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Blood Clots in the Eye

Blood clots may form in the eyes for many different reasons. Some of them are serious and others are not. This story highlights what causes blood clots in eyes and how it can be treated.
Bidisha Mukherjee
Blood clots in the eye can be identified as red spots or patches on the white portion of the eye. Usually, it appears after you have accidentally injured your eyes. If the injury was minor, you may not get any painful symptoms. However, if it was a serious eye injury, then you will experience eye pain.
Blood clots, if left untreated for a long time, can affect the sight and lead to blurry vision or even loss of vision. A typical characteristic of a blood clot in the eye, is that it keeps shifting its positions which can be a problematic issue. Therefore, if you have a clot, you have to monitor it quite closely.

Causes

There is a thin film called conjunctiva that covers the white part of the eye and it consists of several blood vessels. When any of these blood vessels is ruptured, blood starts flowing out of it. The body then coagulates the blood in order to prevent excessive loss of blood from the wounded area.
In this process, the components of blood and the inner lining of blood vessels play a major role. Thus, blood clots are formed in the blood vessels. Blood clot in a damaged blood vessel ensure normal flow of blood through it without causing any bleeding.
This kind of rupture may occur due to eye injury when it is hit by a ball or any other object during sports activities or when you accidentally poke the eyes. As the blood vessels of the eyes are delicate, they may get injured when you sneeze, cough or rub the eyes. Excessive eye strain and high blood pressure are the other causes in the eyes.

Treatment

Once blood clots have formed inside the eyes, it will be there for 2-3 weeks. After that, it will be reabsorbed into the body. Blood clots in the eye without any pain or vision change usually do not require any medicinal treatment. You just have to rest your eyes as much as possible.
You should stop watching television and working on the computer till the clots disappear completely. A warm compression on the eyes works really well on these clots. Soak a small piece of cloth in warm water and place it on your eyes. Repeat this several times in a day for faster relief.
You can put a few drops of rose water into the eyes before going to bed. This will have a relaxing effect on the eyes. You can do a simple eye exercise to dissolve the clots fast.
Focus on a single point located at around 10 feet away from you for 25 seconds and then change your focus on a point on an object kept very close to your eyes. While focusing, make sure that you do not blink your eyes. Repeat this exercise 10 times in a day.
A clot in the eye that refuses to go after 2 weeks should be treated under the supervision of a doctor. If there is pain in the eyes along with the clots, then the cause has to be evaluated by a doctor. Doctors first ascertain the cause and then treat the condition accordingly.
If it is caused due to high blood pressure, then doctors prescribe hypertension medications. A blood clot in the eye is harmless as long as it is not affecting the normal blood flow through the blood vessels.
A clot formed inside a healthy blood vessel can block normal flow of blood and cause damage to the tissues of the eyes. This kind of clots are usually dissolved with the help of clot bursting medicines.
Eyes are very delicate organs of the body. So, any problem in the eyes, be it minor or major should not be taken lightly. Moreover, blood clot in the eyes need more attention because this clot may travel to any other part of the body and lead to life-threatening condition. Therefore, you must resolve this issue as early as possible.