ahhh. sandbox eyes. i see this quite often. the next step assuming he is still crying rubbing his eyes and complaining is to see a medical provider to see if he has a corneal abrasion - a painful scratch on the cornea. you will need to take him to an urgent care facility. the medical provider will put a drop or two of an anesthetic solution to numb the eye (instant relief! ). a tiny amount of bright-yellow fluorecein dye will be put in the eye to reveal any scratch. it can be seen using a "black light" in a darkened examination room. if he does have a tiny scratch he will need some antibiotic drops or ointment for a few days while it heals. these things are painful but fortunately they heal very fast.
my son got sand thrown in his eye and it is swollen. we did rinse it out with water. what is the next step?