Eye Pain

WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR

* You have something embedded in your eye.

* You've received a blow to the eye.

* You have a dull ache around your eyes that persists for more than two days.

* You have a sudden or piercing pain deep in your eyes.

* Your eye pain is accompanied by a change in your vision, headaches, nausea or sensitivity to light.

What Your Symptom Is Telling You

The eyes have been called the most sensitive organs in the human body. That's because they're honeycombed with pain receptors—extremely sensitive, finely tuned nerve endings that help protect these vital organs.

This means that the slightest insult to the surface—a blast of cold, dry air or an inward-growing eyelash, for example—can stimulate these nerves, firing a pain signal to your brain. The result: Your eyes smart or feel scratchy.

Other factors inside your body can also excite your eye's hypersensitive receptors. A sinus infection can inflame the adjacent muscles, for example, and trigger a throbbing, sometimes sharp, pain behind the eye socket. A simple act like rolling your eyes can hurt.

Ironically, keeping your eyes too still for too long can strain the muscles that move your eyes into their proper position. That's why you feel a dull ache around your eyes after staring at spreadsheets on your computer screen for hours or reading page after page of that three-inch-thick novel. If the reading light is dim or the overhead lighting is too harsh, your orbs may ache even more.

In addition, wearing ill-fitting glasses or trying to see through outdated prescription lenses can also strain surrounding muscles.

Sometimes, the pain you feel in your eyes orginates elsewhere in your body. "What feels like eye pain is often actually a headache or pain in the facial muscles caused by tension," says Robert E. Kalina, M.D., chairman of ophthalmology at the University of Washington in Seattle.

But if the pain is severe, your eyes are red and your vision's blurry, the likely culprit is uveitis—an inflammation involving the pigmented areas in the eye. It's often brought on by an infection elsewhere in the body. Severe pain with other symptoms—most notably nausea and haloes around lights—is a sign of glaucoma, a buildup of pressure around the eye that can lead to blindness if left untreated.

Symptom Relief

Any kind of persistent eye soreness or sudden eye pain requires a doctor's evaluation and possibly medical treatment. If it turns out that you have uveitis, for instance, you will need to take an anti-inflammatory medication to reduce the swollen tissues that are pressing on the nerves. For glaucoma, you'll need antipressure drops. Once the pressure has been controlled, you may need laser surgery to prevent fluid buildup.

For run-of-the-mill soreness caused by overuse or sinus infection, here's what you can do.

Don't let the drops drain away. If your doctor has prescribed medicated eyedrops to relieve pain from infection or some other cause, you need to make sure the medicine stays in your eyes and doesn't roll down your cheeks, says Mitchell H. Friedlaender, M.D., director of corneal services in the Division of Ophthalmology at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California, and coauthor of 20/20: A Total Guide to Improving Your Vision and Preventing Eye Disease. The correct way to apply eyedrops: Tilt your head back and squeeze a drop or two inside your lower eyelid. Keep your eyes closed for a good two minutes. Or, you can use your finger and press in the inside corner of your eye. "This allows the drops to penetrate into the eye and prevents them from getting into the bloodstream," says Dr. Friedlaender.

Try artificial tears for scratchiness. Home remedies such as over-the-counter artificial tears can relieve mild eye discomfort caused by dryness, cold air or smog, according to Kenneth Kauvar, M.D., assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver and author of Eyes Only. If after two days of using these drops your eyes still smart, see your doctor.

Take two aspirin and relax. If you're experiencing a dull ache in or around your eyes, it may be headache-related. If so, one or two aspirin every six to eight hours should relieve the problem, says Dr. Kalina. If the pain is still there after two days, see your doctor.

Give your eyes a break. Taking a brief rest from prolonged reading or other close work may be enough to relieve eye strain, says Dr. Kauvar. Look up from the page or computer screen and gaze off into the distance every ten minutes or so. Or let your eyes unfocus every so often.

Do pencil push-ups. Simple eye exercises can limber up tired eye muscles that have been fixed on a computer screen for hours, according to James L. Cox, O.D., behavioral optometrist with the College of Optometrists in Vision Development in Bellflower, California. Try focusing your eyes on a pencil as you slowly move it in toward your nose and then back out again. Repeat for a full minute every 20 minutes, says Dr. Cox.

Use soft overall lighting plus spotlights. Dim lighting or glare strains eyes as your muscles keep trying to move your eyes into a position to obtain the most light, says Dr. Kauvar. The best illumination, he says, is soft overall background lighting with a light aimed at what you're reading.

Take your specs in for a checkup. "Glasses that slide down your nose can make your eyes ache as the muscles on the side of your eyes try to move your eyes to compensate for an abnormal eye deviation," says Dr. Kauvar. Your glasses should fit properly, he says. An outdated eyeglass prescription can also strain your eyes. So be sure to have your eyes checked for any vision changes at least once a year.

See also Eye Irritation