7 Things To Try If You’re Experiencing Eye Pain

Posted by: Eye Health Northwest in General Eye Health on June 30, 2020

Do your eyes hurt more often than not? Are you trying to figure out how to treat them? 

No one likes experiencing pain, especially eye pain. Your eyes can be sensitive, so it can be difficult to know how to treat pain when it occurs. 

Eye pain is a pretty common feeling to experience. There are many different causes and treatments. 

Treatments can range from lifestyle changes to medical treatments. Here are 7 things to try if you’re experiencing eye pain.

1. Change the Light

Depending on the activity, sometimes increasing or reducing the amount of light will help. For example, if you are watching TV, decreasing the amount of light might help you feel better. 

If you are reading or doing a detail-oriented task, adjusting or increasing the light can help. If you focus the light on the page, you should be able to see clearly and not feel pain or strain.

2. Take Breaks

If you notice that your eyes hurt while reading or looking at a screen for long periods of time, try taking a break. This way you can periodically rest your eyes. Sometimes eye pain can merely be due to eye strain.

3. Reduce Screen Time

Sometimes our eyes can hurt from looking at screens. The pain can be from dry eyes and not blinking enough. If you don’t blink, your eyes will start to dry out. 

This can lead to annoying symptoms of dry eye syndrome.  When you are using digital devices, practice the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look away for 20 seconds at something 20 feet away. Make sure what you’re looking at is not a screen, as that will defeat the purpose! 

4. Try Artificial Tears

If your eyes hurt, you may want to try using artificial tears or eye drops.  Over the counter artificial tears are a great option. Ask your doctor which brand or type they recommend. 

Depending on what the cause of your eye pain is, your eye doctor may have recommendations for a brand that treats pain.

5. Make Sure You Have the Right Eyewear

You may experience eye pain if you aren’t wearing the right eyewear. You need to make sure you have the right prescription for your contacts and eyeglasses. Having the wrong prescription can cause eye pain. 

6. Apply a Warm Compress

For certain causes of eye pain, a warm compress can help. For example, if you have a stye, a warm compress a few times a day can reduce any pain and help the stye drain. Do not try to pop it yourself, as that can make the infection worse. 

7. Apply a Cold Compress

If you have eye pain from conjunctivitis, try applying a cold compress. It should help you feel less pain or discomfort. 

If these home remedies do not work, you need to talk with your doctor about other options. Some other options could be prescription eye drops, medication, or surgery. 

For some of the causes of eye pain, surgery is an option for treating it. Figuring out the best course of treatment with your doctor is important for maintaining good eye health. 

Do you need help treating your eye pain? Schedule an appointment at EyeHealth Northwest in Happy Valley, OR now!

Eye Pain: Causes, Treatments, and Prevention

Surface pain is usually caused by irritation, infection, or trauma. Often, it is easily treated with eye drops or rest. Eye pain deeper in the eye may require more in-depth treatment. Any pain accompanied by vision loss is an emergency.

Eye pain is common, but it’s rarely a symptom of a serious condition. Most often, the pain resolves without medicine or treatment. Eye pain is also known as ophthalmalgia.

Depending on where you experience the discomfort, eye pain can fall into one of two categories: Ocular pain occurs on the eye’s surface, and orbital pain occurs within the eye.

Eye pain that occurs on the surface may be a scratching, burning, or itching sensation. Eye pain that occurs deeper within the eye may feel aching, gritty, stabbing, or throbbing.

Eye pain accompanied by vision loss may be a symptom of an emergency medical issue. Call your ophthalmologist immediately if you begin to lose your vision while experiencing eye pain.

The following may cause eye pain that originates on the surface of the eye:

Foreign object

The most common cause of eye pain is simply having something in your eye. Whether it’s an eyelash, a piece of dirt, or makeup, having a foreign object in the eye can cause irritation, redness, watery eyes, and pain.

Conjunctivitis

The conjunctiva is the tissue that lines the front of the eye and the underside of the eyelid. It can become infected and inflamed. Often, this is caused by an allergy or infection.

Though the pain is usually mild, the inflammation causes itchiness, redness, and discharge in the eye. Conjunctivitis is also called pink eye.

Contact lens irritation

People who wear contact lenses overnight or don’t disinfect their lenses properly are more susceptible to eye pain caused by irritation or infection.

Corneal abrasion

The cornea, the clear surface that covers the eye, is susceptible to injuries. When you have a corneal abrasion, you will feel as if you have something in your eye.

However, treatments that typically remove irritants from an eye, such as flushing with water, won’t ease the pain and discomfort if you have a corneal abrasion.

Injury

Chemical burns and flash burns to the eye can cause significant pain. These burns are often the result of exposure to irritants such as bleach or to intense light sources, such as the sun, tanning booths, or the materials used in arc welding.

Blepharitis

Blepharitis occurs when oil glands on the eyelid’s edge become infected or inflamed. This can cause pain.

Sty

A blepharitis infection can create a nodule or raised bump on the eyelid. This is called a sty or a chalazion. A sty can be very painful, and the area around the sty is usually very tender and sensitive to touch. A chalazion isn’t usually painful.

Eye pain felt within the eye itself may be caused by the following conditions:

Glaucoma

This condition occurs as intraocular pressure, or pressure inside the eye, rises. Additional symptoms caused by glaucoma include nausea, headache, and loss of vision.

A sudden rise in pressure, called acute angle closure glaucoma, is an emergency, and immediate treatment is needed to prevent permanent vision loss.

Optic neuritis

You may experience eye pain accompanied by a loss of vision if the nerve that connects the back of the eyeball to the brain, known as the optic nerve, becomes inflamed. An autoimmune disease or a bacterial or viral infection may cause the inflammation.

Sinusitis

An infection of the sinuses can cause pressure behind the eyes to build. As it does, it can create pain in one or both eyes.

Migraines

Eye pain is a common side effect of migraine attacks.

Injury

Penetrating injuries to the eye, which can occur when a person is hit with an object or is involved in an accident, can cause significant eye pain.

Iritis

While uncommon, inflammation in the iris can cause pain deep inside the eye.

If you begin experiencing vision loss in addition to eye pain, this may be a sign of an emergency situation. Other symptoms that need immediate medical attention include:

• severe eye pain
• eye pain caused by trauma or exposure to a chemical or light
• abdominal pain and vomiting that accompanies eye pain
• pain so severe it’s impossible to touch the eye
• sudden and dramatic vision changes

The treatment for eye pain depends on the cause of the pain. The most common treatments include:

Home care

The best way to treat many of the conditions that cause eye pain is to allow your eyes to rest. Staring at a computer screen or television can cause eyestrain, so your doctor may require you to rest with your eyes covered for a day or more.

Glasses

If you frequently wear contact lenses, give your corneas time to heal by wearing your glasses.

Warm compress

Doctors may instruct people with blepharitis or a sty to apply warm, moist towels to their eyes. This will help to clear the clogged oil gland or hair follicle.

Flushing

If a foreign body or chemical gets into your eye, flush your eye with water or a saline solution to wash the irritant out.

Antibiotics

Antibacterial drops and oral antibiotics may be used to treat infections of the eye that are causing pain, including conjunctivitis and corneal abrasions.

Antihistamines

Eye drops and oral medicines can help ease the pain associated with allergies in the eyes.

Eye drops

People with glaucoma may use medicated eye drops to reduce the pressure building in their eyes.

Corticosteroids

For more serious infections, such as optic neuritis and anterior uveitis (iritis), your doctor may give you corticosteroids.

Pain medications

If the pain is severe and causes an interruption to your day-to-day life, your doctor may prescribe a pain medicine to help ease the pain until the underlying condition is treated.

Surgery

Surgery is sometimes needed to repair damage done by a foreign body or burn. However, this is rare. Individuals with glaucoma may need to have a laser treatment to improve drainage in the eye.

Most eye pain will fade with no or mild treatment. Eye pain and the underlying conditions that cause it rarely lead to permanent damage to the eye.

However, that’s not always the case. Some conditions that cause eye pain may also cause problems that are more serious if they aren’t treated.

For example, the pain and symptoms caused by glaucoma are a sign of an impending problem. If not diagnosed and treated, glaucoma can cause vision problems and eventually total blindness.

Your vision is nothing to gamble on. If you begin to experience eye pain that isn’t caused by something like an eyelash in the eye, make an appointment to see your eye doctor as soon as possible.

Eye pain prevention starts with eye protection. The following are ways you can prevent eye pain:

Wear protective eyewear

Prevent many causes of eye pain, such as scratches and burns, by wearing goggles or safety glasses when playing sports, exercising, mowing the lawn, or working with hand tools.

Construction workers, welders, and people who work around flying objects, chemicals, or welding gear should always wear protective eye gear.

Handle chemicals with caution

Direct chemicals and potent agents such as household cleaners, detergents, and pest control. Spray away from your body when using them.

Exercise caution with children’s toys

Avoid giving your child a toy that can injure their eyes. Toys with spring-loaded components, toys that shoot, and toy swords, guns, and bouncing balls can all injure a child’s eye.

Contact lens hygiene

Clean your contacts thoroughly and routinely. Wear your glasses on occasion to allow your eyes time to rest. Don’t wear contacts longer than they are intended to be worn or used.

Eyes hurt: why, what to do? Pain in the eyes and head, causes. How to treat?

Eyes hurt, what is the reason and what to do?

To understand why the eyes hurt, you need to understand that the eyes hurt in diseases associated with pathological changes in both the eyes themselves and in general diseases of the body.

To differentiate the cause of soreness of the eyes, it is necessary to pay attention to the accompanying symptoms. So, for example, the eyes and the head often hurt at the same time, the eyes hurt against the background of high blood pressure, and often the pain in the eyes can be combined with redness of the eyes.

These and other accompanying symptoms of sore eyes will help to make the correct diagnosis, choose the direction of treatment and answer the question: what to do?

Let’s try to figure out why your eyes hurt and what to do?

Pain in the eyes is a characteristic symptom of many eye diseases.

A. Causes of eye pain when the eyes themselves are diseased:

1. Keratitis – inflammation of the cornea

2. Uveitis – inflammation of the choroid

3. Glaucoma

4. Conjunctivitis

5. Eye injury

6. Foreign body of conjunctiva or cornea

7. Wrong glasses

8. Incorrectly fitted contact lenses

9. Uncorrected vision in presbyopia

10. Eyes hurt after welding

B. Causes of eye pain due to general diseases of the body:

1. Viral infection

2. Violation of blood pressure

3. Migraine

4. Increased intracranial pressure (ICP)

A. Causes of pain in the eyes in diseases of the eyes themselves:

1. Keratitis , or inflammation of the cornea, is always accompanied by pain in the eyes. In addition to pain in the eyes, keratitis is absolutely always accompanied by additional symptoms. The so-called “corneal syndrome” is characterized by the presence of lacrimation, redness of the pericorneal zone (around the cornea), blepharospasm (eyelid spasm) and, of course, pain in the eyes. Eyes hurt with keratitis very much.
Treatment: treatment is carried out only in the conditions of a specialized ophthalmological institution. It is impossible to cure keratitis on your own at home without consequences for vision. Local and general anti-inflammatory treatment is necessary in the form of parabulbar injections of antibiotics and, if necessary, corticosteroid drugs, application of anti-inflammatory ointment and drugs that improve corneal regeneration over the eyelids. If there are signs of keratitis, you should immediately consult a doctor.

2. Uveitis , or inflammation of the inner choroid of the eye. The choroid of the eye has three sections, each of which can become inflamed separately or there may be a combined inflammation, which is called panuveitis. Inflammation of the iris, or iritis, inflammation of the middle part of the choroid, or iridocyclitis. always accompanied by very severe pain in the eyes. The pain is so severe that it is impossible to touch the eye.

Concomitant symptoms include pericorneal injection, iris color change and pattern clarity. Interestingly, inflammation of the third part of the iris – the choroid – is never accompanied by the presence of pain in the eyes, and choreoiditis at the initial stage is often asymptomatic. This is due to the lack of sensitive fibers of the nervous tissue in the choroid.
Treatment: Uveitis should only be treated in a specialized ophthalmological department and, as a rule, this disease requires treatment in an eye hospital. At home, it is impossible to cure uveitis without damage to vision.

3. Glaucoma . A common symptom of glaucoma is pain in the eye. The left eye hurts or the right eye hurts, the one on which there is increased intraocular pressure. Often, in addition to pain in the eyes, there is a feeling of pressure. “Crushes in the eyes” – this is how patients characterize their feelings with glaucoma. Another characteristic sign of glaucoma that can help to suspect the disease is pain in half of the head, in the half in which intraocular pressure is increased in the eye. A characteristic symptom of glaucoma is that not the whole head hurts, but exactly half of the head on the side of the diseased eye.
Treatment: Glaucoma can be treated with medication, laser or surgery.

Drops that reduce intraocular pressure, such as Travatan, Timolol, Betoptik, Xalatan, Azopt, Arutimol, Trusopt, are prescribed by a doctor depending on the degree of glaucoma, its stage and the strength of the increase in intraocular pressure. Along with drug treatment, laser treatment is a very promising method for reducing pressure. In the absence of the desired effect of drug and laser treatment, surgical treatment of glaucoma is prescribed. Pain in the eye disappears with a decrease in intraocular pressure to normal numbers. Normally, intraocular pressure should be no more than 26 mm Hg. when measured with a Maklakov tonometer at any age of a person.

4. Conjunctivitis rare, but may also be accompanied by pain in the eyes, more specifically burning sensation and foreign body sensation. A more accurate definition of pain in conjunctivitis: discomfort in the eyes and pain in the eyes. The causes of these sensations are swelling and violation of the integrity of the epithelial layer of the eyelids and the eyeball – the conjunctiva.

Along with pain, there is reddening of the eyes, which is discharged in the conjunctival cavity, with bacterial conjunctivitis, eyelashes stick together in the morning.
Treatment: treatment is carried out depending on the type of pathogen – antiviral or antibacterial. Tobrex, Tobradex, Maxitrol, Vitabact, as a rule, allow you to cope with conjunctivitis and eliminate eye pain. Oftalmoferon will be useful for pain from viral conjunctivitis.

5. Trauma eye , even a microtrauma, causes pain in the eyes.

In case of injury, the epithelium of the cornea or conjunctiva is most often damaged, which leads to irritation of sensitive nerve fibers and, as a result, the eyes hurt. More serious injuries with rupture of the membranes always cause severe pain in the eyes.
Treatment: Drugs that improve tissue regeneration, such as Solcoseryl, Actovegin, Citral. To prevent a secondary infection, it is recommended to use Tobrex, Maxitrol, Albucid 20%, chloramphenicol 0. 25%.

6. Foreign body in the conjunctiva or cornea is the most common cause of eye pain. The cornea is the most sensitive part of the body. Getting hair and even dust particles into the eye causes discomfort and pain in the eye. A foreign body that has entered the conjunctival cavity violates the integrity of the epithelium and has the same consequences as an eye injury. The intensity of pain depends on the volume of the foreign body and its location. So, getting an eyelash into the conjunctival cavity causes moderate pain and a feeling of a foreign body. A foreign body that has entered the cornea causes very severe pain.
Treatment: if the foreign body is visible and easily accessible, you can try to remove it yourself with a cotton swab or rinse the eye with warm water. Then it is necessary to apply the treatment, the same as for an eye injury. If the foreign body cannot be removed on its own, then it is necessary to contact the Eye Trauma Center so that specialized assistance is provided.

The emergency room is open 24/7, so you can contact us anytime, anytime. And the sooner help is provided, the better the prospects for treatment. The address of the eye trauma center in Krasnoyarsk: the city of Krasnoyarsk, st. Nikitina, 1″B”.

7. Incorrectly fitted glasses are also a common cause of eye pain, as if pressure. The main errors in the selection of glasses are incorrectly measured interpupillary distance or diopters of glasses more than they are necessary for the state of refraction. Such errors lead to excessive refractive or oculomotor tension, resulting in headaches or painful sensations in the eyes. Pain when the eyes “as if they are pressing” excludes the inflammatory process of the eye or injury. Such pain is characteristic of improperly selected glasses or general health problems.
Treatment: check the purchased glasses with a competent ophthalmologist. Perform laser vision correction and get rid of the need to use glasses.

8. Incorrectly fitted contact lenses often cause eye pain. Contact lenses require individual selection, since the radius of curvature of the cornea is different for all people, and even in two eyes of the same person, the radius of curvature of the cornea can vary greatly. Therefore, when choosing contact lenses, it is necessary to focus on the individual characteristics of each eye, and not just on the diopter of the lenses. It is recommended to select lenses only in specialized clinics. An incorrectly fitted lens acts like a foreign body, injuring the cornea of ​​the eye, causing pain and inflammation of the eye.
Treatment: Avoid contact lenses for at least two weeks to restore corneal integrity and have contact lenses fitted by an experienced contact specialist. To eliminate the pain from contact lenses, laser vision correction is possible.

9. Uncorrected vision in presbyopia causes the eyes to hurt, especially if a person is forced to read for a long time or work close, for example, on a computer. Accommodation allows a person to see at a close distance from the eye, but with age this process is disturbed, presbyopia develops , glasses for near are needed to compensate for disturbed accommodation. If you try to strain your eyes when the possibility of accommodation is lost, then eye fatigue occurs and the eyes begin to hurt.
Treatment: you need to choose glasses for work at close range according to age and existing refraction.

10. Eyes hurt after welding due to radiation burn of the cornea. As they say, “I picked up bunnies from welding”, what should I do? The welding arc used when welding two metals emits infrared radiation and ultraviolet radiation of enormous power. Eyes during welding work must be protected by a special glass that limits the effect of infrared and UV radiation on the eye. In case of violation of safety regulations and open exposure to radiation on the eye, a corneal burn occurs. Retinal damage can also occur. But the pain in the eye after welding occurs precisely because of the burn of the cornea. Therefore, all measures to relieve pain after welding should be directed primarily to the treatment of the cornea.
Treatment: flush eyes with cool water. For regeneration of the cornea, it is necessary to use drugs such as Solcoseryl, Korneregel, Citral, Oftagel, Balarpan, Khilozar-Komod. For the prevention of secondary infection: Tobrex, Maxitrol, Albucid 20%, Levomycetin 0.25%. If the pain is very strong, novocaine or lidocaine can be dripped into the eyes. But, if the condition allows, it is better not to do this, since anesthesia causes swelling of the cornea and increases the healing time. You can take any general action analyst “Ibrufen” or “Analgin”, “Diclofenac” (Voltaren), or “Indomethacin”.

It is better to be in a darkened room and for several hours with your eyes closed.

B. Causes of eye pain in general diseases of the body:

1. Viral infection is very often accompanied by pain in the eyes. If you experience pain behind the eyeballs when moving your eyes, then most likely you have a viral infection in the body in the acute stage.

The coronavirus infection in the body is no exception.

Coronavirus, like any other viral infection, leads to pain behind the eyes, especially in the initial stages of the disease. Pain in the eyes with coronavirus is associated precisely with a viral infection in the body.
Treatment: to eliminate eye pain due to a viral infection, general antiviral treatment from an appropriate specialist is necessary. Local eye treatment in this case is not required.

2. Blood pressure disorder . A change in blood pressure, both upward – hypertension or hypertension, and downward – hypotension, is accompanied by headache and frequent irradiation of pain in the region of the orbit and eye.
Treatment: in case of a sharp and significant change in blood pressure, it is necessary to take a horizontal position – lie down, call a doctor. With high blood pressure, the head should be higher than the body, with hypotension at the level of the body. Compensatory therapy and equalization of blood pressure will lead to the disappearance of pain in the eyes.

3. Migraine leads in most cases to pressing pains behind the eyes. Migraine is accompanied by loss of visual fields and headache. Eye pain is also a symptomatic sign of migraine.
Treatment: the elimination of migraine leads to the disappearance of pain in the eyes.

4. Increased intracranial pressure accompanied by headache and pain in the eyes. Diagnosis is based on fundus ophthalmoscopy and associated symptoms consistent with elevated ICP.
Treatment: Elimination of the causes of increased intracranial pressure leads to the absence of pain in the eyes.

You may find it interesting and useful:
1. Red eyes. Why and what to do?

2. Why do my eyes water? Causes and treatment.
3. How to restore vision

08/22/2021

author Natalya Yatsinova

Painkiller drops – medicine for the eyes.

Portal vseozrenii – all about eye drops and tablets.

Article updated on 12/28/2019

Anesthetic eye drops should be used strictly under medical supervision

Contents worth dripping anesthetic drops

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Types of pain drops

Eye pain drops should be used strictly under medical supervision

Eye pain drops act locally to block pain in the nerve endings of the eye.

According to the mechanism of action, they are divided into two main groups:

• Anesthetic drops
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drops

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Anesthetic eye drops

Anesthetic eye drops block nerve conduction for a certain time. The drugs in this group include: Lidocaine, Inocaine, Alkain, etc. The analgesic effect occurs 1-2 minutes after application and lasts from 15-20 minutes.

These anesthetic drops are used in the following cases:

• Before removal of foreign bodies from the surface of the eye
• During diagnostic procedures (gonioscopy, contact tonometry, Schirmer test)
• As a first aid for eye injuries
• In eye surgery for superficial pain relief

Anesthetic eye drops should be used strictly under medical supervision.

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When not to administer anesthetic drops

Do not administer local anesthetic drops alone when the cause of eye pain is unknown

Do not administer local anesthetic drops in this group alone when the cause of ocular pain is unknown. With prolonged use, local anesthetics cause severe and irreversible damage to the cornea.

Some patients with eye pain of neuralgic origin instill these pain drops without a doctor’s prescription. Unfortunately, this often leads to clouding of the cornea and loss of vision.

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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drops

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drops have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. The most common drugs in this group are Diclofenac, Broxinac, Indocollir.

The mechanism of action is fundamentally different from local anesthetics. It consists in reducing the synthesis of substances that cause pain and inflammation. Therefore, the analgesic effect of these drops is not observed immediately, but some time after the start of their use.

These pain-relieving eye drops are prescribed in the following cases:

• After eye surgery
• To relieve pain after laser surgery
• In inflammatory diseases of the eye (iridocyclitis, scleritis, etc.)

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When do not drip non-steroidal anti-inflammatory eye drops

Slight blurring and loss of vision may occur when using eye painkiller drops for the eyes

Do not instill anesthetic drops for the eyes of this group in case of allergy to acetylsalicylic acid. Use with caution in inflammation of the cornea.

Please be aware that slight blurring and loss of vision may occur when using these anesthetic eye drops.