A black eye that surrounds your eye is a headache and can cause a lot of gossips in the neighborhood, so it leads us to answer how to heal a black eye fast? This dark-colored pigments can surround your whole eyes as a result of blood collecting in the area. It may be because of accidents, and for some, it happens for reasons that only experts can explain.
If you want to heal your black eye fast, you have to figure out why it occurred in the first place. You can also apply some ice, buy over-the-counter pain relievers, and elevate your head when lying down. If you have been experiencing symptoms as persistent headaches or vomiting occur, it is better to get your black eyes to check with the doctor to get proper medical attention.
Most of the time, it is not severe, but it may also accompany injuries that may lead to other problematic diseases. However, note that there is no quick way to fix or heal those black eyes underneath or around your eyes. As they say, “time heals all wounds.” Don’t worry; we won’t keep you hanging because we’re about to share some tips in healing a black eye.
What Is a Black Eye?
A black eye defines an eye bruise. Blood pools in the skin cause the region around the eye to have a red, blue, or black look. Usually, no damage affects the real eye, only the skin around it. Some affected persons may also experience pain in the area, blurred vision, and swelling around the eyes. Aside from it, here are other symptoms that may indicate that a black eye accompanies a potentially severe head injury.
- Double vision
- Blood on the eye’s surface
- Loss of consciousness or fainting
- Loss of vision
- Not being able to move your eye
- Ongoing or severe headache
- Fluid or blood coming from your nose or ears
Once the affected person feels any of these symptoms, consider going to the emergency room. It may pose a severe head injury that may lead to brain damage and, worst, death. To heal a black eye, a cold compress is a crucial factor. We’ll tell you more about it in a while.
How Serious Can a Black Eye Be?
Many black eyes can recover without medical intervention in a few days. Usually, they happen when something strikes your nose or eye. Depending on the condition, it is common for both eyes to get blackened at the same time. Any damage to the face may result in severe injuries, such as a skull fracture or brain bleeding. The examples are other, potentially harsh conditions that can accompany a black eye.
- Hyphema – Bleeding in your eye is characteristic of this problem. Hyphema may have a detrimental effect on the cornea and vision.
- Ocular hypertension – It can occur along with damage to the eye or neck. It’s marked by elevated intraocular pressure. Damage to the eyesight will arise if this is left untreated.
Regardless, it is essential that you heal a black eye sooner than later by doing precautionary measures. It will help you prevent acquiring more severe injuries, especially on your head.
Home Treatments For Black Eyes
Most black eyes can heal on its own within a few days, but by taking some precautionary steps at home, you can help speed healing and reduce pain. First, rest and pause any activity that you are doing. Apply some cold compress or ice wrapped in a thin cloth on the affected area around the eyes. As much as possible, avoid putting direct pressure on your eyeballs.
Then, keep the ice on the black eye for about 15 minutes at every waking hour for the first 24 hours since you got the injury. When sleeping, keep your elevated and add some extra pillows. When pain continues to be present, talk to your doctor, and ask for the safest pain medications. It helps in reducing swelling and inflammation in the affected area. Don’t self-medicate and stay away from aspirin because it can increase bleeding.
To heal a black eye, apply ice or cold compress several times a day until you feel that the swelling or pain subsides. Finally, allow your eye to completely heal before you do any activities such as lifting and daily running or other heavy exercises.
Other Remedies for Black Eye
When you have a black eye, it is best to let the doctor examine it. You will assess the severity of the injuries, and decide if there is anything more severe like facial fracture or hyphema. When a black eye is mild, it usually suffices for home treatment. Icing the eye can reduce swelling, alleviate pain, and help relieve bruise.
Using a washcloth or similar shield between the ice and your skin when applying ice to your eye to avoid cold injury and heal a black eye. Always ice the affected eye at any given time for more than 20 minutes. Leaving the ice on for longer puts you in danger of getting frostbite in the field. The cold helps as the blood vessels in the region are constricted. You can apply ice several times a day if you use the right technique.
Doctors may prescribe pain medication over-the-counter to relieve any discomfort you may feel. Sticking with the acetaminophen is safest. All aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs will make your blood thinner and make your black eye look worse. Other approaches can help to decrease the appearance of a black eye.
You should start applying warm compresses to the area after about two days of icing the affected eye. Through increasing the blood supply, this process helps to facilitate healing. Be careful not to use hot compresses, which can burn your skin. You can apply the heat for up to 20 minutes at a time, much like cold compresses or ice.
Massage of the blackened ground surrounding area. Do not use bruise treatment. Once you feel the black eye, you should start doing it within 24 hours. By stimulating the lymph system in the area, this can speed up the healing process. Keep your head high above the rest of your body while sleeping. It promotes drainage, which can help to decrease the amount of discoloration and swelling you undergo.
How To Prevent Black Eyes?
Most people suffer a black eye as a result of trauma, so the chance of shock arising. If you want to heal a black eye and prevent it from happening, here are some ways.
It is necessary to wear a seatbelt, as facial injuries are common in motor vehicle accidents. There are other ways to lower the risk of falling. When doing any activity where facial damage is possible, wear protective eye gear such as goggles are often needed. It will lower the chance of having a direct blow to the eye. Often, they help to reduce the possibility of foreign objects getting into your eye.
Check your home for dangers that might cause you to move and fall, such as floor clutter, loose carpeting and rugs, and the like—using assistive devices when the chance of falling is yours. If you are getting a black eye, get an assessment from a doctor. The severity of the injury can be assessed, and medical options recommended.
A brain injury should be ruled out. Although the above treatment approaches will not automatically get rid of the black eye, they will facilitate the healing process and theoretically shorten the overall recovery period.
Ways Of Lessening the EffectsWith Cold
Applying cold is the most crucial step in black-eye treatment. Since pooling blood causes the black eye bruise’s darkness, excessive bleeding and swelling must be minimized. Place ice or a cold compress gently on your eye to do this, and let it sit there for 20 minutes.
Perform this 20-minute cold treatment for the first 24 hours after your injury, every hour. Be mindful of not over-chilling your bite. Never place something icy directly on your skin, or you may experience severe trauma. Don’t try a non-stop cold treatment or work against your intentions. When your wound site is too cold, your body fills the region with blood to warm you up.
With Pain Relievers
The injury that results in a black eye is likely also to cause headaches. Over-the-counter medicine would be properly pain relieving. However, stay away from aspirin and ibuprofen, as the bleeding will increase. Soothe the suffering with acetaminophen, instead.
With Food
If you haven’t got your five fruit and vegetable servings, now is the time to get going. Vitamin C’s strength is neither elusive nor legendary. Studies have consistently demonstrated the positive effects of vitamin C; particularly bruises have on the healing process. You should not only eat on grapes, bananas, cabbage, and sweet potatoes when you have a black eye. Instead, you should also take supplements of vitamin C. Pineapple and papaya are both great black eye bruise treatments, but they are not get publicized.
The American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons, and the American Board of Ringside Medicine and Surgery, are urging people with a black eye to blend with the candy. Eating the drink three or four times a day can allow the body to reabsorb the blood and thereby improve the healing process. When papaya is out of season or otherwise unavailable at health food stores, the fruit is available in capsules. Taking about 600 milligrams of the fruit supplement, it is as effective as eating fresh papaya four times a day.
With Proper Rest
Rest is necessary for any healing cycle. It is the moment when you’re resting that your body restores itself. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t just jump into bed when you have a black eye, and expect beauty sleep to regain your appearance. More than usual, you must have your head lifted. If you usually sleep on your partner’s chest or with a single pillow, you will compromise warmth and familiarity, and stack up a few pillows to help prevent swelling and bleeding.
With Heat
If you want to totally heal a black eye, you will continue a mild rather than hot treatment on the second day. Apply some moist, roll up washcloths to your black eye regularly. It will not only help the attempts to reduce swelling but will also improve blood circulation in the injured area, which will allow pooled blood to recirculate.
When to See a Doctor?
An eye or head injury will sometimes trigger a black eye, along with more severe issues. If you have any of the following signs and a black eye, medical attention should be given to rule out a severe injury.
- Vision changes or failure which doesn’t quickly clear up
- Severe or chronic pain
- Swelling starting after 48 hours
- Some damage to the eye from an impact
- The pooling of blood at eye2
- Two black eyes which can be a symptom of a fractured skull
- Cuts or lacerations inside or close to the eye
- Some eye socket, face or jaw deformities that might suggest a fracture
- Lost or missing teeth
- The shift in attitude, or misunderstanding
- The fluid that flows from your nose, mouth, ears or eye
- Signs of concussion or other severe brain injuries that may have been caused by head trauma
More importantly, relax. Keep your composure and be observant of how you feel. Most of the time, the black eye doesn’t pose any threats. However, it still depends on how did you acquire it. When you got black eyes because of traumatic experiences, make sure to seek for doctor’s help. If you want to use some creams, here’s how you can choose.