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Whenever you notice blood in your eye, it is vital that you seek medical advice immediately. A subconjunctival hemorrhage could be to blame – often appearing harmless and painless.
Ocular symptoms could also indicate a larger issue, like retinal vein clots that prevent your eyes from receiving enough blood and oxygen.
What Causes Blood Clots in Eyes?
Blood clots in the eyes are usually caused by a subconjunctival hemorrhage. This occurs when a tiny blood vessel breaks just beneath the eye’s surface due to:
– Straining during activities like coughing, sneezing, vomiting, or using the toilet
– Head or eye injury, including infection
– Heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling
– Rubbing the eyes forcefully
– Increased blood pressure
In some cases, these clots signal clots elsewhere in the body, potentially causing a stroke. Retinal artery or vein occlusion can also lead to eye clots. It happens when a clot or fat deposit blocks the retina’s arteries or veins.
People with conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol are more at risk. If you have eye blood clots or related symptoms, consult your doctor for evaluation.
Causes
Blood clots in the eye can pose serious health threats. A blood clot can obstruct the flow of blood to the retina – the layer at the back that senses light and transmits images to the brain – leading to blindness or blocking off part of a retinal artery, potentially leading to permanent vision loss.
Blood clots may also serve as warning signals indicating potential problems elsewhere in the body.
Fragile blood vessels supplying translucent tissue lining the insides of eyelids and covering the white outer part of the eyeball (sclera) with blood supply are often vulnerable to burst, leaving a vivid red mark that looks similar to a bruise behind; this phenomenon is known as subconjunctival hemorrhage.
Rubbishing your eyes hard can bring on this problem, while certain medications, particularly blood-thinners, and high blood pressure or diabetes could increase the chances of spontaneous bleeding episodes.
In addition, individuals with von Willebrand disease or hemophilia are at increased risk of spontaneous bleeds occurring as a result.
Symptoms
Subconjunctival hemorrhages are typically benign conditions. When blood vessels rupture underneath the clear surface of your eyelid (conjunctiva), blood can pool beneath it and be trapped there, causing your white part of eye (sclera) to turn bright red.
Most subconjunctival hemorrhages will clear up themselves over time as your body absorbs and absorbs it back into circulation.
Eye doctors will ask whether you suffer from bleeding disorders or take drugs that increase the risk of blood leaking out from tiny vessels in the eyes. Certain blood-thinning medicines used for high blood pressure or prevention of strokes/heart attacks may increase this risk and potentially result in blood spots appearing on an eyeball.
Rubbing your eyes too hard can also break and leak blood vessels, while teeth clenching, vigorous coughing or using the Valsalva maneuver (a breathing technique to regulate an irregular heartbeat into its normal rhythm) may also have this effect.
Other possible triggers include age and certain medical conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.
Diagnosis
A subconjunctival hemorrhage may appear alarming at first glance; however, it’s completely harmless.
It is caused by broken blood vessels in the tissue covering your white eye (conjunctiva). Your healthcare provider will ask about your symptoms and examine your eye before providing treatment options.
He or she may also recommend fluorescein angiography – in which your healthcare provider injects dye through veins in your arm and into retinal blood vessels to track its journey into your eye – using light to track where the dye travels.
If you notice blood spots on your retina, they could be due to an obstruction in one of the small arteries that deliver blood to it (branch retinal artery occlusion).
This type of blockage could have multiple causes; hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis) or breaking off from larger clots that become lodged within one of these small retinal arteries are two possibilities.
Treatment
Blood spots in the eye typically do not necessitate immediate treatment, unless they cause pain or alter vision significantly. If this happens, however, it is imperative to consult an ophthalmologist immediately and have this condition diagnosed properly.
Subconjunctival hemorrhage occurs when one or more of the small blood vessels that supply your white eye (conjunctiva) rupture, creating a spot of red color directly below its clear surface.
Although often harmless and resolved within days or weeks on its own, subconjunctival hemorrhage should be considered an emergency condition that must be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Rarely, an eye clot may indicate another health problem such as cardiovascular disease or blocked arteries to the retina (the layer of tissue which senses light).
When this occurs, an imaging test known as fluorescein angiography should be undertaken; in this process dye is injected into one vein in your arm before traveling through it into your blood vessels to your eyes, where a special camera then photographs their arteries and retina.
How to Prevent Blood Clots in the Eyes
To reduce the risk of blood clots in the eyes:
– Avoid rubbing your eyes forcefully.
– Use caution when lifting heavy objects to avoid eye pressure.
– Manage health conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
– Consult your doctor about blood thinners if you have a clot history.
– Get routine eye exams to monitor for clot signs.
– Maintain a healthy lifestyle with exercise, a balanced diet, and no smoking or excessive alcohol.
