Eye pain

Eye pain covers a wide range, and where and how it hurts is the key clue. Surface pain — a gritty, burning or scratchy feeling, often with watering — usually comes from the front of the eye: dry eyes, a foreign body or a scratch on the cornea, conjunctivitis, or a stye or lid inflammation. These are common and mostly minor, though a corneal scratch or infection can be serious. Deeper, aching eye pain, especially with a red eye, blurred vision, light sensitivity or a headache, points to something within or behind the eye and is more concerning: inflammation inside the eye (uveitis or iritis, which is linked to HLA-B27 conditions and to Behçet's disease), a sudden rise in eye pressure (acute glaucoma, typically a severely painful red eye with visual loss, nausea and a hazy cornea — an emergency), or scleritis (a deep, boring pain often tied to autoimmune disease). Pain on moving the eye with reduced vision can indicate inflammation of the optic nerve. Pain around rather than in the eye often comes from sinuses, migraine or nerve problems. So while much eye pain is minor, a painful red eye with visual symptoms needs urgent assessment.

• Dry eyes, a foreign body, or a scratch on the cornea — surface, gritty or scratchy pain.
• Conjunctivitis, a stye or lid inflammation.
• Uveitis / iritis — a painful red eye with light sensitivity and blurring; linked to HLA-B27 conditions and Behçet's disease.
• Acute glaucoma (raised eye pressure) — a severely painful red eye with visual loss and nausea; an emergency.
• Scleritis — deep, boring pain, often with autoimmune disease.
• Optic nerve inflammation — pain on eye movement with reduced vision.
• Referred pain — from the sinuses, a migraine, or nerve problems.

Eye pain is assessed first by an eye examination, not blood tests — the pattern (surface versus deep, with or without red eye, visual change and light sensitivity) directs care, and a painful red eye with visual symptoms needs prompt in-person or eye-specialist review. Where recurrent inflammation inside the eye (uveitis) is found, blood tests help look for an underlying cause: HLA-B27 (linked to spondyloarthritis-associated uveitis), inflammatory markers (ESR, CRP), and tests for autoimmune and infectious causes as indicated. Mediora.AI can surface an HLA-B27 or inflammatory pattern that fits recurrent uveitis in someone with these eye symptoms, but eye pain — especially a painful red eye with blurred vision or light sensitivity — needs prompt clinical assessment, often by an ophthalmologist.