HealthInfo West Coast-Te Tai Poutini
Subconjunctival haemorrhage (bleeding in the white of your eye)
Ikura ki te whatu
A subconjunctival (sub-con-junc-ti-val) haemorrhage happens when tiny blood vessels between the clear surface (the conjunctiva) and the white of your eye (the sclera) burst. It's harmless, although it can look alarming.
Several things can cause a subconjunctival haemorrhage, including:
- coughing, sneezing or anything else that causes a temporary rise in blood pressure
- rubbing your eyes
- an eye injury
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
- blood-thinning medications
- blood clotting or other blood disorders.
A subconjunctival haemorrhage doesn't hurt and doesn't affect your vision.
It doesn't need treatment and it will usually clear up by itself in about two weeks.
See your general practice team if you have a subconjunctival haemorrhage and you:
- have not had your blood pressure checked recently
- think an eye injury or a flying object caused it
- have bleeding in other parts of your body
- keep having recurrent subconjunctival haemorrhages.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Patient.info – Subconjunctival haemorrhage
More information about what causes subconjunctival haemorrhage, who is more likely to get one and when it might be more serious.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed March 2023.
SourcesReview key: HISCH-142132
