Pain Behind Eyeball: When to Worry and How to Relieve Discomfort

Eye pain can manifest itself in many ways. The sensation can be a minor annoyance to an alarming symptom that makes you wonder. When it comes to eyeball-related pain, it helps to understand what’s normal and when to seek immediate medical attention. 

Below, we’ll shed light on common symptoms and causes, when you should worry, and what to do about the pain.

What Causes Pain Behind the Eyes?

If you experience pain behind your eyes, the most common causes could be:

• Eyestrain: This is a very common condition. When the eyes get tired from prolonged/intense use (especially from blue light emitted by digital displays/screens), the eye muscles tend to develop tension, which is manifested as eye pain. You can learn more about eye strain and eye pain here.
• Migraine: Migraine attacks can also lead to nerve endings sending pain signals through the trigeminal nerve, causing pain behind, around, and in the eyes.¹
• Sinus infection: A sinus infection can also result in eye pain due to the close anatomical link between the eye sockets and sinuses. Inflammation in the sinuses can exert pressure on tissues surrounding the eye, leading to pain.²
• Cavernous sinus thrombosis: This rare condition, characterized by blood clots in the cavernous sinus, is also known to cause sharp pain, alongside other symptoms.³
• Angle-closure glaucoma: More so, the acute form is known to cause severe eye pain linked to the rapid increases in eye pressure due to the clogged eye drainage system.⁴
• Optic neuritis: This condition, characterized by optic nerve inflammation, is also known to cause eye pain, especially when moving the eyes.⁵
• Toothache: A toothache can cause referred pain, meaning the transfer of pain to other areas like the visual system, since they share nerve pathways.⁶
• Face injury: A facial injury (such as eye socket fractures) can also damage the eye structures and result in pain as one of the many side effects.
• Grave’s disease: Autoimmune diseases like Grave’s disease (linked to an overactive thyroid) can also cause eye pain. This has also been referred to as thyroid eye disease.⁷
• Corneal damage: Physical trauma from an eye injury or other causes, like bacterial infection and foreign bodies, can cause damage and result in symptoms like eye pain, blurry vision, and more.⁸
• Blepharitis and Conjunctivitis: Eye conditions like blepharitis, characterized by inflammation of the eyelids, and conjunctivitis, characterized by inflammation of the conjunctiva (membrane covering the white part of the eyes), are known to cause eye pain among other symptoms.⁹

Now that we know some common causes of eye pain, let’s shift focus to the symptoms accompanying the eye pain.

What Are Some Common Eye Pain Symptoms? 

Eye pain behind the eyeball is usually accompanied by many symptoms, the most common being:

• Partial/reduced vision or permanent vision loss: Inability to see things clearly or completely.
• Sensitivity to light: mild to severe discomfort when exposed to bright lights/sunlight.
• Excessive tearing: Producing an abnormal amount of tears.
• Double vision: Seeing two images of one object.
• Halos around lights: Caused when light is scattered or bent in unusual ways, resulting in the appearance of halos (coloured rings) when looking at light sources.
• Appearance of new floaters: Eye pain can also come alongside eye floaters, which are spots, shadows, strings, or “cobwebs” in your field of vision.
• Restricted eye movement: When the eye pain is linked to conditions like Optic neuritis, it can be hard/painful to move the eyes freely. The eye condition can cause pain when moving the eye in various directions. Other symptoms include a gritty sensation, as if something is in the eye.
• Perception of flashes or streaks of light: Migraines and some eye conditions like optic neuritis, retinal tears, and retinal detachment can cause a perception of streaks of light/flashes.
• Severe headache, accompanied by eye discomfort.

How to Relieve Pressure Behind the Eyes

Here’s what you should do to relieve the pain/pressure behind the eyes.

1. Prescription Medications

Since pressure/pain behind the eyes could be due to many conditions, the choice of medication should be dependent on the underlying diagnosis. The importance of visiting an eye doctor for proper diagnosis can’t therefore be overemphasized. This applies even for pain relievers, OTC eye drops, and more.

You can visit any of the Kodak Lens Vision Centres in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area for a comprehensive eye exam.

2. Sinus Treatment

If the underlying cause of pain is a sinus infection, you’ll need to get sinus treatment, which may include saline nasal sprays.

3. Glaucoma Treatment

Glaucoma is also responsible for pain behind the eyeball. You’ll need a comprehensive eye exam that includes an eyetrust visual analysis to be diagnosed and treated.

4. Botox Injections

If the underlying cause of pain is neuropathic/nociplastic contributors, research shows that Botox injections can relieve this particular eye pain.¹⁰

5. Physical Therapy or Massage

Alternative treatments like physical therapy can also assist with eye pain caused by muscle tension and/or simple eye strain, like digital eye strain.¹¹ Other remedies include using a cold compress.

6. Surgery

For eye conditions like glaucoma, where typical treatments aren’t effective, surgery can help to control eye pressure and pain, preventing further optic nerve damage.¹²

Since many conditions cause eye pain (including dental issues, nerve issues, & autoimmune conditions) and situations may vary from one person to another, we recommend you schedule an eye exam first before trying any of the above treatments.

When Should I See a Doctor?

While pain behind the eyeballs isn’t usually a cause for immediate concern, some symptoms are an indication of a more serious issue. You should see an eye doctor immediately when you experience any one or more of the following symptoms:

• Sudden/intense pain behind one or both eyes
• Blurred vision, double vision, or loss of vision
• Persistent redness in the eyes, swelling, or discharge
• Persistent/worsening/throbbing eye pain despite home treatments
• Abnormal sensitivity to light
• A burning sensation in the eyes
• Continuous blurry sight
• Persistent headache alongside the eye pain
• Fever, nausea, and/or vomiting
• Drooping eyelid 

The above symptoms could be a sign of something serious, like acute glaucoma, optic neuritis, corneal infections, or a severe sinus infection that requires prompt medical attention. 

Final thoughts

In a nutshell, pain behind the eyeballs can be due to many conditions, and it can be normal or serious depending on the underlying cause.

While you can try to relieve the discomfort or slight pain linked to less serious eye conditions, you’ll need to see an eye doctor for serious symptoms that won’t go away on their own. Eye doctors can also differentiate the type of eye pain, analyse additional symptoms, and offer effective, tailored, and prompt treatment plans. Book an appointment with our Optometrists to care for your eye pain now.

Eye Pain FAQs 

1. Why Do I Have Sudden Sharp Stabbing Pain Behind the Eye?  

As discussed, there are many causes of pain behind the eyes, the most notable ranging from several eye conditions to eye trauma/injury, eye strain, and more. To uncover the exact cause, you should go see your local optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam.

2. I Have a Headache and It Hurts to Move My Eyes, What Do I Do? 

Some eye conditions, like Optic neuritis, are known to cause eye pain when you move the eyes, resulting in other symptoms like headaches. Other conditions or circumstances (like an injury) could also be the reason for headaches and eye pain. It’s advisable to visit an eye doctor to ascertain the cause of your headache and eye pain.

3. How Long Can Eye Pain Last?

It depends on the underlying condition. However, normal eye pain linked to less serious issues tend to last for a few hours to days and may go away without medication. Eye pain linked to serious eye conditions tends to be persistent and won’t go away without treatment.

4. Why Do I Have Pain Behind My Eye When Looking Up?

The causes can range from common conditions like eye strain, migraines, and sinus infections to more serious causes like optic neuritis, corneal damage, Graves’ disease, and glaucoma. To be safe, you should consult with a specialist to rule out serious conditions.

References

1. 2025, Understanding Migraine, Healthline.com
2. 2023, Acute Sinusitis, mayoclinic.org
3. 2024, Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis, msdmanuals.com:
4. 2024, Understanding Glaucoma, aao.org:
5. 2021, Optic Neuritis, mayoclinic.org:
6. 2025, Pressure Behind the Eyes, optometrists.org:
7. 2024, Graves’ Disease – Symptoms, mayoclinic.org:
8. 2023, Corneal Disease, my.clevelandclinic.org:
9. 2023, Blepharoconjunctivitis, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:
10. 2025, Impact of Botox, sciencedirect.com:
11. 2019, Acupressure Points in the Eyes, healthline.com:
12. 2023, Glaucoma Surgery, my.clevelandclinic.org: