Black eye

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A 21-month old with a black eye after falling 2 meters (6.5 feet) onto concrete.
A 21-month old with a black eye after falling 2 meters (6.5 feet) onto concrete.

A black eye is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than an eye injury. The name is given due to the color of bruising. Most black eye injuries are minor and will heal themselves in about one week. Trauma near the eyebrow or places not directly on the eye may make the eyelid go black.

The dramatic appearance (discoloration and swelling) does not necessarily indicate a serious injury. The fatty tissue along with the lack of muscle around the eye socket lends itself to the extreme outward appearance. Unless there is actual trauma to the eye itself, medical attention is generally not needed.

Eye injury and head trauma may also coincide with a black eye. Some common signs of a more serious injury may include:

  • Double vision
  • Loss of sight and or fuzzy vision
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Inability to move the eye or large swelling aroud the eye such as a hemotoma
  • Blood or clear fluid from the nose or the ears
  • Blood on the surface of the eye itself or cuts on the eye itself
  • Persistent headache

Putting a raw steak on a black eye (an old wives' tale) has long been known to have no medicinal value. The practice is, however, a staple of popular culture, usually in a humorous context in movies and TV shows.

In most other European languages, a black eye is referred to as a "blue" eye (e.g. Danish: Blåt øje, Dutch: Blauw oog, German: Blaues Auge, Swedish Blåtira) or a "purple eye" (e.g. Spanish: Ojo morado)


Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.