When to Seek Medical Care

Most black eyes are minor injuries that heal on their own in a few days with ice and pain medications. An ophthalmologist should examine the injured eye to make sure that no significant injury to the eye has occurred. 

• Call your doctor if these conditions develop with a black eye:
  
  
  • Changes in vision
    
    
  • Severe pain continues
    
    
  • The swelling is not related to an injury
    
    
  • Signs of infection (for example, warmth, redness, pus-like drainage).
    
    
  • You are unsure about treatment or concerned about symptoms.
    
    
  • Behavioral changes, forgetfulness, or lethargy
    
    
  • Nausea, vomiting, and/or dizziness
    
    
  • Swelling does not start to improve after a few days.
  
  
• Seek immediate medical care for these conditions:
  
  
  • Changes in or loss of vision, especially double vision
    
    
  • Inability to move the eye itself (for example, unable to look in different directions)
    
    
  • Any injury in which you think an object pierced the eye or may be inside the eyeball
    
    
  • Obvious blood in the eye itself
    
    
  • Deformity to the eye or fluid leaking from the eyeball
    
    
  • Any lacerations (cuts) to the eye area
  
  
• Go to a hospital's emergency department if you have signs of a serious head or facial injury:
  
  
  • Broken bones
    
    
  • Broken teeth
    
    
  • Loss of consciousness (knocked out)
    
    
  • Change in behavior after the injury
    
    
  • Nausea, vomiting, and/or dizziness after the injury
    
    
  • Inability to walk after the injury
    
    
  • Blood or clear fluids from the nose or the ears
    
    
  • Lacerations to the face or the head
    
    
  
  
• People who take blood thinners, [for example, warfarin (Coumadin)], or those with a history of bleeding problems such as hemophilia, should go to a hospital's emergency department.
  
  
• Swelling either after a bee sting near the eye or from a suspected infection of the eye should be evaluated by a doctor.