What Does It Mean When Your Right Eye Hurts?

Because they provide one of the most important functions of the human body, experiencing pain in your eyes can be a very alarming experience. Thankfully, the majority of discomfort in the eyes is usually down to a temporary condition. But, what does it mean when your right eye hurts?

According to For Eyes, some potential causes of pain behind the right eye include infection, which can lead to increased pressure in the eye, severe headaches, and in more serious cases, optic neuritis, the symptoms of which include discomfort in the eye and blurred or darkened vision.

Per Healthline, pain in the eyes is often referred to as ocular pain, and some other potential causes of this include having a foreign object in your eye, conjunctivitis (otherwise known as pink eye), contact lens irritation, an injury to the eye, a condition known as Blepharitis which occurs when the eyelid becomes infected, and a potentially very painful condition known as sty, which can cause nodules or raised bumps on the eyelid.

Some other potential causes of ocular pain include glaucoma — which occurs when the pressure inside the eye begins to rise — an infection of the sinuses known as sinusitis, an inflammation of the iris known as iritis, and injury to the eye. 

According to Healthline, ocular pain could also indicate a very serious problem and it is advised you seek emergency medical attention if you begin experiencing vision loss, are suffering from severe eye pain, if you experience sudden and dramatic changes to your vision, if your eye pain was caused by trauma or exposure to a chemical or light, or if you're experiencing abdominal pain and vomiting alongside your ocular pain.

Per WebMD, eye-specialist doctors may use a variety of methods when treating a patient for their eye pain, including a slit-lamp exam which uses bright light to examine the structures of your eye, a tool known as a tonometer which measures pressure in the eye, and dilating drops which are used to expand the pupil and allow the doctor to see deeper inside your eye. 

For less serious eye issues, some effective home remedies include resting your eyes by taking time away from phone or computer screens, applying a warm and moist towel to the eye area, taking antibiotics, and using eye drops (via Healthline).