Argh!! Bloody spot on eyeball!!
OK, I get up this morning, go through my usual routine….coffee, Today Show, newspaper, exercise, cereal, blah, blah, blah, and finally I look a little closer in the mirror as it is time to do hair …and…what…is…that..BLOODY…SPOT…ON MY EYEBALL???? I consider calling my eye doctor, but it’s early, they probably aren’t in, and really, I would never have know it was there except that I saw it. Doesn’t itch. Doesn’t hurt. I haven’t scratched my eye or anything. Surely it’s nothing. Isn’t it? Isn’t it? What if it’s serious? What if I become one of those people who after surviving some catastrophic thing like a heart attack or stroke, say…”Oh, I just felt embarrassed calling the doctor, I figured it was nothing.” You always want to say….what were you thinking??
But… I didn’t do anything until I got into the office and rather than call my doctor, I go to Dr. Internet….and found out I was right (probably). I have what’s called a subconjunctival hemorrhage. Sounds just awful doesn’t it? But that’s a big word for a blood vessel break under the thin membrane covering the eye (the conjunctiva..thus sub). It stays bright red because it gets so much oxygen. And newborn babies get them a lot….but for most people, it just happens from rubbing your eye, sneezing or coughing, maybe lifting something heavy (like my cat?).
They can also be caused my uncontrolled high blood pressure(mine is low, actually), or if you’re taking a blood thinner like Coumadin(which I’m not). So the Family Medicine Column says, relax girl. You’re fine. Your subconjunctival hemorrhage will go away in a week or 10 days.
