Under the leading symptom eye pain (synonyms: Eye Movement Pain; Eye Burning; Eye Pressing; Eye Neuralgia; Eye Pain; Eye Pain with Nausea; Eye Stinging; Foreign Body Sensation in the Eye; Ophthalmic Pain; Orbital Pain; Irritable Eye; ICD-10-GM H57.1: Eye Pain) includes any pain that affects the eye or its immediate surroundings.
Ocular pain may be caused by disease of the eye or by a systemic disorder. Most often, the cause is in the eye itself.
In the course of life, almost everyone suffers from eye pain at one time or another. However, the complaints quickly subside on their own.
In Germany, family doctors examine about four to ten patients with eye problems every week.
Eye pain can be a symptom of many diseases (see “Eye pain/differential diagnoses”).
Acute eye redness with pain can be symptom of many diseases (see under “Eye redness with pain/differential diagnoses”).
The patient must be referred directly to the ophthalmologist in cases of suspected foreign body or perforation, as well as the leading symptoms of eye pain, decreased visual acuity (visual reduction), rock-hard bulb (eyeball), and/or involvement of the cornea (corneal defect; corneal opacity). In contact lens wearers, suspected microbial keratitis (serious corneal inflammation caused by microorganisms) also represents an ophthalmologic emergency.
Course and prognosis: The course and prognosis depend on the cause of the eye pain, which can be very diverse.
