Eye redness

You can’t prevent every case of red eye, but you may be able to reduce your risk of developing eye redness with these suggestions:

Red Eye

Your eye can become red because of irritation or injury. You can treat some cases of eye redness with home remedies, but others require medical help. If you have pain, fever, blurred vision, discharge or other symptoms along with your red eye, an eye care provider can treat you.

Overview

What is a red eye?

A “red eye” is a general term to describe red, irritated and bloodshot eyes. The redness happens when tiny blood vessels under your eye’s surface get larger or become inflamed. Usually, it’s a reaction to something irritating your eye.

Redness can affect one or both eyes. It can develop over time or appear suddenly, such as with allergies or an eye injury.

You can have red eyes and other symptoms, like:

• Eye pain.
• Itching.
• Eye discharge.
• Swollen eyes.
• Changes in vision, like blurred vision.

Are there stages or different severity levels of red eyes?

Often, a red eye looks worse than it feels. Many cases of eye redness are relatively harmless and usually improve with home remedies or over-the-counter treatments.

But if your eye or eyes remain red for longer than one week, or if you have pain or vision problems, make an appointment with an eye care provider, perhaps with an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) or an optometrist. In some cases, a red eye can be serious if it’s a symptom of another disease.

Possible Causes

What are the most common causes of a red eye?

Red eyes have many different causes. Sometimes, your eyes get red when you’ve worn your contact lenses too long or if you’ve been staring at your computer screen for too long without a break. Some other common causes include:

What does a red eye look and feel like?

Sometimes, your eye is red where it should be white. This might happen if the blood vessels inside your eye swell when they become irritated. In some cases, a tiny blood vessel might break open.

If your eye becomes red from an injury, the blood vessels in your eye dilate (open) to allow more blood to get to the site for quicker healing. These wide-open blood vessels are what cause the red eye.

Depending on what’s going on, your red eye can feel:

• Completely normal. In this case, you don’t know it’s red till you see it.
• Itchy or irritated, like something is in your eye.
• Tender.
• Very watery or very dry.
• Goopy or crusty, especially if there’s pus from an infection.

Care and Treatment

What are the treatments for red eye?

Remedies for red eye are wide-ranging, and often they’re things you can do at home for yourself.

Many times, the following steps can relieve symptoms:

• Rest.
• Cool compresses over closed eyes.
• Lightly massaging your eyelids.
• Gently washing your eyelids.
• Over-the-counter eye drops.

Other times, an eye care specialist may recommend and prescribe antibiotics, special eye drops or ointments.

What are the possible complications or risks of not treating red eye?

In many cases, red eyes aren’t dangerous and may not even need treatment. However, there are conditions that cause red eyes that can be more serious.

If your eye redness lasts longer than a day or two, or if your young child has red eyes, you should contact your healthcare provider. Also, contact your provider if you have eye pain or discharge.

If your red eye is a sign that you have a more serious condition than just irritation, not treating it could lead to vision loss.

How can red eye be prevented?

You can’t prevent every case of red eye, but you may be able to reduce your risk of developing eye redness with these suggestions:

• Don’t rub your eyes. Dirt and germs on your hands and fingers can cause even more redness and irritation.
• Keep your contact lenses clean, and don’t wear them longer than recommended.
• Remove your eye makeup properly, and keep your eyes clean.
• Take regular breaks when you’re looking at the computer screen for a long time.
• Avoid things that you know irritate your eyes, like dust, smoke or pet dander.
• Use a dehumidifier in your house to prevent dampness and mold from developing.
• Practice good hand-washing techniques to help you avoid many types of infections.

Schedule an eye exam if you have eye redness often or if you have redness that doesn’t go away.

When To Call the Doctor

When should I call a healthcare provider about red eye?

Although red eye usually goes away on its own, redness of the eye can sometimes signal a more serious eye condition or disease. Contact an ophthalmologist for diagnosis and treatment if:

• Your eyes feel tender.
• Your vision is affected.
• Your eyes become extra sensitive to light.
• You have symptoms that continue for a week or more, or are getting worse and not better.
• Your eye is producing a lot of pus or mucus that dries into crusts.
• You have a fever or aches along with eye discomfort.

Make an appointment with your eye care provider to get treatment immediately if you have red eye AND any of these other symptoms:

• Eye pain.
• Light sensitivity.
• Swelling.
• Blurry vision.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Almost everyone will have some experience with red eyes in their lives. In most cases, red eyes aren’t serious. They happen when your eyes are irritated and go away when the irritation passes. But there are times when you should get your eyes checked, such as when you have pain or problems with your vision. It’s always a good idea to consult with a healthcare provider when you’re not sure about an issue with your eyes.

Eye redness

Eye redness is most often due to swollen or dilated blood vessels. This makes the surface of the eye look red or bloodshot.

The white portion of the eye (sclera) can appear red when the vessels on the surface become enlarged. This may result from mechanical irritation, environmental irritants (such as extremely dry air, excess sun exposure), allergic reactions, infection, and other medical conditions. A bright red, uniformly dense bloody area on the sclera results from a small amount of bleeding (hemorrhage) into the conjunctiva. It is a fairly common occurrence and is usually caused by straining or coughing. It generally clears up on its own after a few days.

Considerations

There are many causes of a red eye or eyes. Some are medical emergencies. Others are a cause for concern, but not an emergency. Many are nothing to worry about. Eye redness is often less of a concern than eye pain or vision problems.

Causes

• Eye dryness
• Too much sun exposure
• Dust or other particles in the eye
• Allergies
• Infection
• Injury

Eye infections or inflammation can cause redness as well as possible itching, discharge, pain, or vision problems. These may be due to:

• Blepharitis: Swelling along the edge of the eyelid.
• Conjunctivitis: Swelling or infection of the clear tissue that lines the eyelids and covers the surface of the eye (the conjunctiva). This is often referred to as “pink eye.”
• Corneal ulcers: Sores on the cornea most often caused by a serious bacterial or viral infection.
• Uveitis: Inflammation of the uvea, which includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. The cause is most often not known. It may be related to an autoimmune disorder, infection, or exposure to toxins. The type of uveitis that causes the worst red eye is called iritis, in which only the iris is inflamed.

Other potential causes of eye redness include:

• Colds or allergies.
• Acute glaucoma: A sudden increase in eye pressure that is extremely painful and causes serious visual problems. This is a medical emergency. The more common form of glaucoma comes on gradually and is long-term (chronic).
• Corneal scratches: Injuries caused by sand, dust, or overuse of contact lenses.

Sometimes, a bright red spot, called a subconjunctival hemorrhage, will appear on the white of the eye. This often happens after straining or coughing, which causes a broken blood vessel on the surface of the eye. Most often, there is no pain and your vision is normal. It is almost never a serious problem. It may be more common in people who are taking aspirin or blood thinners. Because the blood leaks into the conjunctiva, which is clear, you cannot wipe or rinse the blood away. Like a bruise, the red spot will change colors (usually yellow) and then go away within a week or two.

Home Care

Try to rest your eyes if redness is due to fatigue or eye strain. No other treatment is needed.

If you have eye pain or a vision problem, call your eye doctor right away.

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Go to the hospital or call 911 or the local emergency number if:

Your eye is red after a penetrating injury.
You have a headache with blurred vision or confusion.
You are seeing halos around lights.
You have nausea and vomiting.

Contact your health care provider if:

• Your eyes are red longer than 1 to 2 days.
• You have eye pain or vision changes.
• You take blood-thinning medicine, such as warfarin.
• You may have an object in your eye.
• You are very sensitive to light.
• You have a yellow or greenish discharge from one or both eyes.

What to Expect at Your Office Visit

Your provider will perform a physical exam, including an eye exam, and ask questions about your medical history. Questions may include:

• Are both of your eyes affected or just one?
• What part of the eye is affected?
• Do you wear contact lenses?
• Did the redness come on suddenly?
• Have you ever had eye redness before?
• Do you have eye pain? Does it get worse with movement of the eyes?
• Is your vision reduced?
• Do you have eye discharge, burning, or itching?
• Do you have other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or headache?

Your provider may need to wash your eyes with a saline solution and remove any foreign bodies in the eyes. You may be given eye drops to use at home.

I’m Dr. Alan Greene and let’s talk about how to put eye drops in. The problem people often have is when you tilt your head back and you see that dropper looming up there and the drops start falling down, it’s a natural response to blink. You can send that drop spraying where you don’t want it to go. And it can be a little uncomfortable to have that drop come down and strike your eye. If you can keep your eyes open, that’s great and it works very well. But if you can’t like many people, if not most people, not to worry. There’s another way that works very, very well. And what you do is you’ll simply tilt your head back hold the dropper right above your eyes with your eyes closed. You don’t want the dropper to actually touch the eye because you can contaminate the dropper or your eye, one or the other if there’s an infection involved somewhere. Just do like this – couple drops right in the corner and then blink while you’re head is still up. And when you do that it will slip right in very comfortably and you’ll get the whole dosage in and it works very well.

References

Dupre AA, Vojta LR. Red and painful eye. In: Walls RM, ed. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 18.

Gilani CJ, Yang A, Yonkers M, Boysen-Osborn M. Differentiating urgent and emergent causes of acute red eye for the emergency physician. West J Emerg Med. 2017;18(3):509-517. PMID: 28435504

Rubenstein JB, Spektor T. Conjunctivitis: infectious and noninfectious. In: Yanoff M, Duker JS, eds. Ophthalmology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019:chap 4.6.

Version Info

Last reviewed on: 8/22/2022

Reviewed by: Franklin W. Lusby, MD, Ophthalmologist, Lusby Vision Institute, La Jolla, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.