Overview
You’ve got a blood spot on your eye. Don’t panic yet. It may just be a subconjunctival hemorrhage. That’s a complicated name for a rather minor condition. Subconjunctival hemorrhage is the term for a broken blood vessel that bleeds on the surface of your eye.
The clear membrane that lines the inside of your eyelid and covers the white of your eye is called the conjunctiva. It contains many tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that can break easily. When a break happens, blood can leak under the conjunctiva. The blood causes the white of your eye (sclera) to turn bright red.
If you have a subconjunctival hemorrhage, the blood is trapped in the conjunctiva, so it doesn’t move and can’t be wiped away. But since the blood isn’t on your cornea or the inside of your eye, your vision isn’t affected.
The red spots caused by subconjunctival hemorrhage can look scary. But most cases don’t cause any other symptoms or need treatment. They typically go away on their own within a few weeks.
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