Pain Behind My Eye: What Can Cause a Pain Behind One Eye?

How to deal with eye pain:
Pain behind the eyes may be a symptom of different types of headaches. The more common cause for pain behind the eyes are dry eyes and sinusitis but there are other causes to your pain behind your eye.
Eye pain can be a very uncomfortable feeling and if you're experiencing pain behind one eye, you should consider seeking medical attention.

How to Relieve Eye Pain?

How to get rid of pain behind eye? I  have a pain behind one eye that has lasted for about a month. What's causing pain behind eye?

Answer

There can be many causes for pain occurring behind the eyes. The more common include: sinusitis, dry eyes, orbital inflammatory syndrome, scleritis, optic neuritis, and cranial nerve palsy.

Sinusitis: this is an inflammation (generally an infection) of the sinuses. The ethmoidal and

sphenoidal sinuses are usually involved. The pain is very similar to a headache and can worsen with certain head movements. A CT scan is often needed to confirm this, but it can often be diagnosed by a good history and exam by your doctor. Treatment requires antibiotics for about 10-21 days.

Dry eyes: This is an extremely common problem. Symptoms can include sharp, stabbing pains as well as chronic scratchiness and burning. Treatment generally starts with artificial tears, which can be bought at any grocery or drugstore. Preserved brands (i.e. those containing a preservative) may be used up to 6 times a day. Non-preserved brands may be used as often as needed. Some patients require a procedure to block the tear duct drainage openings, so tear fluid stays longer in the eye. Some patients have very watery eyes despite an underlying dry eye condition. Your ophthalmologist can do tests to determine if this is a cause of your eye pain..

Orbital inflammatory syndrome: this is an idiopathic (i.e. cause unknown) inflammation of the muscles or other contents of the orbit (eye socket). It requires a CT scan for diagnosis, and steroids for treatment.

Scleritis: this is an inflammatory condition that generally causes red eyes and pain. It's usually associated with another, generalized disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or shingles. If your eyes have not been red, then this condition is unlikely. Treatment involves the use of steroids and the use of anti-inflammatory medications.

Optic neuritis: this serious inflammatory condition can affect the nerve to the eye as well as the muscles that lie close to the optic nerve. Generally, the vision becomes blurry and sometimes color perception problems will be noticed. It responds to steroid injections, but can recur and may be a precursor for multiple sclerosis.

Cranial nerve palsies: these may be due to interference with the blood supply to the nerves serving the muscles that control the eyes. They can be quite painful. Generally patients will also suffer from double vision in addition to eye and head pain. Diabetics and patients with high blood pressure are at highest risk for this condition.

One must also mention headache and neuralgia-type disorders that can cause pain around the eyes. You should see an ophthalmologist or a neurologist, in the first instance.