Causes of ‘Black Eye’

Blackish discolouration around the eye also called the black eye could be due to three main causes.

1.       Direct blow to the orbit.

2.       Injury to the front of the scalp.

3.       Base of skull fracture.

 

Every body knows that direct blow to the orbit causes black eye, but this is not always the case. There are two other important causes as mentioned above. Apart from these three causes, the base of skull fracture is more dangerous and therefore, very important.

Direct blow to the orbit causes rupture of blood vessels around the orbit. So, blood leaks from these damaged blood vessels and collects around the orbit, making a ‘black eye’. This is a very simple mechanism and easy to understand, but one may think how the other two happen, because in both those instances, the damage occurs elsewhere.

When there is an injury to the front of the skull, the damaged blood vessels leak blood, these blood does not remain in the same place since the tissues do not hold blood in those areas. The leaked blood travels down to the orbital area, making a ‘black eye’. The same thing occurs in base of skull fracture.

If some one has a black eye, without any history of direct blow to the orbit, base of skull fracture should be excluded first. It is because it is an dangerous condition and may need immediate attention.