Eye Pain
Pain in the eye may be described as a burning, throbbing, aching, or stabbing sensation in or around the eye. It may also feel like you have a foreign object in your eye. Eye pain can have many causes. In some cases, such as an eye injury, the cause of the pain is obvious. But often it is difficult to know why your eye hurts.
Tired eyes or some eye discomfort (eyestrain) is most often a minor problem and it will often go away with rest. These problems may be caused by the wrong eyeglass or contact lens prescription. Sometimes they are due to a problem with the eye muscles.
The severity of eye pain does not indicate how serious the underlying cause of the discomfort is. In other words, a relatively minor problem, such as a superficial abrasion of the cornea, can be very painful. However, several very serious eye conditions — including cataracts, macular degeneration and the most common type of glaucoma — can cause no eye pain whatsoever.
Eye pain is not normal, so don't ignore it. If the pain is severe, does not go away, or causes blurred vision, double vision or vision loss, seek medical attention immediately.
Tired eyes or some eye discomfort (eyestrain) is most often a minor problem and it will often go away with rest. These problems may be caused by the wrong eyeglass or contact lens prescription. Sometimes they are due to a problem with the eye muscles.
The severity of eye pain does not indicate how serious the underlying cause of the discomfort is. In other words, a relatively minor problem, such as a superficial abrasion of the cornea, can be very painful. However, several very serious eye conditions — including cataracts, macular degeneration and the most common type of glaucoma — can cause no eye pain whatsoever.
Eye pain is not normal, so don't ignore it. If the pain is severe, does not go away, or causes blurred vision, double vision or vision loss, seek medical attention immediately.
