What Causes Pain in Eye?Pain in Eye A pain in the eye may not be due to eye disease, but could be a sign of a severe headache disorder. If serious disease is present the eye will often look red or inflamed. The severe headache disorders which can present with eye pain include:
If this looks like most headache disorders, you are almost right. Usually these diagnoses are not difficult. The very short-lasting pain disorders like SUNCT, Cluster Headache or Migraine with autonomic features might cause confusion as reddening of the eye or eye watering can occur, and suggest there is something wrong with the eye (when there is not!).
Eye Disease causes Pain in the Eye!It goes without saying that there is a long list of diseases of the eye that present with pain (Not all eye diagnoses are as easy as the one in the drawing above). These are beyond my scope or expertise. However, if there is eye pain, reduced acuity, reddening of the eye or clouding of the red reflex (when you attempt ophthalmoscopy) you should involve an eye specialist.In my experience, eye disease is usually filtered out of my referrals by an optician. Most people with headache or eye pain will see an optician long before they see a neurologist. Opticians are expert in detecting eye disease. Most General Practitioners will ask you to see an optician first if they suspect eye disease. However, emergency presentations of eye disease e.g. acute angle closure glaucoma may be so short lived that the person assessing the headache / eye pain is first to suspect the diagnosis of glaucoma - be vigilant, and make sure you examine the eyes.
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