Black Eye Without Trauma

Most black eyes are the result of blunt trauma that causes bleeding beneath the thin eyelid skin, producing the characteristic black and blue discoloration. A fracture deep inside the skull can also blacken both eyes, even though the eye area itself was not injured.

Preparing to Face the World. The dark discoloration of a black eye will gradually change colors and fade but depending on the severity of your bruise and your treatment of it, the average healing time lies between 5 and 14 days. It’s not likely that you can confine yourself to your quarters for that long.

In a general, a black eye takes about 2 weeks to heal. Elevate your head. When you’re not sleeping, keep your head elevated. This will help blood flow to your heart instead of pooling in your eye area. Avoid pressure. When using ice or warm compress, don’t press on your black eye. Be extra gentle when massaging it. Rest.

The most common cause of a black eye is a blow to the eye, forehead, or nose. Depending on where the blow lands, one or both eyes may be affected. A blow to the nose often causes both eyes to swell because the swelling from the nasal injury causes fluid to collect in the loose tissues of the eyelids.

A black eye is commonly caused by trauma to the eye. If something strikes the eye, it can result in damaged blood vessels. Accidents that can lead to a black eye include contact sports, falling, bumping into something, or being directly hit in the eye.

Most injuries that cause a black eye aren’t serious. But a black eye may indicate a more serious injury, such as an internal injury to the eye or a fracture of the thin bones around the eye. You may have a skull fracture if you have double vision, bruising around both eyes (raccoon eyes) or bleeding from the nose.

A black eye can sometimes take as long as two weeks to heal completely, and a severe black eye can take even longer. Unless you plan to stay home and not leave the house for as long as your black eye takes to heal (or unless you plan to wear sunglasses everywhere you go), you may want to try concealing it with makeup.

The dark colors gradually fade after a few days, from dark blue, violet, or black, to a yellowish-green. A black eye normally disappears within 1 to 2 weeks, and it does not normally need medical attention.

After one or two days of getting a black eye, you need to apply warm compresses. This will help increase blood flow to the tissues around the eye and accelerate the healing process. Dip a clean cloth in warm water, and squeeze out the excess water. Put the warm cloth on the affected eye until the cloth becomes cool.

Warm compress Dip a washcloth in warm water and wring out the excess. Apply the warm compress to your black eye several times a day to help it heal quicker. Continue using the warm compress to treat the bruising around your eye until the discoloring disappears.

The signs of a black eye include bruising and swelling of the eyelid and soft tissue around the injured eye, sometimes accompanied by broken blood vessels along the white of the eye, called a subconjunctival hemorrhage.

A black eye is commonly caused by trauma to the eye. If something strikes the eye, it can result in damaged blood vessels. Accidents that can lead to a black eye include contact sports, falling, bumping into something, or being directly hit in the eye.