Eye pain begins when you have inflammation or an infection, eye disease, or injury.

Many common and serious eye conditions fall under these categories.

Learning about the various eye pain causes and symptoms helps you know when to see a healthcare provider.

What Causes Eye Pain

Illustration by Joules Garcia for Verywell Health

Illustration by Joules Garcia for Verywell Health

Common Causes

There are many reasons for eye pain.

Some may affect only one eye; others cause discomfort in or around both eyes.

The most common causes include:

Can Stress Cause Eye Pain?

Yes, stress can contribute to eye pain.

Stress can also exacerbate some conditions, like dry eye syndrome, leading to increased eye pain.

Call 911 immediately at the first sign of stroke.

Others require a visit to a healthcare provider, prescription medication, or specialist procedures.

American Academy of Ophthalmology.Pain in eye.

Lindsley K, Nichols JJ, Dickersin K.Non-surgical interventions for acute internal hordeolum.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

2017 Jan 9;1(1):CD007742.

doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007742.pub4

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Eye injury prevention.

American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is dry eye?

Symptoms, causes and treatment.

2016 Aug;11(5):321-324. doi:10.1080/17469899.2016.1222905

American Academy of Ophthalmology.Conjunctivitis: What is pink eye?

Putnam CM.Diagnosis and management of blepharitis: An optometrist’s perspective.Clin Optom (Auckl).

2016 Aug;8:71-78. doi:10.2147/OPTO.S84795

Bakshi SS.Acute dacryocystitis.CCJM.

American Academy of Ophthalmology.Understanding glaucoma: Symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment.

“Narrow angles” a tip-off to eyesight risk.

Murthy SI, Sabhapandit S, Balamurugan S, et al.Scleritis: Differentiating infectious from non-infectious entities.Indian J Ophthalmol.

2020;68(9):1818-1828. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_2032_20

American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is hyphema?

American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is optic neuritis?

2016;8:23-35. doi:10.2147/OPTO.S72079

Boston Children’s Hospital.Orbital cellulitis (periorbital cellulitis).

American Optometric Association.Ocular migraine.

doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_349_17

Stanford Medicine.Chalazion and stye treatment.

2017;9(3):e1121.

doi:10.7759/cureus.1121

National Eye Institute.Dry eye.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How to treat pink eye.

All About Vision.Dacryocystitis: Causes, symptoms and treatments.

Austin A, Lietman T, Rose-Nussbaumer J.Update on the management of infectious keratitis.Ophthalmology.

2017 Sep;124(11):1678-1689. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2017.05.012

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Scleritis.

American Academy of Ophthalmology.YO need to know: 5 pearls for managing hyphema.

2023;24(1):121. doi:10.1186/s10194-023-01660-8

American Academy of Ophthalmology.Digital devices and your eyes.

American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is a corneal ulcer (keratitis)?

American Academy of Opthalmology.What is scleritis?

Pflipsen M, Massaquoi M, Wolf S.Evaluation of the painful eye.Am Fam Physician.

2016 Jun;93(12):991-98.