So I noticed what looks like a damaged vessel in the side of one eye the other day, a kind of oversized version of what you get from not sleeping enough or rubbing your eyes too hard. Now I checked online (the nearest doctor being a good drive away) and from everything I’ve found it sounds like a simple broken vessel; no pain, no change in vision, all that rigamarole. What worries me is that it’s been something like two months and yet I haven’t noticed a significant change in size; is this normal for a broken vessel? I thought they only took two to four weeks to heal…
Are you sure it’s not a Pterygion or Pinguecula?If the pterygion is inflamed or is covered with vessels it might look as you describe.
Warning PDF:
http://www.northshoreeye.com.au/diseases/Pterygium%20and%20pinguecula.pdf
More info:
http://www.revoptom.com/handbook/sect2i.htm
Pic:
http://www.eyemac.com/healthlinks/disease/pterygium.html
Alternatively, try looking up “Chronic, painless red eye” and see if and of the other differential diagnoses fit the bill.
Sorry, for some reason I keep typing pterygion rather than the correct English pterygium…this is because the particular opthalmology lecturer who taught me (I’m a medical student) about them is French and that’s what she called them!
I’m pretty sure it isn’t, mainly because of the small size; it only extends perhaps 4.5mm past the outside corner of the eye, such that it’s barely visible unless I actually pull the bottom eyelid down to scrutinize it. Since it doesn’t cause any discomfort I’m not really worried, I was just afraid that it was symptomatic of something worse. (I have no medical background and a mild case of hypochondria, so to me “broken vessel” quickly turns into “Evil vascular phage that’ll eat your eyes out and render you a broken, blind vessel in a matter of moments”. ^_^)
Sometimes they just break, too. I’ve had one broken for at least 27 years that I’m aware of (though I’ve had it longer, never noticed it until 27 years ago). Looks pretty bad if you’re examining my eyes, but it’s never changed or interfered with my vision in any way. No one can tell me how it happened, apparently it was like that from birth.
Freaked out the Workman’s Comp doc, though, when he had to pull some metal shrapnel out of that eye - I assured him it was an old injury and the only thing new was the metal shard and its attendant ring of rust on the white part of the eye.