Eye pain

Eye pain is not a pleasant sensation. Not only does it seem to a person that he is losing his sight, but also tears flow from the eyes or, on the contrary, you cannot see them, or the eye pain is accompanied by other nasty symptoms. There are many nerve receptors in the eyes, which is why they are the first to respond to troubles that have befallen other organs and react with pain. So, eye pain - what are its causes?

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What are the most common causes of eye pain?

Everything related to poor vision and eye care. Eye pain can be caused by incorrectly selected lenses, which can scratch the cornea of the eye, or the lenses may be outdated, which also injures the eyes. Incorrectly selected glasses can also cause eye pain. However, the eyes may stop hurting if a person selects the right lenses or glasses or does not wear them for now – until the eye heals.

The causes of irritation of the surface of the eyes may be an outdated computer screen or a person simply sitting in front of it for a long time. Then the eyes may feel a stinging or tingling sensation, and a syndrome known as dry eye syndrome or dry pupil syndrome may also bother. This is a common disease of those who sit at the computer for a long time, especially in poor lighting conditions. Overstrain of the eye muscles (as well as with prolonged viewing of TV) makes itself known. Dry eye syndrome can also occur in those people who work in a room with air conditioners, fans or heating devices. Fluorescent lighting can also negatively affect the eyes, causing eye pain.

Uevit

Eye pain can also be associated with a disease such as uveitis, which is an inflammation of the membrane of the eyeball, densely covered with blood vessels, which is why it is called the vascular membrane. The vascular membrane of the eyeball consists of three parts. The first part is the iris, a colored ring of tissue in which you can see yourself, like in a mirror. The black circle in the center of the iris is the pupil. The second and third parts, which you cannot see when looking in a mirror, are the ciliary body and choroid. They are located behind the iris. An ophthalmologist can only see them with special equipment. Inflammation of the iris is called iritis. Inflammation of the ciliary body is called intermediate uveitis or cyclitis. Inflammation of the vascular membrane is called choroiditis. Inflammation of all three membranes is called panveitis.

Why does uveitis occur?

There are several causes of uveitis, including autoimmune diseases (such as sarcoidosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Behcet's disease, and ankylosing spondylitis), infections (such as syphilis and toxoplasmosis), and trauma. In addition, some causes of eye disease are "idiopathic," meaning the cause is unknown.

Symptoms of Uveitis

Symptoms of uveitis may include some or all of the following:

• Sore eyes (or one eye)
• Red, bloodshot eyes (or one eye)
• Sensitivity to light (severe pain when the eyes are exposed to light, this condition is called photophobia)
• Blurry objects, so-called cloudy vision
• Floating spots in the field of vision

Apart from redness of the eyes (a), other visible signs of uveitis are simply microscopic and cannot be seen by the average person – you need to see an ophthalmologist. The ophthalmologist will see them using a special slit lamp microscope. White blood cells – a symbol of inflammation – can be visualized in the vessels and around part of the choroid of the eyeball. They can also be found in the front part of the eye under the cornea.

Causes of Uveitis

The different types of uveitis are also classified by their underlying causes: autoimmune (when the eye pain is due to an autoimmune disease), infectious (when the eye pain is caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites), traumatic (after an eye injury), or idiopathic (when there is no identifiable cause).

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Trauma, foreign body in the eye

When a foreign body gets into the eye, it can cause severe pain in the eye. This pain can be caused by bacteria that get into different parts of the eye. They also cause inflammation of the retina, which also provokes eye pain.

In these cases, you should immediately rinse the eye and put Albumin solution in it (sold in pharmacies without a prescription). If you do not have this opportunity, you can try to remove the foreign body from the eye by blinking and then massaging it carefully and only with clean fingers. The foreign body should come out of the eye with a tear. You need to massage in the direction of the inner corner of the eye.

Keratitis

If the foreign body is large, it has damaged the eyes, or something has injured the eye while working with various tools or machines, you need to immediately call an ambulance or urgently go to an ophthalmologist. If you delay and do not contact a doctor for 2-3 days, a person may develop keratitis.

Keratitis is the medical term for inflammation of the cornea. The cornea is the dome-shaped window at the front of the eye. When looking at a human eye, the iris and pupil function normally due to the clear cornea. Between the front of the cornea and the environment is only a very thin tear film. The cornea is about 0.5 millimeters thick. The back of the cornea is dipped in an aqueous fluid that fills the anterior chamber of the eye. The diameter of the cornea in the human eye is about 13 mm (½ inch). Together with the sclera (the white part of the eye), the cornea forms the outer layer of the eye.

What are the causes of keratitis?

Keratitis, or an eye condition in which the cornea becomes inflamed, has many potential causes. Various types of infections, dry pupil syndrome, trauma, and a wide variety of underlying medical conditions can all lead to keratitis. In some cases, keratitis is caused by factors unknown to doctors.

What are the types of keratitis?

Keratitis can be classified based on its location, severity of the disease and its cause.

If keratitis affects only the surface (epithelial layer) of the cornea, it is called superficial keratitis. If it affects the deeper layers of the cornea (corneal stroma), it is called stromal keratitis or interstitial keratitis. Inflammation may occur in the center of the cornea, the peripheral part (the part closest to the sclera), or both. Keratitis may affect one or both eyes. Keratitis may be mild, moderate, or severe and may be associated with inflammation in other parts of the eye.

Keratoconjunctivitis is an inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva. Kerato-uveitis is an inflammation of the cornea and blood vessels.

Keratitis can be acute or chronic. It can bother a person only once or twice, or it can recur periodically. Keratitis can be sluggish or progressive, causing damage to the eye.

Causes of Keratitis

Different causes of keratitis can result in different clinical manifestations, so determining the site of inflammation, the severity of the person's condition can often help in identifying the exact cause. Other useful facts in determining the cause of keratitis may include demographic data such as the patient's age, gender, and geographic location.

Infection is the most common cause of keratitis. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasitic organisms can infect the cornea and cause infectious or microbial keratitis.

Bacteria are the most common causes of keratitis. These bacteria include staphylococci, Hemophilus, streptococci, and Pseudomonas. If there is an injury to the front surface of the cornea or just a small scratch and the surface of the eye is damaged, almost all bacteria, including atypical mycobacteria, can enter the cornea, causing keratitis. If the cornea is ulcerated, a condition known as ulcerative keratitis can occur. Before antibiotics, syphilis was a common cause of keratitis.

Viruses that infect the cornea include respiratory viruses, including adenoviruses and others that cause the common cold. Herpes simplex virus is another common cause of keratitis. In the United States, there are about 20,000 new cases of ocular herpes each year, along with more than 28,000 cases of reactivation of the infection. There are also about 500,000 people diagnosed with ocular herpes simplex in the United States. Surprisingly, herpes zoster virus (the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles) can also cause keratitis.

Fungi such as Candida, Aspergillus, and Nocardia are uncommon causes of microbial keratitis. They are most common in people with weakened immune systems due to an underlying medical condition or multiple medications. Fungal keratitis can also occur due to improper handling of contact lenses. Interestingly, bacterial infections can make fungal keratitis more difficult to develop.

Physical or chemical trauma is also a common cause of keratitis and eye pain. Foreign bodies are common sources of keratitis. Ultraviolet radiation from sunlight (snow blindness), exposure to strong light from welding, contact lenses, and chemical agents, splashes, or gases in the form of vapors can cause non-infectious keratitis. Chemical trauma or contact lenses often cause superficial punctate keratitis, in which myriads of damaged cells appear on the surface of the affected cornea.

Abnormalities in the structure of the tear film can also cause changes on the corneal surface due to drying of the corneal epithelium. This type of keratitis is usually superficial and is most often associated with dry eyes. It is known as keratitis sicca or keratitis sicca. If the eyes are very dry, the surface cells can die and remain on the surface of the cornea as threads. This condition is known as filiform keratitis. Failure to close the eyelids properly can also lead to corneal dryness and cause exposure keratitis.

Allergies to airborne pollen, cottonwood fluff, or bacterial toxins in tears can also cause a noninfectious type of keratitis. Autoimmune diseases often affect the periphery of the cornea, causing inflammation and eye pain, a condition called marginal keratitis or limbic keratitis.

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What to do with keratitis?

First of all, see a doctor immediately. If you don't do this in time and start treating your eyes on your own, you can easily lose them. In the case of eye pain, you can't joke around - every day is precious.

Diseases of the eye vessels

The eye vessels are very important for the health of the eye, as they saturate it with blood and oxygen. If the eye vessels become ill, eye pain may occur. It appears due to a lack of blood supply and oxygen. The tissues surrounding the eye also do not receive enough oxygen and blood. Doctors call diseases of the tissue orbit eye ischemia. This is a complex condition that can only be diagnosed in an ophthalmologist's office. Ultrasound triplex scanning is used for this. Treatment for ischemia is usually prescribed by both an ophthalmologist and a cardiologist - together.

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Retinal ischemia

Retinal ischemia is a condition in which the retina experiences a severe lack of oxygen. It can be caused by a number of things, including stroke, accidents, and diabetes. It also often occurs when the central retinal veins become detached from the eye, causing bleeding. When the retina loses oxygen, the body tries to compensate by causing the endothelial vessels to grow rapidly. Unfortunately, this can lead to abnormal blood vessels growing on the surface of the retina. This condition eventually leads to blindness.

At-risk groups

Retinal ischemia is an eye disease that usually affects middle-aged and elderly people. Systemic vascular diseases are also associated with retinal ischemia. They were found in 74% of patients over 50 years old. Arterial hypertension and hyperlipidemia associated with eye pain due to ischemia are observed in 32-60% of cases, and diabetes - in 15-34% of patients. In addition, as doctors have found, migraine is also associated with eye diseases and eye pain. In addition, eye pain can also be provoked by oral contraceptives, sympathomimetics and diuretics.

Causes of retinal ischemia

This disease can be caused by obstruction of the central retinal vein, which leads to accumulation of blood and fluid in the retina. More than 23% of cases of retinal ischemia are associated with ocular diseases such as primary open-angle glaucoma in 25-66%, optic nerve diseases, retinal artery disease, retinal vascular malformations. Trauma or sudden compression of the eyeball, changes in intraocular pressure can also lead to damage to the wall of the eye vessels and eye pain due to displacement or compression of the central retinal vein. Finally, retinal vasculitis can lead to vascular occlusion (occult vessel effect).

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Symptoms of retinal ischemia

Typically, retinal ischemia begins suddenly, without warning. It may affect one eye, but often progresses to affect both eyes. The condition can persist for a long time.

In most cases, patients with retinal ischemia experience sudden, painless loss of visual acuity and visual field associated with optic disc edema. The age range of such patients is very wide and depends in part on the cause of the retinal ischemia. Some patients simply experience sudden loss of vision. The degree of vision loss can be severe, the patient may have only a vague sensation of blurred vision, often described as a shadow or curtain. Vision loss (temporary) can cause serious disturbances in the visual field and the person may lose visual acuity. As soon as even a short-term loss of vision occurs, you should immediately consult a doctor. In the early stages, something can still be done and the person will see. With appropriate treatment, of course.

Surgery or laser therapy may be used to treat retinal ischemia.

Structure of the eye

To understand why eye pain or pain in the eyes occurs, you need to know what the eye consists of. The eye is a sensory organ of humans or animals. The eye can perceive electromagnetic radiation in the range of long light waves and allows a person to see. That is, it provides us with one of the most important functions - visual. The eyeball is a paired formation in the form of a ball, which is located in the eye sockets, called orbits. The orbits and the eye itself, as we know, are located in the human skull.

There are many pain nerve endings in the eyes, so our organ of vision feels all changes in the human body very well and immediately reacts to them. Both to internal and external processes. That is why every disease that seems to have nothing to do with the eyes can directly affect their health and provoke eye pain.

What is eye pain?

Eye pain can appear even with seemingly insignificant factors: a cold wind, a grain of sand in the eye, a sharp change in temperature. There can be many provoking factors. On the other hand, the eye is designed to protect a person from these effects. When frying oil in a frying pan, which can "shoot" fat, you can be almost sure that the eye will immediately close the eyelid, and this process is unconscious - an involuntary protective reaction to an irritant.

As for the nature of eye pain, ophthalmologists distinguish several types of it - from sharp and burning, as if pepper was sprinkled in the eyes, to nagging and long-lasting, barely perceptible.

In order not to end up with serious eye problems by ignoring eye pain, you should definitely see an ophthalmologist when it occurs. If the cause of the pain is unknown to you, but the eye pain still does not go away, the doctor will make a detailed diagnosis and determine the cause of the disease. Eye pain, according to experts, can vary - it can be simple fatigue due to prolonged work at the computer or a manifestation of failures in the oculomotor nerves. Or damage to the carotid artery, or diseases of the internal organs.

Internal factors of eye pain

With other problems in the body, eye pain can coexist with headaches. If a person has overstrained facial muscles, this can also lead to eye pain.

When to see an ophthalmologist?

If you have at least one or more of these symptoms, you should definitely see a doctor.

• Trauma or contusion of the eye
• Foreign body that got into the eye
• eye pain that lasts more than two days
• Visual disturbances and eye pain, which is accompanied by nausea, weakness, headache
• Long-term (more than two days) discomfort or eye pain.