Doctors have been left baffled by a woman's extremely rare case of experiencing 'bloody tears'.
The 25-year-old went to the emergency room at a hospital in Chandigarh, India and explained how she was crying tears of blood.
The married woman wasn't in any pain or discomfort but explained how this exact thing happened one month before.
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She underwent different ophthalmological and radiological investigations and everything came back normal.
They couldn't find her bleeding in other locations and she didn't have a family history of an ocular bleeding condition or any past issues with her eyes.
After a bit more investigation, doctors realised both times the bloody tears happened was during the woman's menstrual cycle.
They eventually diagnosed her with ocular vicarious menstruation.
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The condition is described on Medizzy as 'cyclical bleeding occurring during menstruation from extragenital organs', with the most common place for this to happen being the nose.
"However, bleeding can also occur from the lips, eyes, lungs, and stomach," the site added.
The woman's case has been highlight in the British Medical Journal, with the study's authors saying hormonal changes during menstruation affect 'vascular permeability' in these organs, resulting in the bleeding.
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While the exact anatomical cause is still relatively unknown, experts believe endometriosis or the presence of endometrial tissue in extragenital organs can be a factor in developing vicarious menstruation.
The authors of the BMJ study said: "Oestrogen and progesterone can increase permeability of capillaries resulting in hyperaemia, congestion and secondary bleeding from extrauterine tissue."
The woman was treated with oral contraceptives containing a combination of estrogen and progesterone and, after a three-month follow up, the patient said she didn't have any other episodes of bloody tears.
Featured Image Credit: BMJTopics: News