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How to get rid of stuff » Health Problems » How to Get Rid of a Black Eye
 

How to Get Rid of a Black Eye

August 17th, 2007 by MartinDodge
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Oh, The Pain!

Maybe you just got slammed in the eye a few minutes ago and you haven’t actually gotten a black eye yet, but expect one shortly. While you’re waiting, you might as well deal with the pain and swelling.

 

A black eye is the result of a contusion, which is a fancy name for a bruise. Bruises occur whenever your body takes a sharp blow that breaks capillaries and causes blood to leak into surrounding tissues, collecting at the point of damage. Eventually, when blood leaks into the top layer of skin, it shows as purple. For some reason, when you get that purple bruising around an eye, people call it a black eye. We suppose "purple eye" just didn’t sound right. And "black eye" is easier to remember than "bruising around the eye."

 

How to Treat a Black Eye

  1. If you control the swelling in the area, you’ll also help control the pain (Tips on how to get rid of pain). That means applying something cold to the eye. This could be:
    1. Ice wrapped in a towel
    2. A gel pack you have kept in the fridge for such occasions
    3. A bag of frozen peas
    4. Sticking your face in a snow bank (not easy if it’s summer and you’re in Orlando).
    2. Frozen Peas Putting a cold compress ice in a towel
  2. Apply the cold compresses 10 minutes on your face, 10 to 15 minutes off. Ice should be covered with a towel to protect your eyelid, where the skin is pretty thin. In fact, it’s better to apply the compresses to your cheek, not the lid, to avoid further damage.
  3. Keep this routine going with the cold compresses for the next day or two. Boring? Of course, but you should have thought of that before you got the black eye.
  4. Treat the inflammation. Use acetaminophen. Avoid aspirin, as that thins the blood, and what you’re hoping to do is to get the blood to clot and stop leaking into surrounding tissues.
  5. Take large doses of Vitamin C for the next five days; this has been shown to promote healing of contusions.
  6. After one or two days, switch from cold compresses to warm compresses.
  7. Try to control sneezing (like, don’t sniff ground black pepper) and don’t blow your nose for several days. In the event the bone around the eye has had some minor fracturing, expelling air forcefully from your nose will also force air out of sinuses near the socket, injecting it under your skin. Like most injections, this doesn’t feel good. Moreover, it may also cause additional swelling and increase the possibility of infection.

Black Eye Remedies

Black eyes commonly last for about a week. Should the above procedure not put you on the road to wellness after a few days, see a doctor. And certainly see a doctor if the blow to your anatomy results in blurred vision, pain in and around the eye, light sensitivity, or "floaters" in your field of vision. You may have gotten a concussion or done some serious damage to your eye. Also see the doc if any of the following show up in the next few days:
  • Eye pain that’s something more than the usual sensitivity from a bruise
  • Increased redness
  • Changes in vision
  • Drainage from the eye
  • Visible problems with the eyeball, such as bleeding
A few home remedies have been applied over the years. A century ago, leeches were put on your face to suck out the blood. (Just think of the reception you would get from your buddies coming into the office with a leech hanging from your cheek.) Then putting raw beefsteak on the black eye became all the rage. Some people still swear by that treatment, though they may not know the reason why it works – because the steak is cold coming out of refrigeration; a bag of frozen peas does the same thing and doesn’t cost $8 a pound. A woman wearing a sunglasses As for the embarrassment of explaining a black eye (people always assume, for some reason, it’s the result of a well-placed knuckle sandwich), work on some excuses ahead of time. It’s very nearly impossible to cover one up with make-up.

 

Admittedly, you could try wearing an eye patch or sporting dark glasses everywhere you go, but then you would have to explain the patch or the shades, especially when you’re wearing them to business meetings. White theatrical greasepaint applied liberally to the entire face might work to cover that shiner, but mimes are even less welcome in business meetings than pirates or people with sunshades. If you found this article interesting, you may also be interested in learning how to cure bruises.

Resources:

  1. Mother Nature.com: "Black Eye."
  2. To avoid a black eye, here are 11 ways to avoid a fistfight
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Previous Tips »
  1. October 26th, 2011 at 5:08 am    James jonhson Says:

    Somebody punched me in the eye and every part of eye is black. I have to go to a concert for 2 days. Please help me to get rid off this.

  2. April 4th, 2011 at 2:38 pm    Christina Says:

    How do you get rid of a blackeye?

  3. January 9th, 2011 at 3:21 pm    Roxy Says:

    Okay, I was playing out at my friend’s house and I accidentally ran into the pole that held up a awning at night. The story sounds pathetic, but it’s true and you should tell your friends the truth too. Remember that the truth always finds its way out. For ex., one of my friends that seen it happen could tell some people that I know and then I would be considered a LIAR!!!!

  4. August 25th, 2010 at 1:26 am    yikess Says:

    I was on the trampoline and went backwards and my knee came down onto my eye. its sound so funny but hurts like a……….. anywhoo under my eye is purple but my cheek where it really hurts is just a darker shade of pink.!? maked no sense because the purple doesn’t hurt at all. so any advice.?

  5. June 21st, 2010 at 2:28 pm    Mike G. Says:

    One thing I just recently came across is to take an ice pack and wrap it in paper towel or tp, moisten the towel and add MEAT TENDERIZER. You should beable to find this in most grocery stores.. It’s a white powder. Rub this on the wet towel to form a paste. Put it on your eye for 15-20 min then 5 min off. Repeate two to three times. Keep the powder out of your eye as much as possible. This is a good quick fix. I had to go to a wedding the night after and the only thing people noticed was the gash on my brow the color was gone till the next morning works great..

  6. June 15th, 2010 at 4:11 pm    Ryah Says:

    I recently got into a car accident and totalled my car but i have graduation on friday is there any way i can get rid of my black eyes by then?

  7. January 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 pm    dave davidson Says:

    I got a black eye but i enjoyed being punched, it been 8months since iv felt the sweet enjoyment of violence =] except its hard with a ugly eye to go out n pump some new hole =[[ dang im stuck with the old boring ones haha

  8. June 22nd, 2009 at 1:20 pm    laura Says:

    I have the worst black eye ever! My family and friends know what happened, that it was all an accident, but I don’t care. I want it gone. I never even thought of the warm compresses…but now I’m into the fourth day. Will this even work still?

  9. May 6th, 2009 at 10:58 pm    Suzanne Says:

    Hi. I just got a black eye i think its really painful but no swellin or redness yet
    Any help to avoid what might be a black eye? X

  10. March 10th, 2009 at 5:44 am    Blackeyed p-brain Says:

    Here I sit,.black eye and hickey. Not abuse! But here’s what I know,not my first rodeo. Keep ice pack first 24-48 hr,,then warm compress next day on and off.Vitamin C,E,K. Toothpaste CAN help either.Visine helps with redness,arnica…Or u can always go find a leech(not recommended for hickey:)Plus have to be in court tomorrow. Ain’t that a……..

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