A busted blood vessel usually heals on its own within one to three weeks, depending on where it is and how large it is. The treatment is mostly about managing discomfort and avoiding anything that could make the bleeding worse while your body reabsorbs the leaked blood. Whether it’s a bright red patch on your eye, a bruise on your arm, or visible broken capillaries on your face, the approach differs slightly for each.
Broken Blood Vessel in the Eye
A broken blood vessel on the white of your eye, called a subconjunctival hemorrhage, is the most common reason people search for this topic. It looks dramatic: a vivid red or dark patch spreading across the white of the eye. Despite its appearance, it’s almost always harmless and painless.
No medical treatment is needed in most cases. The blood reabsorbs on its own, typically within two weeks. Larger spots can take a bit longer. While it heals, artificial tears can relieve any mild irritation or dryness. The most important thing you can do is leave it alone. Rubbing your eye can restart or worsen the bleeding.
You should also avoid heavy lifting, straining, and any activity that makes you bear down hard (the kind of pressure you’d feel during intense coughing, vomiting, or straining on the toilet). These actions spike the pressure in small veins around your eye and can trigger a new bleed or make the current one worse. If you wear contact lenses, stop using them until the redness fully clears, and be gentle when you start again.
Bruises and Hematomas Under the Skin
When a blood vessel breaks beneath the skin from a bump, fall, or impact, blood pools in the surrounding tissue and forms a bruise. Smaller bruises fade in about two weeks. Deeper collections of blood, sometimes called hematomas, can take a month or more to fully resolve.
The standard approach in the first 24 to 48 hours is rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Ice the area in 10 to 20 minute intervals every hour or two, always with a cloth or barrier between the ice and your skin. Wrap the area with gentle compression using a bandage or elastic wrap to limit further bleeding into the tissue. Elevate the injured area above heart level when you can, which slows blood flow to the site and helps drain swelling.
After the first couple of days, you can switch to warm compresses. Heat increases circulation and helps your body break down and clear the pooled blood faster. You’ll notice the bruise changing color as it heals: dark blue or purple within hours, shifting to green and yellow over the following days as your body processes the old blood.
Broken Capillaries on the Face
Tiny blood vessels on the nose, cheeks, and chin can break and remain permanently visible as thin red or purple lines. Unlike an eye hemorrhage or a bruise, these don’t heal and fade on their own because the vessel walls stay damaged. Sun exposure, alcohol, rosacea, and aging all contribute to their development.
If the appearance bothers you, dermatologic laser and light treatments are the most effective option. Pulsed dye lasers use targeted bursts of energy to collapse the broken vessel, which the body then absorbs over the following weeks. Broad-spectrum light treatments like IPL work well for general redness and diffuse discoloration, though they’re less precise than lasers for individual vessels. These are low-intensity outpatient procedures with minimal downtime.
Supplements and Medications That Make It Worse
If you’re noticing broken blood vessels or bruising more often than seems normal, your medications or supplements could be a factor. Blood thinners are the obvious culprit, but several common over-the-counter supplements also affect how easily you bleed. Garlic supplements have a strong association with increased bleeding risk because they reduce the ability of platelets to clump together. Ginkgo biloba, when combined with blood-thinning medication, significantly raises the risk of major bleeding events.
The list is longer than most people expect. Turmeric, chamomile, melatonin, fenugreek, milk thistle, flaxseed oil, and grape seed extract have all been linked to increased bleeding or reduced clotting, particularly in people already taking anticoagulants. If you bruise easily and take any of these regularly, it’s worth mentioning to your doctor so they can check whether your clotting is in the right range.
Nutritional Factors in Blood Vessel Strength
Your body needs vitamin C to build and maintain the collagen that keeps blood vessel walls strong. A diet consistently low in vitamin C can make capillaries fragile and prone to breaking, leading to easy bruising. Citrus fruits, bell peppers, strawberries, and broccoli are all rich sources.
Vitamin K plays a different but equally important role: it’s essential for blood clotting. Without enough vitamin K, your body can’t form clots effectively, which means even minor vessel damage bleeds more and bruises more visibly. Leafy greens like kale, spinach, and collard greens are among the best dietary sources. If you bruise frequently without an obvious cause, a deficiency in one or both of these vitamins could be part of the picture.
When a Busted Blood Vessel Needs Attention
Most broken blood vessels are minor and self-limiting, but a few patterns warrant a closer look. For eye hemorrhages, contact your doctor if you experience any change in vision, pain in the eye itself, or if the redness hasn’t started to improve after two weeks. Recurrent episodes, especially in older adults, can signal uncontrolled blood pressure, which is worth checking.
For bruising, be alert if you develop large bruises without any injury you can remember, if bruises appear frequently in unusual locations, or if you notice other signs of bleeding like nosebleeds or bleeding gums. These patterns can point to a clotting disorder, a medication interaction, or a nutritional deficiency that’s worth investigating rather than treating at home.