Why is my eye bloodshot?

February 26, 2005 5:48 AM

Why is a specific part of my eye bloodshot? There is no pain at all, but across a part of my eye (from nose to iris left side) there is a streak of "bloodshot". I now I should just wait it out, but why does this happen?

Ahem.. I was... exerting myself probably when this happened. High blood pressure situation.

posted by Dean Keaton to Health & Fitness (15 answers total)

Jeepers, get yourself to a doctor. That sounds serious, and it's not worth taking chances with your eyesight.
posted by veedubya at 6:44 AM on February 26, 2005

Seeing an ophthalmologist ASAP is a very good idea. (By the way, I've had eye bleeds like that after coughing a lot with bad colds. Co-workers would cringe on making eye contact with me.)
posted by Carol Anne at 6:50 AM on February 26, 2005

HealthCentral - a consumer health information site - begs to differ. They say it's no big deal and my experience with this sort of thing also leads me to think that it's no big deal. If it doesn't clear up, or at least look like it's starting to clear up in a day or two, see a doctor.

A bright red, uniformly dense bloody area on the sclera results from a small amount of bleeding into the sclera. It is often first noted in the morning on arising. This is a fairly common occurrence and of little significance. If upon awakening in the morning, you notice a bloody blotch in one eye that doesn't hurt but just looks bad, don't worry. It is usually due to eyestrain or fatigue, and it generally clears up on its own after a few days.

posted by jessamyn at 6:52 AM on February 26, 2005

IANAD, but my eyes (and often one eye only -- I had retinal detachment surgery on that eye) will get bloodshot after being at the computer too long (which, unfortunately, is my job).

Or are you talking broken blood vessels that don't go away after half a day?
My friend gets this when he barfs too much/hard. It goes away after a couple days to a week.

And I don't know what you mean by "high blood pressure situation" but, if you have high bp, you should get it checked out by a doctor. Immediately.
posted by j at 7:39 AM on February 26, 2005

I have weird small areas of "bloodshotness" all the time, they come and go. That said, I had a persistent eye infection for three years, and still get lovely blobs of goo in my eye from time to time. My optician took a ten second look and didn't seem to care, so I dunno :)
posted by wackybrit at 7:45 AM on February 26, 2005

I don't know what you mean by "high blood pressure situation"

check the tags ^^^
posted by jessamyn at 8:23 AM on February 26, 2005

Sounds like a condition called a subconjunctival hemorrhage. Not serious and goes away in a week or two. Looks worse than it is. It can happen during... um... exertion, lifting, straining etc. See a doctor if it tears excessively, hurts or causes any blurred vision as it may be a more serious condition.
posted by artanis at 9:51 AM on February 26, 2005

Jes: didn't your mom tell you that would make you go blind?

But yeah, I've had this happen a number of times and as long as it goes away in a day, I don't worry about it.
posted by sexymofo at 10:00 AM on February 26, 2005

I get these all the time. In fact, I've got one right now. In 25 years it hasn't caused me to go blind yet. If it concerns you, go see an expert, but don't let people in this thread worry you with webmd, google searches, and suchlike.
posted by Hildago at 10:18 AM on February 26, 2005

It impresses me that two people said to go to a doctor, one of which even has gotten it herself, for this very common thing. Let's not give Ask a reputation for being trigger-happy on medical questions ;)
posted by abcde at 11:37 AM on February 26, 2005

One time I got in a fight and got a pretty nasty black eye. For a couple of weeks afterwards I also had a 'streak of bloodshot'. It cleared up on its own, and assumed it was just some blood vessel damage somewhere around the eye.
posted by angry modem at 11:40 AM on February 26, 2005

If you do opt to seek medical care, save yourself a few bucks by seeing an optometrist (O.D.) rather than an ophthalmologist (M.D.). For "routine" stuff like this, optometrists should be your first stop.

As for the hair on your palms...well, a trip to the barber may be able to help.
posted by davidmsc at 12:22 PM on February 26, 2005

a friend of mine has chlamydia in one eye. she's not been giving you instructions, has she?
posted by andrew cooke at 1:29 PM on February 26, 2005

Make sure it's not one of these.

I have one. I hate it. It does not go away. There is no surgery for it (that works permanently).
posted by rooftop secrets at 3:10 PM on February 26, 2005

I had a burst blood vessel in my eye about 3 weeks ago. It cleared up in 7-10 days.
posted by cardboard at 6:02 PM on February 26, 2005