Why do your eyes hurt? Find out about 10 illnesses and how to treat them.

Eye pain can be caused by many different things. Even though fatigue or a problem with a body part seems to be the most obvious cause of pain, it could be something else. Depending on where the pain is in the eye and what other symptoms are present, different treatments may be needed.

Most eye pain is dull, throbbing, or sharp, and it can be accompanied by ocular hyperemia, photophobia, or watery eyes. Aside from eye pain, other alarming signs that you need to see a doctor right away are nausea and vomiting, seeing a rainbow glow around light sources (called exophthalmos), a loss of vision, and general symptoms like chills, fever, and malaise.

Eye pain and foreign body

When one eye hurts when you blink, it’s usually because something is stuck in the eye. You can try to figure it out on your own. First, use lukewarm water or saline to rinse the eye. If you can see something in your eye in the mirror and rinsing doesn’t work, you can push it out with, for example, the corner of a clean tissue. When the blockage is no longer visible, use your fingers to pull the upper eyelid over the lower eyelid and hold for a moment. If that doesn’t help, you should see a doctor.

When an eye hurts because of a foreign object, you should put a clean bandage over it and try not to move or rub the eyeball. Do not try to get something out of the eyeball (e.g. metal shavings). When you blink, if your eye hurts, it could be because of a foreign body, dry eye syndrome, conjunctivitis, or barley.

Eye pain and tear duct inflammation

Pain in the corner of the eye could mean that the tear duct is inflamed. The conjunctival sac drains tears into the lacrimal sac because of how the eye is built. If the canal gets blocked, for example by an infection or dust, it can cause inflammation and other problems, such as a slight pain in the corner of the eye that gets worse when touched, tears, and discharge from the eye. If you have any of these symptoms, you should see an eye doctor. Inflammation of the tear ducts is treated by cleaning and rinsing the tear ducts of the eye and putting in drops that a doctor has prescribed.

Other conditions can also cause eye pain in the corner, such as a stye that develops near the corner of the eye, angular conjunctivitis, or a foreign body getting into the area.

Eye pain and acute glaucoma attack

A glaucoma attack could be the cause of eye pain. Aqueous humor is what fills the front part of the eye. It is constantly made by the ciliary body, and it drains through the so-called seepage angle. This makes sure that the eyeball has the right amount of pressure. When the angle is closed, which blocks the flow of aqueous humor, the pressure in the eyeball goes up. This can hurt the optic nerve and retinal cells. During an acute attack of glaucoma, the pain in the eyes is very bad and is accompanied by headaches, nausea, a rainbow glow around lights, and very red eyes. As soon as possible, the problem should be told to the hospital.

Eye pain and blepharitis

When you have blepharitis, you will feel pain in your eyes. Most of the time, it’s because bacteria got into the eyes from dirty hands or a handkerchief. An eye doctor will tell you what liquids to use to wash sick eyelids. When needed, the doctor gives antibiotics or steroids in the form of ointments. Eye makeup should not be worn while getting treatment.

Eye pain and barley

Eye pain is caused by barley or an acute inflammation of the paraciliary sebaceous gland. If it grows in glands deep in the upper eyelid, barley can cause pain under the upper eyelid. The shape of the lesion looks like a grain of corn. Most of the time, stye is caused by a staphylococcal infection. The inflammation lasts for a few days, during which time you can put warm compresses on the eye. After that, the barley bursts and pus comes out of it. It needs to be cleaned off with clean gauze pads. Most of the time, an ophthalmologist will give an ointment or drops with an antibiotic to treat barley.

Eye pain and bacterial conjunctivitis

Eye pain and redness are symptoms of conjunctivitis . The conjunctiva is a thin membrane that lines the inside of the eyelids and the outside of the eyeball. Its infection can be caused by bacteria. This type of inflammation is treated with an antibiotic ointment or drops. You need to protect your eyes (e.g. limit work on the computer and reading, get enough sleep), do not wear make-up and wear contact lenses.

Eye pain and eyelid tumbling

Eye pain also accompanies eyelid tuck. Most often, it concerns the lower eyelid , which rolls up towards the eyeball and irritates it with eyelashes. When this continues for a long time, it leads to inflammation of the conjunctiva or cornea. It also causes dry eyes. The condition is more common in older people and is the result of i.a. sagging of the fibrous tissue. Proper eyelid alignment usually requires corrective surgery.

Eye Pain and Office Eye Syndrome

People who work at computers often have problems with their eyes. If you turn on the air conditioner, it might make things worse. To fix the problem, you should rinse your eyes with saline (best bought in single-use vials) and put so-called “artificial tears” in them several times a day (available at the pharmacy without a prescription). The eyes need to rest after work (you need to limit reading, watching TV, etc.). You can also put eyebright infusion on the sore eye as a compress. In addition to pain, office workers may also feel like there is sand under their eyelids or that their eyes are dry, burning, or red.

Eye pain and iritis

When the iris is inflamed, there is a lot of pain in the eye, as well as photophobia, redness, and tears. It can be caused by things like eye injuries or diseases (including tuberculosis). Half of the time, it is hard to figure out what is causing this condition.

If you don’t take care of it, it can even make you blind, so you need to see an eye doctor right away. The doctor will choose the right medicines for you. During the treatment, the eyes should be kept safe from bright light (it is recommended to wear sunglasses and to limit the lighting at home).

Eye pain and allergic reaction

After coming into contact with the sensitizing substance, eye pain, tears, redness, swelling of the eyelids, and itching or burning of the eyes appear (more: allergy symptoms ). This usually happens at certain times, like when plants are being pollinated.

If we know what makes us allergic, it’s best to stay away from that thing. This is not always possible, so you should talk to the allergist about the possibility of desensitization. Antihistamines (some of which can be bought without a prescription) and rinsing the eyes with saline (up to 10 times a day for a few drops each time) will help in the short term.