What causes red veins?

[Smallfry78]

Hi,
I've been really frustrated by the lack of answers from professionals so I hoped some of you might be able to help. I'm fortunate in that I only have mild discomfort from dry eyes and blepharitis but my real problem is the hideous veins that are steadily spreading over my sclera. It started with one vein in the conjunctiva when my son was born three years ago and then the sclera veins appeared.
Why are they here and how can I stop them progressing? The doctors are dismissive and without answers. They have said that some people have veins but it doesn't explain why I had none and now have loads.This is destroying my confidence. I'm obsessed with how awful they look, I constantly look at other people's eyes and I feel depressed as they get worse. I'm using Celluvisc preservative free eye drops but they do nothing to improve the appearance. I can't talk to anyone about it and I feel really shallow for worrying so much about something like this.
For those of you with the dreaded veins I'd love to hear how you cope (or don't!) with this.
Thanks

[Katewest]

I hear you! And docs dismiss it b/c it's only cosmetic in their eyes and they probably don't fully understand it anyway. I think its dryness and stress levels that contribute to the degree of redness of my veins. They shrink and get worse just depending on different factors.

[cathy8889]

Hey, I feel the same, my confidence is shot at the moment, I hate my eyes and can't watch a tv programme or have a conversation with someone and not look to see how white their eyes are, I need to learn to deal with but it makes me very depressed and has stopped me enjoying things I used to like doing, like getting dressed up for a night out. Please don't feel as though you are being shallow. Ive been trying to work out for ages why these veins have got worse over the past 6 months and I now know that its my dry eye worsening, I have aqueous year deficiency and mgd/blepharitis which was diagnosed last week. Two specialist seen within the last two years failed to diagnose me.

For the past two weeks I have really been trying to reduce the appearance if veins in my eyes. I have pinguecula and for last 6 months they have been inflamed with lots of little red veins running to them. knowing that its the dryness causing them Ive been taking omega three capsules 3-4 times a day (fortifeye as advised michael Lange, I'm hoping they are good, Ive learnt that some omega three capsules are more synthetic than others) Ive also been doing hot compresses three times a day (I bought eye doctor hot compress) and as soon as Ive done this the little veins really fade but they soon come back, Ive changed my diet and Im trying not to eat fried foods, sugars, carbs, I'm drinking a lot of water (Michael Lange advises half your body weight per day), I let my hair dry naturally to avoid the dreaded hair dryer. I'm also trying to eat foods which are natural anti-inflammatories. I'm finding it all really difficult at the moment and some days I don't have the energy but I know Ive got to try as the look of my eyes makes me really down and the dryness is sometimes unbearable. I will let you know if my veins improve with this blasted regime!

I don't know if your veins are being caused by the dryness but mine were and I didn't realise, I thought my pinguecula were causing the veins. Try to avoid eye drops that make your blood vessels dilate temporarily as they only make the veins worse in the long run. I'm still exploring the cause of my dry eye as doctors just tend to say yeh you have dry eye here's some drops, never really bothering to explore the cause!

A lot of people say to me they never even notice my pins and veins until I point them out but I know this doesn't really make you feel any better.

Hope this message makes sense, wrote it as it came to mind. Here if you need to chat

Cath