Sudden Red Patch On Eye White

You wake up in the morning and look into a mirror and notice that one of your eye is red like a monster. Your friend looks curiously into your eye and ask you why your eye is so red but you are not aware of it. How could your eye turn red without you even knowing it?

There are a lot of causes for red eyes, some can be serious and some are not. If there is no preceding trauma/injury to the eye, and no symptoms such as eye pain, blur vision, fever, dry eye, itchiness or major eye discomfort, then there is a high chance that the red eye could be due to subconjunctival hemorrhage.

Conjunctiva is a thin & transparent membrane that cover the sclera (white part of eye) and inner sides of eyelids. It contains small blood vessels which are usually not clearly visible. When the conjunctiva get irritated, infected & inflamed, the vessels will become prominent as shown in conjunctivits. If the vessels break and bleed, it will lead to subconjunctival hemorrhage.

      Subconjunctival hemorrhage

There are a few causes for subconjunctival hemorrhage.

- spontaneous without a reason

- due to increased pressure: coughing, sneezing, straining, vomiting, hypertension

- due to eye injury or trauma, eye-rubbing

- due to bleeding tendency: bleeding disorders, blood thinning medicine

Other than a bright red patch with clear margin, subconjunctival hemorrhage DOES NOT come with eye pain or change in vision (except in trauma). If you have eye pain, eye discharge, blur vision, then it could be something else which could be more serious. If you have eye trauma/injury, you should see a doctor to make sure that there is no other injury. If you have multiple red patches on both eyes, then it could be due to underlying systemic disorder such as bleeding disorder.

Subconjuctival hemorrhage is generally regarded as harmless. There is no particular treatment and it can  cure by itself. The red patch will turn smaller and more pale with time, and usually heal without scar in 1-2 weeks time. If the red patch lasts for more than 2 weeks, or if you have any doubt, then it is advisable to seek medical attention.