How can I minimize the appearance of a facial injury?

I am supposed to start a new job this week, but last night while playing softball I took a 40 mile an hour ball to the forehead above my left eye. Today it is still swollen and my eyelids are purple and I have abrassions from the stiching on the ball. How can I make my appearnce less startling for my job, without running the risk of causing an infection in the abrassion?
Additional Details
Today the swelling and bruising has also moved to below my eyes as well as my eyelids. This morning I had to literally pry my eyelids open....I look like a car wreck!!!
I have been using ice but I think it is actually making it worse.

Keith G	Well you can use a spoon frozen in the freezer for alittle bit and keep doing it does help if you get to it in time belive it or not Meat likek a steak helps if you get it on in time

Sunshine	Ouch! yea i had a black eye from a soccer game and what i did for school is wear sunglasses until the swelling went down and then I just applied either dark makeup to the non black eye or applied like a brown or dark color to match on both eyes. GOod luck , and if any one asks about it tell them the truth about softball other wise they will get the wrong idea like, you fight or you have an obsusive figure at home.

suzanne k.	call in sick, but u might get fired

cutesensiblechic	i'm going to pre empt this answer with: i know this sounds crazy, but trust me, it works. apply balmex to your eye twice a day. after the first day, you'll see a noticeable difference. after 3 days, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

here 4 you	For faster healing of the bruised area you could purchase a small white pill called Arnica (it's amazing) your bruising may be completely gone by the time you start your job next week. You would place four small pills under the tongue till dissolved four times a day till the bruising is gone. Your gonna love it. As far as putting something on for now to conceal, You can purchase (I believe at Dillards) a cover up made for facial scars called Derma Blend. This product is awesome! It will cover birthmarks, Scars, tattoos, you name it! They also make it for the body. be sure to get help in making a skin tone match. Hope this helps.

Coco	You can put a little make up on it and if they still ask what happen just say that it was a sport injury.

The Jazz Man	try using makeup or base to cover it up. good luck with the shiner-sounds like it hurts! ;-)

simiarah	be patient and use a slab of cold meat....then makeup

Samantha	Too much ice can lower the amount of feeling in the tissue, leading to the blood not being able to get there. Use the ice in a towel, and cover your eye. If it gets too bad, see a doctor. Otherwise, you may just want to use cover-up and ice until it goes down, cuz everyone at ur job is going to notice when you dont open your eye at all. Make sure that the abrasion has a bandage and is clean before putting on makeup, because the bandage should cover the scratches, there is NO need to put make up on that, which will lead to infection. hope this helps =] o,o get better.

Pops	Wear sun glasses with "some" makeup. Good luck. Pops

fh golaie	Honey, make up is a wondrous resource and I'm sure that you have some. just cover up that baby with some foundation! easy as pie!!

eejonesaux	Hey,,, when i played school and college football ,,, we took such things as a "Badge of Honor",,, so,, put some ice on it,, and suck it up and go on !!!!! good luck

alex r	First go with the Dr. but if you don`t got money just put a little piece of meat above you eye

Pines	Okay, put a piece of beef on your eye. Hopefully it is non-greasy or else you would get a face full of zits. Or just put your face in water for like 20 hours, water really helps. Go to the doctor, he would probably give you neosporin, i got it cause when i was in karate, my knee broke, then they used neosporin on me.

LoveLeighe	Get some of the swelling down with an ice pack, use a used and still moist green tea teabag to soothe the area a bit and when covering it up for work head over to Macy's or another department store and look for Dermablend it covers up everything from tattoos to scars.

Michele	Just smile and ride the wave of embarrassment...there is not hiding that so why waste time being upset about it. If you act like its no big deal...which its not, then so will others

jmiller	Several years ago I took a ground ball home run that hit a rock and then bounced up and hit me in the eye. It hit so hard it knocked me over. Of course, no one wants to believe your story, they choose to believe you are covering for an abusive boyfriend or husband. Anyway, there is a product called dermablend that covers anything from a zit, to a port wine birthmark. I use it to cover scarring. If you go to the Dermablend website you will be able to find a vendor by typing in your zip code. Good luck to you, and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Billy After the Incident	Was it actually a softball or were you talking back to your boyfriend?

sadgirl	Definately use the GREEN make up that comes in a lipstick type tube. It hides discoloration EXTREMELY well. Then add a skin toned cover up over the GREEN make up. TRY IT! You will see that it does work.

drizzttownz	Why not explain what happened? They probably aren't going to care too much if you have an injury as long as you can still work. Or if you want you can cover it up with some make-up or something of the sort.

BritLdy	Can I be frank. Don't worry about it......you got the injury while playing a sport. We have all been there, don't worry!!!

♥ lani s	The bruising you had takes time to heal but there are things that you should do. I believe that you already had done cold compression with an ice bag or any substitute to the injury you sustained. Do this 2 to 3 times per day. The cold will help relieve the swelling especially around the area of the eye. As expected, it turned with purple discoloration which will even get darker and turn like black. That is due to the blood pooling under the skin. You need to do something to disperse the blood. Place a clean wash cloth with warm water over your eye. Each time it cools, place it under warm water, wring it out and place it on your eye again. It will hopefully lessen the dark discoloration and offers some soothing effects as well. After 72 hours, try to do the alternate warm and cols compression. Apply a moist warm compress over the eye for 3 minutes followed by a ice cold compress for 30 seconds. Repeat this 3 times. This will help to relieve inflammation.Applying a wet, cold teabag over the affected eye also help speed healing. To help with tissue bruising "Homeopathic Arnica" at a low potency can be taken orally to minimize bruising. Clean your abrasion using mild soap and water and an antiseptic wash like Betadine. Then cover it with an antibiotic ointment and a dry dressing. If there is available "Aloe" (natural herb) around, its pure gel is a very good anti-inflammatory and antibacterial which heals abrasions quickly. A few drops of lavender oil offers some help as well. Along with all those remedies, it is important for you to have balanced diet especially healthy diet rich in vitamin C and iron. Include garlic and onions in your diet, garlic is a natural antibiotic. Avoid mucus-forming foods such as dairy products, processed foods, sugar, sweet fruits, and white flour. Avoid smoking, drinking, hot showers, using hot tubs especially within the first 48 hours as these things may actually increase bruising and swelling . Hopefully they will make your appearance look better. If only little help had been offered, then your fashion creativeness and wise ideas are needed. You may wear colored eyeglasses and have a wide headband covering your forehead which looks like a sort of good fashion. Using make up to conceal discoloration along the eye area may help but be sure to avoid applying on the area with abrasion as it may irritate the wound and may cause infection. Hopefully you will be fine. Keep your heads up and Good luck with your new job!♥ (p.s. Be sure that you are feeling alright. If you feel some dizziness, some problem in your vision and strange feeling, I advice you to see a doctor.)

Mopar Muscle Gal	play up the injury, use it to YOUR advantage .. tell everyone at the new job what happened and explain that you didn't want to call off sick already with this new job you'll gain points, respect and sympathy

REnate	Go to the doctor he can give you some pills that will desiccate the blood and get the eye looking better a lot quicker. Use a heavy cover cream foundation and powder on top. Keep ice on it when you are not at work.

Dk	I would recommend asking an eye dr for a rx to treat your eye as well as reduce swelling. I would also recommend buying some lessor fashinable sunglasses that will keep less attention from you injury. You can always tell people that you are having minor eye problems and will need to wear the glasses for a week or 2. Good luck and hang in there!

jamoncita	apply ice or ice packs to lessen swelling, first of all. if you still have a while before your new job, at least the swelling and maybe some of the discoloration might go down. and try to go "natural" - that is, without makeup, for a few days so you don't infect the abrasions. i definitely do not recommend trying to wear eyeshadow, even for your job. it seems to me you're trying NOT to stand out too much. what you want to do is get some cream concealer and put on a thin layer of it over the discolored area. i've never put concealer or foundation on my eyelids, but you could try at least a little on the upper eyelids. BLEND IT WELL - you don't want it to look caked on. chances are some of the bruise is going to show through no matter what, so don't overdo the coverup. you might feel a little more comfortable with two layers of the cream concealer, just remember not to cake it on. after you put the cream concealer on, lightly go over your entire face with a powder foundation to even it out and add some more coverage. the cream should help the powder stay on better. make sure you get makeup that matches your skin tone, and if you can help it, don't put on eyeshadow till the bruising lessens on your eyelids at least. styling your hair so it falls "just so" over some of the area might help, too. maybe side-swept bangs. as for the abrasions, just be sure to clean them well and use disinfectants as necessary, if they're really that bad. hope this works for you and good luck with your new job!

toothfairy	Go and get a white tshirt and some fabric paint. Paint in bright block letters on both sides of the shirt... "I was hit in the eye with a softball and lived to tell about it" And that makes it a funny story that you can tell instead of an embarrassing one.

stefanie	put an not too cold ice pack on the swollen area and leave on for bout 15-20 min, then take it off then put it back on later. most likely u'll probably get a bruise. if thats the case do the cold compress then put a warm compress and alternate for like an hour a day or more if you like. but regarless its gonna be swollen and ice can only help so much. as for your eyelid, just put similiar colored eyeshadows on both eyes..try some dark purples or even black if necessary so you wont look tooo strange heh. the abrasions..u just gotta let them heal...try not to pick the scabs or u'll get scars...if not..try using foundation or just fix your hair so its falls over the bad side. if u use make up at the end of the day just wash off the make up with mild soap and water and u'll be good. dont touch it too much to avoid infection. hope that helps! :) ice wiill just minimize the swelling...in any case if you expect swelling on anything always always PUT ICE IMMEDIATELY it will reduce swelling...ur eye will be swollen..no avoiding that..ice will minimize it. your body is hurt, so water is rusing to your tissue area and the bruise is collected blood. ice will constrict blood vessels and reduce swelling and a warm compress will dilate them to absorb all the stuff thats making your tissue imflamed back into your system

munkymadness007	yay. i know the answer. when i got hit in the face with a snowball.. (made of ice mind you) i was reccommended this makeup. its called Physicians Formula: Gentle Cover Concealer. its in a lipstick tube kinda... and its green. but the green color conceals almost all colors. so just rub some of this stuff on your finger and apply it directly to your injury. just pat it dont rub it.. and then get Dream Matte Mousse from Maybelline. and pat it ontop of the green concealer. depeding how bad your injury is.. you might want to do this a couple times. but believe me it works. i was skeptical at first too. but im all better.

johnnybutt12	Make-up to hide it, but importantly you can buy this stuff called, "Arnica". It's a cream (which does stink, so use it overnight) but it almost "sucks" out the dried blood that is in the skin. I used it after a black eye and the bruising went away within a couple days. Hope this helps.

Ginnna	If you think the ice isn't working, the swelling isn't going away and your only option is makeup, you're going to want to use camouflage makeup. This kind of makeup is used after plastic surgery in the areas that are bruised and discolored. The important thing is to look for products that are hypoallergenic and fragrance free. There are three basic approaches to camouflage cosmetics (the three C's): Concealing--hiding incision lines and bruises; color Correcting--neutralizing color in reddened or yellowish skin; and Contouring--disguising swelling and creating the illusion of highlights and shadows. Concealers are thicker and more opaque than regular foundation makeup. They can cover healed incision lines as well as scars or bruises on your face or body. Choose a concealer that's opaque and waterproof, but creamy enough that it doesn't pull on your skin when you apply it. If you can find a concealer that closely matches your skin tone, you may not have to use a foundation on top of it. It's not a good idea to use concealer on the thin, delicate skin around your eyes, since concealer is thick and will collect in the creases. Instead, try using a normal fluid foundation, color corrector, or eye makeup alone. Color correctors are used to disguise the yellowish shade of a bruise or the overall redness that follows chemical peel and dermabrasion. They come in tints: lavender corrector neutralizes yellow tones, while green corrector removes red. Less opaque than concealers, color correctors have the same consistency and sheerness as foundation. They're generally used under your foundation. For contouring, you'll need two separate products: a highlighter, which is about two shades lighter than your normal foundation; and a contour shadow, about two shades darker than your foundation. (You probably won't find products labeled highlighter and contour shadow. Just look for the appropriate shades of foundation makeup or pressed power.)