Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Bright Red Eye: What Could It Be?

Subconjunctival hemorrhage is a benign eye disorder that is a common cause of acute ocular redness or a “bright red eye”. Patients sometimes call our practice complaining of a “bright red eye” or “bleeding eye”. It seems to come on with a cough or a sneeze-or sometimes with some heavy lifting-or for no reason at all-and has no pain, blurry vision or discharge.

We will of course ask you to come in so we can evaluate the problem, but it is possible that it is a subconjunctival hemorrhage. The major risk factors include trauma and contact lens usage in younger patients, whereas among the elderly, systemic vascular diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis are more common. In patients in whom subconjunctival hemorrhage is recurrent or persistent, further evaluation, including a workup for systemic hypertension, bleeding disorders, systemic and ocular malignancies and drug side effects, is warranted.

If you or someone you know experiences a “bright red eye” please call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice with offices at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851
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