Safe and Effective Ways to Heal a Popped Blood Vessel in Your Eye

Co-authored by Kerry Assil, MD and Janice Tieperman

Last Updated: January 30, 2024 References

A popped blood vessel in your eye, otherwise known as a subconjunctival hemorrhage, may look really scary, but it’s nothing to worry about. It won’t affect your ability to see and is usually just caused by excessive force, like a bad coughing fit, a big sneeze, throwing up, or rubbing your eye a lot. While there’s not much you can do to reduce the redness, there are plenty of over-the-counter solutions to take care of any pain or irritation. Within 2 weeks, your eye should be healed and back to normal!^{[1]
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Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Treatment

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1
Apply artificial tears if your eyes are irritated. Use eyedrops on an as-needed basis if your eyes are feeling sore or irritated as you recover. Double-check the package for specific instructions on how many drops you can use, and how often you can use them. As a general rule of thumb, apply 1 drop into each eye before keeping your eyes closed for up to 3 minutes.^{[2]
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- If you experience eye pain a lot, talk to your doctor or ophthalmologist for specific recommendations.
If you experience any pain while your eye is healing, don’t take NSAIDs or aspirin, which can prevent your blood from clotting. Instead, some acetaminophen (Tylenol) for the pain. As a precaution, always double-check for the recommended dose on the package ahead of time.^{[3]
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Soak a cloth or paper towel in warm water and hold it against your eye when it’s feeling sore. Use this compress on an as-needed basis until your eye starts feeling better.^{[4]
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4
Wait up to 2 weeks for the injury to heal. Popped blood vessels are harmless and almost always clear up on their own. Keep track of when the bleeding first started, so you can keep tabs on the healing process over several days. Although this injury isn’t very flattering, it’s easiest to let your eye heal at its own pace.^{[5]
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- There’s no treatment that will speed up or improve how your eye looks. If needed, you can use over-the-counter treatments if your eye feels irritated.
Let your doctor know how often you’ve been experiencing pain. Popped blood vessels on their own shouldn’t be painful, so there’s a good chance that something else is making your eye hurt.^{[6]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Prevention

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Take extra care when rubbing your eyes to prevent any injury. There isn’t always a definite cause to a popped blood vessel, but it’s usually caused by excessive force, like sneezing or rubbing your eye too much. If your eye is really bothering you, use light motions to rub it and help clear up the discomfort.^{[7]
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- If your eyes are itchy or uncomfortable a lot, call a doctor or ophthalmologist for advice.
- If you think you have something in your eye, flush it out with artificial tears or saline solution. If you rub your eye, you could scratch the surface.^{[8]
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  Kerry Assil, MD
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  Expert Interview. 4 September 2020.}
2
Clean your contacts regularly if you wear them. Dirty contacts may feel uncomfortable going into your eyes and may cause you to rub your eyes a lot more. Always keep your contacts sanitized and clean before inserting them.
- Use saline eye drops regularly to keep your eyes lubricated. Your eyelid rubs against your contact lens every time you blink, and it can cause irritation if your eyes are dry.^{[9]
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  Kerry Assil, MD
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  Expert Interview. 4 September 2020.}
3
Protect yourself with eyewear during risky sports or activities. Some sports don’t pose a big risk to your eyes, while others involve a lot of flying objects. If you’re participating in a sport with a lot of potential projectiles, like baseball, tennis, hockey, or something similar, slip on some protective glasses or eye guards before the game starts.https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17713-subconjunctival-hemorrhage/prevention
- Getting hit in the eye may cause a blood vessel to pop.
Keep track of how often you experience popped blood vessels in your eye. If you’re dealing with frequent bleeding, there may be a separate medical condition causing the issue. Talk with a doctor or ophthalmologist to get a better idea of what your situation is.

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How can I stop rubbing my eyes if I wear contacts?

Kerry Assil, MD
Board Certified Ophthalmologist
Dr. Kerry Assil is a board certified Ophthalmologist and the Medical Director and CEO of Assil Eye Institute (AEI), an ophthalmology practice in Los Angeles, California. With over 25 years of experience and as one of the world's foremost experts in eye surgery, Dr. Assil has trained 14,000+ physicians in refractive and cataract surgery, performed 70,000+ eye surgeries, and authored over 100 textbooks, chapters, and articles on refractive and cataract surgery. He's served as the Distinguished Professor lecturer at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Baylor, Tokyo, and UCLA among others. He has served on the advisory boards of 20+ ophthalmic device, pharmaceutical, and scientific companies and has appeared in the media as an authority on advances in vision-restoring surgeries and refractive surgery. Dr. Assil continues to make significant advances in his field with numerous inventions and introductions of state-of-the-art technologies.

Kerry Assil, MD

Board Certified Ophthalmologist

Expert Answer

Dry eyes and contacts don't work very well together. You could talk to your eye doctor about wearing contacts with a higher water content, but you might consider switching to glasses or having LASIK surgery.

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Tips

As your eye heals, it may appear brown, purple, or yellow. Don’t be alarmed—this is completely normal!^{[10]
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If your child has a bloody-looking eye, ask them how they’re feeling. In many cases, your child may not feel any pain or discomfort, and you can just wait for the injury to heal on its own.^{[11]
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Warnings

Call your doctor if you think you notice signs of an eye infection, like fever, swelling, or discharge.^{[12]
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Some people say that warm water soaks can improve your symptoms. However, there isn’t any evidence to back up those claims.^{[13]
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Professional medical organization focused on advocating for public health and supporting sight-related research

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