What is Red Eye ?
Posted on:1/4/2006
| In medicine, red eye is a non-specific term to describe an eye that appears red due to illness, injury, or some other condition. "Conjunctival injection" and "bloodshot eyes" are two forms of red eye.
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Almost everybody, at some point or another, has a red eye. It is unsurprising, therefore, that primary care doctors often deal with patients with red eyes in their practices. The goal of the primary care doctor when presented with a red eye is to assess whether it is an emergency in need of referral and immediate action, or instead a benign condition that can be managed easily and effectively.
Red eye usually refers to hyperemia of the superficial blood vessels of the conjunctivitis, sclera or episclera, and may be caused by diseases or disorders of these structures or adjacent structures that may affect them directly or indirectly.
Causes:-
There are many causes of a red eye including conjunctivitis, blepharitis, acute glaucoma, injury, subconjunctival hemorrhage, inflammed pterygium, inflammed pinguecula, and dry eye syndrome.
Many primary care physicians often deal with patients with red eyes.
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