RED EYE: BROKEN BLOOD VESSEL IN THE EYE (SUBCONJUCTIVAL HEMORRHAGE

 

Subconjunctival hemorrhage

He sat in my chair worried he was going blind. There was blood in his eye. He had woken up that morning and noticed his right eye had a blood clot. And does not remember having been hit in the eye. Before I took a closer look, this was obviously a broken blood vessel in the eye. A common occurrence in the general populace that often looks worse than it really is.

Most patients panic at the sight of this sign especially when they don't remember having an injury to the eye. And often have no pain, discharge, or blurring vision. or any other symptoms except for the localized red eye. Fortunately 80% of the time it is benign and goes away on its own. What are the causes of broken blood vessels in the clear part of the eye (Conjunctiva)?

The causes are sometimes unknown especially if you were not punched in the face/eye. Otherwise, here are a few things that could cause broken blood vessels in the eye

• Powerful sneezing
• Straining
• Violent coughing
• Vomiting
• trauma from an eye injury
• roughly rubbing your eye

Some folks are more at risk than others:

• If you are on certain medications e.g blood thinners like Warfarin, Aspirin Coumadin, Jantoven
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Blood clotting disorders

How can you prevent this condition?

• Wearing protective eyewear during contact sports or activities that involve flying objects.
• Checking with your doctor if you have a bleeding disorder
• If you are at risk, avoid taking aspirin, or related products

What Should you do?

If there is no pain, blurring vision, discharge,  tearing, or photophobia (sensitivity to light). you really should let it be, it would clear in 2-3 weeks. If however, you notice the blood spot getting bigger, see your eye doctor immediately. As the broken vessels heal, the blood spot will go through some color changes, from red to brown, and yellow until the eye is while again.

Again it often looks more alarming than it is especially if the spot is large. Do not panic