Question
QUESTION: Dr. Shroff,
This may be a tough question to answer. I am a twenty-three year old healthy male, and about two months ago I received a black eye during a game of basketball (accidental elbow to the face). In addition to the black eye, I got a broken blood vessel in my eye. The black eye went away in about a week, and the broken blood vessel went away in a little more than two. There were no complications or anything related to vision loss, blurriness, pain, itching, etc., and my vision is nothing short of perfect. But, now it seems as if there is a little red spot that is on the side of my iris in the white of my eye where blood vessels branch off. There is no pain or anything of that nature, and this eye isn't any more dilated or red than the other, except for this very tiny red spot. In addition, I don't even want to go to the doctor being that he/she wouldn't even be able to see it, and would probably think I am crazy considering there is nothing even bothering me. I know this is kind of hard to understand and I am most likely being paranoid, but is it a cause for concern? Thanks in advance
ANSWER: Hi Tyler,
usually the red spot is like a sub conjunctival haemorrhage which takes a long time to resolve if it were a large area like could have happened in your case with a black eye.
It is possible that this red spot was there , but got masked off with the oevrall redness of the eyes.
In any case, just like you have inferred that this spot does not interfere with your vision and neither does it give rise to any symptoms.
There are no medications or drops which makes this go away, it does so as it is usually self limiting.
Now, please note that I am guiding you based on your history and symptoms, it is always better to have the vision checked and the eye pressure checked by an ophthalmologist or eye doctor as it has history of injury and the retina needs to be examined.
You may alo send me an image on dranand@lasikindia.in.
Hope this helps,
Best,
Dr Anand Shroff
www.lasikindia.in
www.shroffeye.org
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Dr. Shroff,
So do you feel it is necessary to get an eye check-up, considering it has been over two months with no complications. Or are there other problems that can spring up months following an injury?
Answer
Hi Tyler,
I feel it is best that you do seek an opinion as you may not know if there has been any issue outside your central visual field. This is known only with the dilation exam, also the red line that you mention can be looked into.
The complicatins may not be noticed by you unless obvious.
I would take an exam if I were you...that is my recommendation, although this need not be doen on any emergency basis, anytime soon is good.
Regards,
Dr Anand
