Why can your eyes hurt?
Painful sensations when lifting the eyeballs can be due to various diseases, not necessarily ophthalmological. So, pain when moving the eyes upward can be a symptom of:
- colds;
- migraine;
- myositis (disease of skeletal muscles);
- blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids);
- glaucoma;
- damage to the oculomotor nerve and disturbances in its functioning.
Viral diseases of the respiratory system can also affect the condition of the visual organs, since pathogens of respiratory diseases can spread to the nerve endings of the lungs, eyes and other body systems. This provokes pain when the eyeballs move upward or in different directions.
A common cause of the symptom is partial and short-term atrophy of the eye muscles. This happens to people who spend a lot of time in front of computer monitors and various gadgets. However, this condition passes very quickly. To avoid it, you need to rest your eyes and periodically perform special exercises for the visual organs.
In other cases, that is, with eye diseases and other pathologies, treatment is necessary. If the pain is frequent, you should not ignore this symptom. Make an appointment with an ophthalmologist. He will conduct an examination, prescribe therapy or refer you to another specialist.
Eyes hurt
My eyes hurt, what is the reason and what to do? To understand why your eyes hurt, you need to understand that your 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 eye pain, it is necessary to pay attention to the accompanying symptoms. For example, the eyes and head often hurt at the same time, the eyes hurt against the background of high blood pressure, and pain in the eyes can also often be combined with redness of the eyes. These and other accompanying symptoms of eye pain will help 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? Eye pain is a characteristic symptom of many eye diseases. A. Reasons why the eyes may hurt 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 the conjunctiva or cornea 7. Incorrectly selected glasses 8. Incorrectly selected contact lenses 9. Uncorrected vision with presbyopia 10. Eyes hurt after welding
B. Reasons why eyes may hurt due to general diseases of the body:
1. Viral infection 2. Blood pressure disorders 3. Migraine 4. Increased intracranial pressure (ICP)
A. Causes of pain in the eyes when the eyes themselves are diseased:
1.
Keratitis
, or inflammation of the cornea, is always accompanied by pain in the eyes.
In addition to eye pain, 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 (spasm of the eyelids) and, of course, pain in the eyes. The eyes hurt very much with keratitis. Treatment:
treatment is carried out only in a specialized ophthalmological institution.
It is impossible to cure keratitis yourself 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, placing anti-inflammatory ointment and drugs that improve corneal regeneration behind 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 can 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. Associated symptoms include pericorneal injection and possible changes in the color of the iris and the clarity of the pattern. Interestingly, inflammation of the third part of the iris - the choroid - is never accompanied by pain in the eyes and choroiditis at the initial stage is often asymptomatic. This occurs due to the lack of sensory nerve fibers in the choroid. Treatment:
treatment of uveitis should only be carried out in a specialized ophthalmology department and, as a rule, this disease requires treatment in an eye hospital.
At home, it is impossible to cure uveitis on your own without damaging your vision. 3. Glaucoma
.
A common symptom of glaucoma is pain in the eye. The left eye hurts or the right eye hurts, the one in which there is increased intraocular pressure. Often, in addition to pain in the eyes, there is a feeling of pressure. “Pressure in the eyes” is how patients describe their sensations with glaucoma. Another characteristic sign of glaucoma, which can help to suspect the disease, is pain in half of the head, in the half in which the intraocular pressure is increased in the eye. A characteristic sign of glaucoma is that not the whole head hurts, but rather half the head on the side of the diseased eye. Treatment:
Treatment for glaucoma can be 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 of reducing blood pressure. If there is no desired effect from drug and laser treatment, surgical treatment of glaucoma is prescribed. Pain in the eye goes away with a decrease in intraocular pressure to normal levels. 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
is rare, but can also be accompanied by pain in the eyes, more precisely a burning sensation and a feeling of a foreign body.
A more precise definition of pain with conjunctivitis: discomfort in the eyes and pain in the eyes. The reasons for these sensations are swelling and disruption of the integrity of the epithelial layer of the eyelids and the eyeball - the conjunctiva. Along with the pain, there is redness of the eyes, discharge 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. Eye
trauma , even 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, eye pain. 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 secondary infection, it is recommended to use Tobrex, Maxitrol, Albucid 20%, chloramphenicol 0.25%.
6.
A 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 a hair or even a speck of dust into the eye causes discomfort and pain in the eye. A foreign body entering the conjunctival cavity disrupts 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 location. Thus, the entry of an eyelash into the conjunctival cavity causes moderate pain and a feeling of a foreign body. A foreign body entering 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 treatment, the same as for an eye injury. If you cannot remove the foreign body yourself, you must contact the Eye Emergency Center to receive specialized assistance. The eye emergency room is open 24 hours a day, so you should contact us at any time at any time. And the sooner help is provided, the better the prospects for treatment. Address of the eye emergency room in Krasnoyarsk: Krasnoyarsk city, st. Nikitina, 1 "B". 7. Incorrectly chosen glasses
are also a common reason why the eyes hurt, as if they are pressing.
The main errors in the selection of glasses are incorrectly measured interpupillary distance or diopters of glasses that are larger than they are necessary for the state of refraction. Such errors lead to excessive refractive error or tension in the extraocular muscles and, as a result, to headaches or painful sensations in the eyes. Pain when the eyes “seem to be pressing” excludes an inflammatory process of the eye or injury. This pain is typical of incorrectly chosen glasses or general health problems. Treatment:
double-check purchased glasses with a competent ophthalmologist.
Perform laser vision correction and eliminate the need for 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 one person, the radius of curvature of the cornea can vary greatly. Therefore, when selecting 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 selected lens acts as a foreign body, injuring the cornea of the eye, causing pain and inflammation of the eye. Treatment:
it is necessary to abandon contact lenses for a period of at least two weeks to restore the integrity of the cornea and select contact lenses from an experienced contact specialist.
To eliminate pain from contact lenses, laser vision correction is possible. 9. Uncorrected vision with presbyopia
leads to eye pain, especially if a person is forced to read for a long time or work nearby, for example, on a computer.
Accommodation allows a person to see at a close distance from the eye, but with age this process is disrupted, presbyopia develops, and near glasses are needed to compensate for impaired accommodation. If you try to strain your eyes when the possibility of accommodation is lost, then eye fatigue occurs and your eyes begin to hurt. Treatment:
it is necessary to select glasses for working at close range in accordance with age and existing refraction.
10. Eyes hurt after welding
due to radiation burn of the cornea.
As they say, “I’ve picked up welding bunnies,” what should I do? The welding arc used to weld two metals emits infrared radiation and ultraviolet radiation of enormous power. During welding work, eyes must be protected with special glass that limits exposure to infrared and UV radiation. If safety precautions are violated and the eye is openly exposed to radiation, a burn to the cornea occurs. Retinal damage may also occur. But pain in the eye after welding occurs precisely because of a burn to the cornea. Therefore, all measures to relieve pain after welding should be aimed primarily at treating the cornea. Treatment:
Rinse eyes with cool water.
To regenerate 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 severe, you can drop novocaine or lidocaine into your eyes. But, if the condition allows, it is better not to do this, since anesthesia causes swelling of the cornea and increases 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 with your eyes closed for several hours. B. Reasons why the eyes may hurt due to general diseases of the body:
1.
Viral infection
is very often accompanied by pain in the eyes.
If you experience pain behind your eyeballs when moving your eyes, then most likely you have an acute viral infection in your body. 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. Eye pain with coronavirus is associated specifically with a viral infection in the body. Treatment:
To eliminate pain in the eyes due to a viral infection, general antiviral treatment is necessary from an appropriate specialist.
Local eye treatment is not required in this case. 2. Blood pressure disorders
.
Changes in blood pressure, both upward (hypertension or hypertension), and downward (hypotension), are accompanied by headache and frequent irradiation of pain to the orbital and eye areas. Treatment:
in case of a sharp and significant change in blood pressure, you must take a horizontal position - lie down, call a doctor.
With high blood pressure, the head should be higher than the body, with hypotension at body level. Compensatory therapy and equalization of blood pressure will lead to the disappearance of eye pain. 3. Migraine
leads in most cases to pressing pain behind the eyes.
Migraine is accompanied by loss of visual fields and headache. Eye pain is also a symptomatic sign of migraine. Treatment:
elimination of migraine leads to the disappearance of pain in the eyes.
4. Increased intracranial pressure
is accompanied by headaches and painful sensations in the eyes.
The diagnosis is made on the basis of fundus ophthalmoscopy and accompanying symptoms characteristic of increased ICP. Treatment:
Elimination of the causes of increased intracranial pressure leads to the absence of pain in the eyes.
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08/22/2021
author Natalya Yatsinova
What do headaches indicate when you look up?
Pain in the head caused by movements of the eyeballs may indicate the presence of an illness such as frontal sinusitis. This is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the frontal sinus. Only an ENT specialist can diagnose frontal sinusitis. Other reasons:
- flu;
- stroke;
- inflammation of the carotid artery (Horton's disease);
- hypertension;
- increased intracranial pressure;
- tumors in the brain;
- trigeminal neuralgia (common pathology of the peripheral nervous system).
In addition, headaches can be a symptom of a refractive error such as nearsightedness (myopia). Also, the cause is often incorrectly selected means of its correction.
If the pain gradually increases, it becomes difficult to endure, if it is frequent and does not go away for a long time, you need to go to the doctor. Taking any medications on your own is dangerous. Complications may arise. Prevention will include timely treatment of any diseases, including ophthalmological ones, eye exercises, limiting the use of electronic devices, proper daily routine and organization of the workspace.