Black Eye Treatment: Home Remedies & Clinical Treatment

What Is Black Eye?

A black eye is when there’s bruising of the tissue under the skin around the eye. In most cases, the injury affects the face instead of the eye itself. It is called a black eye due to the bluish-dark color of the bruising within the tissue around the eye. This happens because the capillaries, or tiny blood vessels, burst and leaked blood under the skin. Another name for a black eye may be a “shiner.” The medical name is “periorbital hematoma”.

As fluids collect within the space around the eye, bruising, swelling, and puffiness result. This will make it difficult to open the eye. Vision may blur temporarily. There could also be pain around the eye, and possibly a headache.

A black eye is basically the result of any sort of physical attack on the areas that surround the eye. It may be caused due to an accident or injury involving objects that might have hit the eye or the areas around it resulting in the blackness/darkening of the eye and the areas around.

Swelling or an injury near the eye is the first and the most prominent symptom of the black eye. As the swelling begins to spread, the skin color surrounding that injured area also starts to change. It goes from intensely red to dark blue at first and then to deep violet. Finally, the eye and the injured area turn black. Therefore, this condition is known as the “black eye”.

The black eye is just like any other injury (or bruise, to be more precise). However, black eye treatment is necessary to restore the normal look of the eye and the face.

Black eye treatment does not involve a wide variety of steps. During the initial days of the injury, when the wound is fresh, one should try to implement home remedies for the black eye treatment.

Causes of Black Eye

• Share on Fighting falls, and road traffic accidents are common causes of a black eye.

• A black eye can happen when something strikes an individual on the face. This might be a ball, a fist, a door, or another item.

• A black eye also can occur after some sort of dental or facelift. The bruising can last for several days.

• A black eye itself isn’t dangerous, and therefore the discoloration is typically thanks to bruising around the eye. Sometimes, however, it is often a symbol of a more serious condition.

• Bruising around both eyes, referred to as raccoon eyes may indicate a skull fracture or other sort of head injury. This needs urgent medical attention.

Serious Effects of Black Eye

It will normally heal without medical intervention, but it can sometimes be a symbol of something more serious. During this case, it’s going to need medical attention. In case, the person faces one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, he/she should immediately seek proper medical aid for the black eye treatment.

1. Blood starts flowing out from the ears and the nose.
2. It becomes highly difficult to move or rotate the eye.
3. One starts to feel common infection signs such as fever, redness, or pus in the eye.
4. The appearance of excessive or unusual swelling that does not show up in cases of normal injuries.
5. Persistent headache and frequent vomiting
6. Double vision or blurred vision

Before one begins with the treatment, it is important to be well aware of the seriousness of the injury. The doctors will first try to examine how serious the injury is. If the injury is actually very serious and they suspect some sort of abnormalities (due to the unusual symptoms) such as the fracture of face bones, then they should take the case to a specialist for further treatment of the black eye.

Precautions For Black Eye

Apart from applying home remedies or consulting a specialist for the proper treatment, the person is required to take some necessary precautions on his/her part for a speedy recovery, some of which are listed below:

1. Prefer wearing sunglasses or proper shades while going outside in order to prevent infection or any further harm to the already injured eye.
2. Take a break from strenuous physical work like sports and exercise as they can pose more threat to the already affected eye.
3. Always keep your head elevated except when you are sleeping. This will help in the circulation of blood to your heart instead of pooling it into the area near the injured eye.
4. Increase the intake of vitamin C in your diet or apply creams which are rich in vitamin C as it helps to strengthens blood vessels and reduces bruising.
5. Take his/her medicines as prescribed by the doctor on time with proper care to speed up the black eye treatment process.
6. Keep the steps and floor beyond cables, clutter, and other items, especially in areas where people walk.
7. Protective gear: people that participate in activities that increase the danger to the face, like martial arts, boxing, and get in touch with sports should use protective gear. Helmets are essential when cycling or riding a motorbike.

Treatment (Home Remedies) For Black Eye

The blackness normally disappears within 1 to 2 weeks, and it doesn’t normally need medical attention. Here are some home remedies that can treat the black eye

Use Ice Cubes

Use ice cubes wrapped in a soft cloth or handkerchief to gently press the eye along with gentle dabs on the injured area. This should be done within the first 24-48 hours of the accident. Repeat this remedy several times a day for 1-2 days continuously.

Benefit:

• This step will slow down blood flow to the black eye.
• Ice cubes will reduce the temperature of the injured area near the eye. This treatment will also help in reducing the swelling. Thus, providing relief to the eye and the injured area.

Precautions to be taken:

• Do not press the injured area near the eye harshly with the ice cubes.
• Do not forget to wrap the ice cubes in a soft cloth. Applying ice cubes directly to your eyes can cause harm to them.
• Keep your head elevated during the process of applying ice cubes to help decrease the amount of swelling of the injured area near the eye.

NOTE: You can also use frozen vegetables like peas. But they should be taken out directly from the freezer and placed on the eye. Both the ice cubes and the vegetables have nearly the same effect.

Apply Warm Compress

After having applied the ice cubes for 2-3 days, the swelling begins to reduce. Now, apply a warm compress to the black eye and the injured area around the eye.

• Take a small hand towel, fold it and keep it in a large bowl filled with hot, boiling water.
• Soak the towel in the hot water thoroughly.
• Take it out and squeeze it to remove the excess dripping water.
• Put it on the black eye and the injured area near the eye and press gently for 10-20 minutes.
• You can repeat this process about 2-3 times until the temperature of the water begins to fall.

Benefits: Applying a warm compress will help in speedy healing by increasing the blood flow to the injured area.

Precautions to be taken:

• Don’t squeeze the towel too much. If the towel gets too drained of the hot water, the remedy won’t have much effect on the injured area.

Massage Injured Area Gently

When the swelling reduces, give the injured area a gentle massage.

Benefits: This gentle massage will promote blood flow to the injured area near the eye.

Precautions to be taken: Do not massage the eye or the injured area if it causes pain or if there is still no effect on the swelling.

While following the above home remedies for the black eye treatment, there are chances that one might feel pain in the black eye or when someone touches the injured area near the eye. In such situations, it is advised to take pain relievers such as “Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen” to reduce the pain in the injured.

Clinical Treatment For Black Eye

In most cases, the black eye treatment can easily be done with the help of home remedies but there are some cases in which the injury worsens to such an extent that the patient might need to consult a doctor for proper black eye treatment. In normal cases, with the help of home remedies, the black eye can be healed within 3 days or a week. If the condition persists longer than this (with some serious unexpected symptoms), the person should immediately consult a doctor and start with the black eye treatment. For a more serious injury, for instance, fractures to the bones of the face, they’re going to refer the person to a specialist.

This specialist might be one of the following:

1. The recommended doctor might be a neurosurgeon if an injury in the skull or brain is suspected.
2. He might be an ENT specialist to check if the unusual symptoms are due to any unexpected infection in the ear, nose, throat, or surrounding areas.
3. An ophthalmologist if the injury seems to be solely concerned with the eye.

The best way to treat your eyes is to visit your eye care professional and get your eyes checked regularly. He will be able to assess the best method of treatment for your eye ailment.

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