Begin this treatment immediately and continue it for 24 to 48 hours. Press on the skin around the eye, not on the eye itself. Make sure you wrap the ice pack in a towel or cloth. Applying ice directly to your skin can cause skin damage and frostbite.

Aspirin should be avoided since it decreases the blood’s clotting ability. [3] X Trustworthy Source National Health Service (UK) Public healthcare system of the UK Go to source Follow the instructions on the label when taking the medication. For acetaminophen, don’t take more than 4 g in 24 hours. For ibuprofen, the max dose is 2 g in 24 hours. If you have kidney or liver problems, talk with a doctor before taking pain medications like these.

Look closely at the white portion and colored iris of your eye. If you see any blood in these spots, you could have injured your eye in a critical way. Schedule an urgent appointment with an ophthalmologist. If you have vision problems like blurring, double vision, or an increased sensitivity to light, you should also contact an eye specialist. Other signs of potentially critical damage include severe pain when moving the eye, severe headache, numbness of the face, swelling or depression of the eye or eye socket, nosebleeds, and/or dizziness.

Before you get the swelling to calm down, you should also avoid forcing your eye to stay open for a prolonged period of time.

Hold a warm, moistened washcloth or compress against the affected area. Do not use a heating pad, since this provides dry heat and can actually be too hot, thereby causing more damage to the sensitive skin of your face. Apply the warm compress in 10-minute intervals, each of which should be separated by a period of rest lasting no less than 10 minutes each. Do not apply the warm compress directly to the eye. Only apply it to the skin around the eye. Warm compresses promote an increased amount of circulation to the damaged blood vessels. This allows pooled blood trapped below the surface of your skin to be re-absorbed, which can speed up the healing process.

Black eyes tend to look worse before they get better, so don’t be alarmed if your eye looks worse during the first few days following the injury. If you have any reason to suspect there is still bleeding, however, then you should see your doctor right away.

Additionally, the cosmetics used to conceal your black eye are likely to wear off as you apply cold packs to the injured area, making application prior to treatment fairly pointless. Wait until you have entered the warm compress stage of treatment before applying any makeup to the injured area, and apply makeup as little as possible. If you feel you need to cover your eye when you need to leave the house or if you are having people over, that’s okay, but when you’re just at home on your own, you should avoid applying makeup.

You must use a corrective concealer first before using a standard concealer if you wish to disguise the black eye. Standard concealers match the tone of your skin and can only blend uneven tones together. Corrective concealers rely on the principle of complementary colors to correct discolored portions of skin. A yellow concealer generally works best for a black eye in its early stages, when it appears to have deep purple undertones. As the black eye lightens and takes on more red tones or yellow-brown tones, you may need to switch to a green corrective concealer. Apply the corrective concealer with your fingers. Use your fingers to dab specks of corrective concealer all around the blackened area of your skin. Use light pressure to gently and carefully blend the concealer into your skin, covering the entire damaged area.