There are many different reasons that can cause eye bleeding and some reasons can be treated using an eye medications list (like inflammation) while others may require surgery or more advanced forms of treatment.

Eye bleeds normally seem to appear as spots within the eye or can cause the entire eye to appear red. Sometimes people who have eye bleeds can also get tears that are blood stained. Some forms of eye bleeds recover on their own and are harmless while there are also instances when an eye bleed can be because of a more serious underlying problem. The symptoms that a particular person experiences depends on the sort of eye bleed that they have, for instance haemolacria often causes the blood to stain the person’s tears while other causes can make the white portion of the eye to become red or have blotches.

Various types of hemorrhage within the eye

There are different types of ocular hemorrhage, which is basically any kind of bleeding that happens inside the eye. SCH or subconjunctival hemorrhage is among the commonly experienced types of eye bleeds and it is caused by the breakage of a blood vessel. This condition is usually not harmful even though it looks really intense and mostly the symptoms do not cause any pain. Subconjunctival hemorrhage is further divided into two categories – spontaneous and traumatic. Traumatic subconjunctival hemorrhage, as the name suggests, is caused by some sort of trauma to the eye like rubbing while spontaneous SCH is caused by another related condition like diabetes or hypertension. The blood vessels often become fragile due to these conditions and rupture causing hemorrhage.

Generally, subconjunctival hemorrhage does not need any particular treatment and resolves naturally in about 7 to 14 days. However, if there is an underlying medical condition that has caused SCH, seeking treatment for the cause is recommended to prevent any further damage or worsening of the problem. Another more serious condition that is not as common is called hyphema. Blood collects between the iris and the cornea in this condition in the frontal part of the eye. It is usually the result of an injury or trauma to the eye. Hyphema symptoms include bleeding in the frontal portion, photosensitivity, pain or bleeding in the deeper parts of the eye. If the pressure rises too much or too fast it can also cause vomiting or nausea. It can also result in changes in vision like blurry, cloudy or blocked vision.

Eye bleed causes originating deeper in the eye

If the eye bleed does not appear on the surface it can be because of vitreous, subretinal or submacular hemorrhage. The vitreous is the clear portion of your eye and a vitreous hemorrhage causes bleeding in this area. In case of a subretinal hemorrhage the bleeding is in the area under the retina and a submacular hemorrhage is when the area between the retina and epithelium (referred to as the macula) has bleeding. The common symptoms in the case of these types of hemorrhage can be a red tint in vision, blurriness, floaters, blind spots in vision (or scotoma) and haemolacria. When there is an appearance of blood in tears it is called haemolacria and it can be resulting from different parts of the eye, including the tear glands. If the inner eyelid has a cut or signs of wear it can also lead to direct bleeding from that area and if the source of bleeding is farther back it can also cause tears to become blood stained.

The blood vessels in the eye can be damaged for a number of different reasons like rubbing the eye, some foreign object entering the eye causing trauma, orbital bones surrounding the eye getting injured, an eye tumor, usage of contact lens, conjunctivitis, laser eye treatment, sneezing, coughing or strenuous exercises. Certain medications can also increase the risk of an eye bleed like anticoagulants or blood thinners (e.g. heparin or warfarin), P2Y12 inhibitors (like clopidogrel) and anti-inflammatory medicines that are nonsteroidal (e.g. aspirin).

Eye bleeds caused by various medical conditions

There are other medical conditions besides hypertension and diabetes that can also lead to eye bleeds like anemia, high cholesterol, tumors, leukemia, aneurysm, hemochromatosis, thrombocytopenia, hemophilia, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, Terson’s syndrome and telangiectasias, among others. Treatment options vary according to the causes behind the bleeding and doctors normally examine the condition to recommend the suitable treatment. Subconjunctival hemorrhage normally does not call for treatment unless the underlying condition warrants it. Hyphemas as well as other kinds of eye bleeds may be treated with laser surgery or eye surgery, in order to reduce eye pressure. Pain, pressure and inflammation are also treated using eye drops in certain cases.

An ophthalmologist may prescribe steroid, antiviral or antibiotic eye drops depending on the condition. Sometimes additional care is also advised to the patients for when they are at home, like getting rest, keeping the head upright to allow the eye to drain or covering the idea with a special shield.