Maybe you have experienced it before: you look in the mirror and suddenly part of your white is colored completely red. That looks dramatic, but it is actually quite harmless. This is called subconjunctival hemorrhage: it is some blood that is in the superficial membrane of your eye. Usually this occurs spontaneously, for no apparent reason. Sometimes it arises after a severe coughing or pressing or after a trauma.
How quickly does such a bruise go away?
You can compare it with a bruise on the skin: it takes about two weeks before the bruise disappears completely. You will see that the red spot sinks slightly due to gravity, then slowly yellows and eventually disappears. Sometimes the bruise may return. This is possible because one of the blood vessels on the eye is somewhat fragile, so that such bleeding can occur.
Should this be treated?
You cannot do anything to make a bruise in your eye disappear faster. If your vision is still clear, there is no need for an ophthalmologist to check, unless it is a very significant bleeding, for example, someone who takes blood thinners. In that case, the tears are less likely to spread over the cornea and an artificial tear or eye ointment is recommended to keep the eye moist.
