What Could be Causing Eye Pain?

What Causes Eye Pain?

Eye pain can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'worrying' to 'life-threatening'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose eye pain, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "eye pain" as a symptom. Here are three possibilities:

Iritis
Glaucoma
Possible Urgent Medical Need

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

significant red blood in stools

severe right hypochondriac pain

high sensitivity to bright light

bloodshot eyes

slightly black/tarry stools

moderate chest pain

peripheral vision loss

African ethnicity

severe neck pain

having had eye injury or surgery

severe stiff neck

severe right iliac pain

... and more than 10 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of eye pain:

Cause	Probability	Status
Iritis	94%	Confirm
Possible Urgent Medical Need	15%	Unlikely
Glaucoma	1%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

If you indicate eye problems, The Analyst™ will ask further questions including this one:

Are you experiencing eye pain that was not caused by an injury? Include any burning, throbbing, aching or stabbing pain.

Possible responses:

→ Don't know
→ No
→ In the past only
→ Yes, in one eye only
→ Yes, in both eyes

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate absence of eye pain, history of eye pain, pain in one eye or pain in both eyes, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

A Potentially Urgent Medical Need

Severe eye pain should be investigated aggressively to prevent the possible consequence of blindness.

Glaucoma

Acute glaucoma causes episodes of severe eye pain.

Concerned or curious about your health? Try The Analyst™