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:

Possible Urgent Medical Need
Iritis
Glaucoma

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:

black/tarry stools

significant chest pain

severe epigastric pain

chest pain when breathing

severe vision disturbances

significant right hypochondriac pain

severe periumbilical pain

very bloodshot eyes

severe left lumbar pain

African ethnicity

sensitivity to bright light

significant abdominal 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
Glaucoma	91%	Confirm
Possible Urgent Medical Need	29%	Unlikely
Iritis	3%	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.

Iritis

Although it is more common for just one eye to be affected during an attack of iritis, both eyes may be affected at the same time. There are several symptoms of iritis that are fairly specific to it, one being 'contralateral photosensitivity'. This means that the eye with iritis will feel pain even if light is shined into the OTHER eye only.

Concerned or curious about your health? Try The Analyst™