I woke up on Thursday morning and I found my eye itchy and blood shot in the corner. At first I thought it was conjunctivitis, but when the itchiness and redness didn't spread or worsen and there was no 'gunk' I decided to look it up. I have attached a picture of it (it's not very nice - sorry!).
I after some research I think the small red dot is a subconjunctival haemorrhage, which is where a capillary in the eye bursts and bleeds under the conjunctiva, the clear protective layer over the eye. It is usually symptom free and clears up within a few days on its own, but it can come with some itchiness or discomfort. It's often a lot worse than my case; I saw some pictures where the whole white of the eye had gone completely red. It must be quite a shock to wake up with that one morning! Still, it's usually harmless and as a result of scratching whilst sleeping or strain such as sneezing or coughing. Occasionally it can be as a result of high blood pressure, and the likelihood of getting it is increased with a condition like haemophilia, or if you're taking blood thinners such as aspirin.
This would explain why it's only itchy in one patch, and why there's no 'gunk' to go with it. The only thing I can't quite work out though is why the vessels around the dot are so inflamed, so please offer some advice if you have any.
I definitely enjoyed researching this, it was more exciting because I had real symptoms to explain and I feel satisfied with my diagnosis. I thought with being a doctor the best thing would be talking to the patients and making them feel confident in your ability, but this has shown me just how much I would enjoy working out what's wrong with them, and it's so satisfying getting the right answer (I think I have anyway...). I knew I would enjoy it, but not this much! I'm sure I will have some much more exciting cases to work out too.
