can book online any time and we’ll see you when open.

Eye Problems Over Christmas: What to Do If You Need Urgent Eye Care