What Happened To Your EYE?!

This is an article I wrote and "donated" to @air-clinic but they did not publish it. I love the concept, I want to support what they are doing but I am a retired, formerly certified health care worker and without a LICENSE (government permission to use MY knowledge to help you...) I am very limited in what I can say or do. I try to give any assistance I can, which is much more honest now than when my paycheck depended upon my being a pimp for Pharma. I am also a self-taught herbalist and natural healer and I share my knowledge freely, with the understanding that NOTHING I say ought to be considered "medical advice." It is my educated opinion, that is all.

I am not, was not, a doctor. I was a Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist. I worked with medical eye doctors, ophthalmologists, in every aspect of their practice. I was the person who took the medical history, did all the measurements, tests and then I went and scrubbed in and assisted in surgery. Eventually I became the clinical director of the largest eye clinic in Idaho. I retired about 12 years ago. If you have an eye problem you are wondering about, I will be HAPPY to chat with you about it! This article is about the most common "triage" phone call we got in the eye clinic.

Perhaps the scariest looking eye problem people commonly encounter is the "subconjuctival hemorrhage." Sounds terrible, doesn't it? It looks even worse! They often begin as a very small red area on the "white" of the eye. The red area may resolve in a day or two, or it may get worse and worse...

and WORSE!

(Both images are from a google search for "free images" and are used for educational purposes only.)

What the heck is going on? Let's break down the diagnosis. "Subconjunctival" is the location of the problem. The conjunctiva is the "skin" that covers the inside of your eyelids and the front of the white of your eyes. The clear window right over your pupil is the cornea and it has NO blood vessels. The blood vessels in the conjunctiva are responsible for keeping the front part of your eye supplied with nutrients. There are a LOT of blood vessels in the conjunctiva. Now and then, one of those blood vessels leaks or breaks - it "hemorrhages."

Normally when we hear "hemorrhage" we think someone is about to bleed to death. Not so in this case. So long as the VISION remains clear and there is NO PAIN, even that ugly thing on the bottom is no big deal. It is a bruise, basically. You can do a few things to try to make it go away faster: ice packs, stay off anti-coagulants (like aspirin), try not to lift heavy objects or strain yourself. They are often caused by a hard sneeze or heavy lifting especially if the person is on blood thinners. Many people do not know they have one until someone says "What happened to your eye?!" and they have no idea what happened. They look in a mirror and it can freak a person out to be bleeding in the eye and not know why! It may take a couple weeks to fully resolve, but again, if your vision if UNCHANGED and there is NO PAIN, you do not need to see a doctor about it.

Verification of my former profession: