Sore Eyeball

Eye pain is one of the most common eye strain symptom. People who work in front of the computer for more than 6 hours a day, watch excessive TV, irregular sleeping patterns, too much reading, etc. all can lead to making eyes tired and sore. However, one may suffer from sore eyeball to touch and cannot pin point the exact reason behind the eye pain.

Its causes can be divided into two broad categories: ocular pain and orbital pain.

Ocular Pain
Ocular pain is the type of eye pain that occurs in the outer eye structures, like a sore eyelid. The different types of ocular pain are as follows:

Conjunctivitis
Its most common causes is conjunctivitis or sore eye. The sore eyes causes include bacterial or viral infections, chemical or allergic reaction of the conjunctiva. Sore eyes or pink eyes are the non-medical terms used for conjunctivitis. Sore eye symptoms include mild pain in the eye along with itching, redness, watery eyes and sore eyelids due to conjunctivitis

Corneal Abrasions
The transparent surface on your eye is called the cornea. If a foreign body, fingers, tennis ball or overuse of contact lenses occurs it may cause a scratch on the cornea. This simple scratch is very painful and called corneal abrasion. The sore eyeball due to corneal abrasion heals on its own with time.

The treatment in this case involves use of pain killers and antibiotic ointments, if needed.

Corneal Ulcerations
Corneal ulcer occurs due to an infection or abrasion of the eyeball. One may always feel as if there is something in the eye. One feels eye pain due to presence of foreign object in the eyeball. The treatment in this case is similar to corneal abrasions.

Blepharitis
The blockage of the oil gland present at the edge of the eyelid leads to inflammation, pain and soreness. The treatment includes scrubbing of eyelid with a mild baby shampoo and washing eyes twice a day to remove the excess oil.

Stye
Another common cause is sty. This condition is also known as hordeolum. This is an infection of the eyelid margin near the hair follicles of eyelashes or the oil glands. This causes sever sore eyelid and pain. The sore eyelid treatment in case of sty includes use of antibiotic stye ointment and use of warm compress.

Chemical Burns
One of the causes of chemical burns is due to exposure to acids or alkaline substances like bleach or household cleaners. Flash burns may include arc welding or tanning booths, where a person does not use proper eye protection. In some, a sunny day may also lead to burns in sensitive eyes.

Orbital Pain
Orbital pain is the type of deep, dull pain or ache felt behind the eye. The most common causes of orbital pain include diseases of the eye.

Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disorder caused by increase in intraocular pressure that may lead to vision defects and blindness in some cases. This condition is very common in old people and is generally painless.

There are many treatment options of glaucoma like use of eye drops for glaucoma containing topical beta-blocker, topical steroid drop and glaucoma medications. If all treatment fails, then surgery is the only option.

Iritis
Inflammation of the iris can lead to this condition. The treatment for iritis includes use of eye drops that dilate the pupils and topical steroid eye drops.

Optic Neuritis
Inflammation of the optic nerve due to multiple sclerosis, viral or bacterial infections can lead to visual changes and sore eyeball.

Sinusitis
Sinusitis is a bacterial or viral infection of the sinuses that causes eye pain or eye socket pain.

Migraine
The very common cause is migraine. Some people suffer from eyeball pain before the start of a bad migraine attack.

If you feel pain in and around the eyes, halos, eye floaters, limitation of eye movement, sensation of flashes, severe headaches along with sore eyes, visit an ophthalmologist for further treatment. Never take any kind of eye disorder lightly. It is very important to correct eye problems early on, as it might lead to total or partial blindness.