Black Eye | Bruised Eye | Raccoon Eye
A black eye or periorbital hematoma is a bleeding beneath the skin the surrounds the eye accompanied with swelling of the skin and the eyelid, usually caused by non-penetrating blunt force trauma to that area, such as a punch or fall.
The skin in that area is thin and with trauma, small blood vessels in this area broke and leak blood beneath the skin. It is noticeable even if blood leaking is small.
What are the causes of black eye?
1- Non penetrating blunt force.
2- Eye surgery that required local anesthesia.
3- Cosmetic eye surgery.
4- Sinus infections and surgery.
5- Nasal surgery.
6- Tooth infection and dental work.
7- Head trauma and base skull fracture can cause black eye or raccoon eye and it is medical emergency
Complications of Black Eye or Bruised Eye
Most of black eye are not serious and won’t cause any ocular or systemic complications. Most of the complications occur from the trauma itself not by the black eye.
Here are some of the ocular complications of Black eyes:
1- Cut wound of the skin from the trauma. It might require stitches and antibiotics to prevent infection.
2- Severe eyelid swelling that completely close the eye.
3- Orbital wall and floor fracture.
4- Periorbital hemorrhage with retrobulbar hemorrhage.
5- Subconjunctival hemorrhage.
6- Hyphema. It is bleeding in the anterior chamber of the eye. The bleeding is either mild or severe that it fills the whole anterior chamber of the eye. Hyphema can cause high intraocular pressure, glaucoma and corneal staining.
7- Rupture of the eye.
8- Glaucoma or traumatic glaucoma.
10- Vitreous hemorrhage.
11- Retinal Hemorrhage.
12- Traumatic retinal detachment.
13- Choroidal rupture.
14- Traumatic optic neuropathy.
Black eye treatment
As we said, in most cases, a black eye is a simple bleeding and bruising beneath the skin. However, you should always seek medical attention to fully examine your eye before you start to treat it by yourself.
The presence of any of the following symptoms, requires immediate medical attention:
• Severe eyelid swelling with complete closure of the eye.
• Blurry vision or vision loss.
• Eye floaters or eye flashes that appear after the trauma.
• Red eye with eye pain.
• Double vision.
• Inability to move your eye.
• Blood from nose or ear.
• Dizziness or lethargy.
• loss of consciousness.
• Severe headache with vomiting or nausea.
• Behavioral changes.
Home remedies for Black eyes
1- The black eye or the bruising around the eye usually disappear within 3-4 weeks and during this period its color changes from bluish purple to yellowish green.
2- Apply a cold compress (bag of frozen peas or chilled spoon) on a closed eyelid as soon as possible for 15 minutes and reapply it every 1 hour. Cold compress helps to reduce swelling and it constricts the small blood vessels beneath the skin and prevents further bleeding.
3- After 2-3 days, apply warm compress which helps to heal the bruising.
4- You can use over the counter pain killer such as paracetamol and ibuprofen but avoid aspirin as it acts also as blood thinner.
5- Vitamin C is very important factor in the synthesis of collagen fiber and strengthening the wall of blood vessels.
