<p>Woke up this morning and even with my severe nearsightedness I could see a bright red spot in my left eye. I’ve never had this before and have no other symptoms except my seasonal allergies which have been really bad this past week. </p>
<p>According to my internet research this is nothing major and should clear up in a few days. However it looks really nasty!!! Any ideas to make it go away sooner rather than later?</p>
<p>I normally wear contacts if that’s a factor. I don’t plan to put them in today (I have glasses) but would really like to wear them tomorrow to work!</p>
<p>This happened to me once when I was working in the ICU as a nurse. I asked every doc who came in to look at it and tell me if it was anything to worry about. The unanimous consensus was “it’s an ugly spot!” :o</p>
<p>They told me it would go away in a few days and it did. </p>
<p>Usually there is no discernible cause. But you could have been overly enthusiastic when putting in or taking out contacts, you might have rubbed your eyes too hard or something along those lines. </p>
<p>High blood pressure can cause these, so make sure that’s not the issue. Otherwise it’s probably not a big deal. It’s just unpleasant looking like that, I know.</p>
<p>I get these on and off. Ppl will come up and say, “What happened to your eye!” I finally figured out it’s associated with milk consumption. I’m lactose intolerant, and one symptom if I drink milk and don’t take plenty of lactaid (in addition to tummy ache) is dry eye and an ugly red splotch on the outer right eyewhite. YMMV.</p>
<p>My son, who also has pretty severe seasonal allergies, got one of these when he was a toddler. Ironically it developed as we walked out of the house to go to see the pediatric opthamologist.</p>
<p>Anyway, the doctor told me that, in someone with seasonal allergies, if the pollen actually lands on the eyeball this can happen, and that it was just a matter of waiting for it to go away.</p>
<p>Thanks. It is really nasty looking - vibrant red just outside the pupil area of my eye. I’m not lactose intolerant. The only thing unusual about yesterday was the very high tree pollen and we were out shopping, so in & out of the car a lot. I did eat asparagus last night for the very first time (not a veggie person, but it was delicious :-).</p>
<p>So it seems like I can wear my contacts, right? It’s not close enough to touch the lens and I would be scared to drive in these glasses - I guess I’ll leave them out today and try putting in my contacts tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>I just had one of those a week ago. Virtually any opthamologist will tell you that they are harmless and you can get one from sneezing, coughing, straining from constipation (sorry! ) or any number of things. Apparently you can treat them to some extent with a cold compress, although I believe that just limits their spread. You can also use artificial tears if your eye is irritated. Personally, I would not use contacts until it clears up, but YMMV.</p>
<p>If you have bleeding in the IRIS of your eye, or if you have vision changes, that is a different matter. For that, you should call/see someone immediately. (I also had one of those recently.)</p>
<p>Thanks. It’s definitely not in the iris or I would be more concerned. I held a cold compress on it for a while this morning, but it’s still just as big (and amazingly bright red) :-(.</p>
<p>Consolation, how long did yours take to go away?</p>
<p>I’ve had them twice; each time without any apparent cause. Mine took about a week to go away. As the red spot faded, it turned yellow; not a particularly attractive look!</p>
<p>I woke up with it on Saturday, and it was mostly gone by Thursday. There is still a tiny red area to be seen if I pull down my lid. </p>
<p>But bear in mind that there is something else going on with my eye, and I’m using special drops. I’ve seen two opthamologists since it happened–I was already in treatment for the hyphema–and neither of them is concerned about it.</p>
<p>The single spot spread out so it’s probably 3x the original size BUT it’s only about half as “bright” so not really as noticeable unless I open my eye really wide. It’s in the lower half of the outer portion. Can’t wait for tomorrow to see if it’s yellow as zip predicted :-).</p>
<p>I did call the doctor to confirm that I could wear my contacts with no fear. Thank goodness. I really need to update my glasses prescription!</p>
) or any number of things. Apparently you can treat them to some extent with a cold compress, although I believe that just limits their spread. You can also use artificial tears if your eye is irritated. Personally, I would not use contacts until it clears up, but YMMV.</p>