Yellow Eyes (Aankhon Ka Peela Pan): Jaundice or Something Else?
If the whites of your eyes have turned yellow, the usual reason is raised bilirubin, a yellow pigment the liver is supposed to clear. That is jaundice (peeliya or yarqaan), and it needs a doctor and a simple blood test called an LFT, not a jhaar or a totka. A few harmless look-alikes exist, and a few urgent signs mean hospital today; both are below.
In brief
- Most likely: jaundice from the liver (hepatitis), a blocked bile duct (gallstones), or red cells breaking down too fast.
- First tests: LFT with total and direct bilirubin, a CBC, hepatitis tests, and often an abdominal ultrasound.
- Urgent today: drowsiness or confusion, bleeding or black stools, vomiting blood, fever with shivering and right-side belly pain, pregnancy, or a newborn in the first day.
- Look-alikes: yellow palms from carrots and oranges (the eye whites stay white), and small yellow bumps on the white.
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People usually notice it in the bathroom mirror, or a relative notices first: “Tumhari aankhein peeli lag rahi hain.” The mirror tells the truth best in daylight. Tube lights and yellow bulbs make everyone look a little yellow, so check the whites of the eyes by a window, pulling the lower lid down gently. Pale yellow to deep mustard, the colour of the sclera (the white of the eye) is one of the earliest places jaundice shows.
Why eyes turn yellow: bilirubin, explained simply
Red blood cells live about 120 days. When old ones are recycled, they leave behind a yellow pigment, bilirubin. The liver picks it up, packs it into bile, and sends it through the bile ducts into the gut, where it turns stools brown. If any step jams, bilirubin backs up into the blood and stains the skin and the eyes. The whites of the eyes are rich in a protein that holds on to bilirubin, so they go yellow before the skin does.
Doctors sort the causes by where the jam happens:
| Where it jams | Common causes | Clues |
|---|---|---|
| Before the liver: too many red cells breaking | Thalassaemia, G6PD deficiency, malaria, some infections | Pale, tired, urine normal colour |
| In the liver | Hepatitis A, B, C, E; alcohol; some medicines and herbal products; fatty liver in advanced stages | Loss of appetite, nausea, dark urine |
| After the liver: bile duct blocked | Gallstones, rarely a growth in the pancreas or duct | Dark urine, pale or clay stools, itching |
The harmless cause many people have
Gilbert syndrome is a common, inherited quirk where the liver processes bilirubin a little slowly. The eyes go faintly yellow during fasting, illness, stress or poor sleep, then clear. It’s harmless and needs no treatment, but it’s only called Gilbert’s after a doctor has checked the LFT and ruled out other causes. Many people first notice it in Ramzan.
Yellow eyes that aren’t jaundice
- Carotenaemia: lots of carrots, oranges, papaya or pumpkin can turn the palms and soles yellow-orange. The eye whites stay white. That’s the easy way to tell.
- Pinguecula: a small yellowish bump on the white beside the coloured part, from sun and dust. Only a patch is yellow, not the whole white.
- Natural pigment: some people with darker skin have a brownish tint at the edges of the whites, lifelong and even on both sides.
- Old bleeding: a red patch on the white turns yellow-green as it fades over a week or two.
If the whole white of both eyes is yellow, assume jaundice until a test says otherwise.
What to do this week
- Check in daylight: both eye whites, the skin, the palms, the colour of urine (dark tea or cola?) and stools (pale or clay-coloured?).
- See a doctor within a day or two, sooner with the urgent signs below.
- Get the tests the doctor orders: usually LFT (bilirubin, ALT/SGPT, AST, ALP), CBC, hepatitis A, B, C and E tests, and an ultrasound of the liver and gallbladder. Our guide to reading your LFT report explains the columns.
- Rest, drink clean boiled or filtered water, and eat light, normal home food as appetite allows. There’s no special jaundice diet that clears it faster.
- Stop alcohol completely. Tell the doctor every medicine, herbal product, majoon and supplement you’ve taken in the last three months, and don’t start new ones.
- If it’s hepatitis A or E, wash hands with soap after the toilet and before cooking, and keep separate glasses, because both spread through dirty water and hands.
Yellow eyes come with drowsiness, confusion or unusual behaviour; bleeding gums, nosebleeds, easy bruising, black stools or vomiting blood; high fever with shivering and pain under the right ribs; severe belly pain; a swollen belly; or very little urine. Pregnancy: jaundice in pregnancy needs same-day care. Newborns: yellow skin or eyes in the first 24 hours of life, a baby who is sleepy or feeding poorly, yellow palms and soles, or jaundice lasting beyond 2 weeks (3 weeks in premature babies), especially with pale stools, needs a doctor the same day; see our newborn jaundice check. Older adults: painless yellowing with itching, weight loss and pale stools needs prompt tests, not waiting. Never stop a prescribed medicine on your own because of jaundice; ask the doctor who prescribed it.
Totkay and jhaar: what the tradition says, and what it misses
Jhaar (having peeliya “brought down” by a spiritual healer), sugarcane juice, mooli leaves, a necklace of turmeric, and a strict no-oil, no-haldi diet are common in desi homes. The tradition comes from something true: acute hepatitis A and E often settle by themselves over a few weeks, so whatever was done in the meantime gets the credit. The trouble is what it misses. Gallstones blocking a duct, hepatitis B or C, a medicine reaction, or a blood disorder don’t settle on their own, and the time spent on totkay is time lost. Roadside sugarcane juice, served with ice of unknown origin, is itself a common way to catch hepatitis A and E. Our piece on jaundice home care and the sugarcane myth goes deeper.
Herbal liver remedies deserve a special warning: several herbs and unlabelled powders can themselves injure the liver. Anyone with yellow eyes should take nothing new without asking the doctor. Browse more in our Eye Care section.
Yellow eyes: the questions people search
What does yellow in the eyes mean?
Most often it means raised bilirubin, which is jaundice. The cause can be in the liver, the bile ducts or the blood, so a doctor and an LFT are needed to find out which.
Aankhon ka peela pan kaise door karein?
By finding and dealing with the cause, not by a totka. See a doctor, get the LFT and other tests, rest and drink clean water. In simple hepatitis A or E, the yellow fades over weeks as the liver recovers.
Can yellow eyes be normal?
A faint, lifelong brownish tint at the edges can be natural pigment, and Gilbert syndrome gives harmless on-off yellowing. But new yellow whites should always be checked with a blood test first.
Which test should I do for yellow eyes?
An LFT with total and direct bilirubin is the starting test, usually with a CBC and hepatitis tests. The doctor may add an abdominal ultrasound. Fasting isn’t usually needed, but follow the lab’s instructions.
What bilirubin level shows yellow eyes?
Yellow whites usually become visible once total bilirubin rises to roughly two to three times the upper limit of typical lab ranges. Ranges vary by lab, so use the range printed on your report and let the doctor interpret it.
Can gallstones cause yellow eyes?
Yes, if a stone slips into the main bile duct and blocks it. It often comes with pain under the right ribs, dark urine and pale stools. With fever and shivering it’s an emergency.
Can eating too many carrots make eyes yellow?
No. Carrots and oranges can colour the skin of the palms and soles, but the whites of the eyes stay white. Yellow whites point to bilirubin.
Is jaundice contagious?
Jaundice itself isn’t, but hepatitis A and E spread through dirty water and unwashed hands, and hepatitis B and C through blood. See our guide to hepatitis B and C testing and vaccination.
Can yellow eyes be a sign of something serious?
Sometimes. Blocked bile ducts, severe hepatitis, liver failure and blood disorders can all start this way. Confusion, bleeding or fever with yellow eyes means hospital the same day.
Is it safe to fast in Ramzan with yellow eyes?
Ask your doctor before fasting with jaundice. If it turns out to be Gilbert syndrome, fasting may make the eyes a little more yellow without harm. Any ruling on whether you should fast belongs to your scholar.
How long does it take for yellow eyes to go away?
In hepatitis A or E, the yellow usually fades over a few weeks, the eyes being the last to clear. If it’s lasting longer, getting darker, or coming with itching and pale stools, go back to the doctor.
Does jhaar work for peeliya?
There’s nothing to show it changes bilirubin. Simple viral jaundice often improves on its own, which is why jhaar seems to work. Get the tests first so you don’t miss a cause that won’t settle.