Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsForeign Body in the EyeDry EyeCluster HeadachesScratch on CorneaGlaucomaInflammationInfectionWhen to See a Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Foreign Body in the Eye
Dry Eye
Cluster Headaches
Scratch on Cornea
Glaucoma
Inflammation
Infection
When to See a Healthcare Provider
A sudden, sharp pain in your eye—which can also be described asstabbing pain, burning, or shooting pain—is uncomfortable and can be unsettling.
There is a range of causes for sharpeye pain,from those that are easy to manage, such as dry eye, to others that are more serious like glaucoma.
This article looks at seven causes of sharp eye pain, as well as when to talk to your healthcare provider or seek emergency medical treatment.
Philip Curtis / EyeEm / Getty Images
Sometimes a sudden, sharp pain in your eye happens when something lands on your eye. This could be anything from dust and dirt to some other airborne particle. It could happen at any time but is more likely during activities like metalwork and woodworking (both situations in which you should definitely be wearing safety goggles).
If you wear contact lenses, they could also be to blame. In addition to potentially causing an infection, the lenses can fold or move around on your eye, resulting in sharp pain.
The foreign body doesn’t necessarily have to be solid: Liquid irritants—including chemicals—could also be the source of pain in your eye.
If it feels like something is stuck in your eye, chances are your eye will water a lot and blink to help flush out the object. You can also wash or flush your eye as thoroughly as possible with clean water.You should contact your healthcare provider if you aren’t able to rinse out the particle. If chemicals have gotten in your eye, it’s best to get medical attention as soon as possible.
Always avoid rubbing your eyes even though you may feel tempted to. Rubbing your eye can cause whatever is in it to scratch your cornea and make the pain even worse.
Dry eyes can cause a few different symptoms, including sharp eye pain. Specifically,dry eyecan make it feel like you have a foreign object in your eye even if you don’t.
Causes of dry eye may include:
Treatment for dry eye may include:
Be sure to ask your healthcare provider about the type of eye drops they recommend since some eye drops can make eyes dry and red.
Can Dry Eyes Cause Headaches or Migraines?
Cluster headachesinvolve pain on one side of the face (from neck to temple). Other symptoms may include:
These headaches feel the worst five or 10 minutes after they start, with the strongest pain lasting between 30 minutes and two hours.
Cluster headache treatment includes one or more of the following:
A scratch or scrape on thecornea—also referred to as a corneal abrasion—can be the source of sharp pain in your eye.
Fingernails, tree branches, and contact lenses are a few examples of objects that can scratch a cornea.
Treatment may include:
There are two main types of glaucoma:
Treatment for glaucoma may include:
Eye inflammation can also result in sharp eye pain. For example, inflammation of the middle layer of the eyeball (the uvea) is known asuveitis. In addition to causing pain, it can damage eye tissue, leading to blindness. It can also result inphotophobia, which is extreme sensitivity to light.
Treatment usually involves steroid medications to reduce inflammation and prevent vision loss.The different forms include:
Eye infections—both bacterial and viral—may be a source of eye pain.
Rubbing or touching your eyes after touching something contaminated can lead to an eye infection. It’s also possible for an infection to spread from one part of the body (like the sinuses) to the eye.
One of the best-known eye infections isconjunctivitis, also called pink eye. It happens when the mucous membranes that line the inner eyelids and surface of the eyeballs (the conjunctiva) become infected via bacteria, a virus, or allergies.
Other examples of viruses that can cause eye infection areherpes zoster(shingles) andherpes simplex.
Some mild eye infections will get better on their own without treatment, but sometimes anti-viral or antibiotic eye drops or ointment will be prescribed to treat the infection.
A Word From VerywellA multitude of conditions can result in sharp or stabbing eye pain. While some can be of minimal concern and resolve on their own, there are many causes that may result in permanent vision loss should they remain untreated. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and seek an evaluation from an eye doctor to prevent more serious damage.—CHRISTINE L. LARSEN, MD, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
A Word From Verywell
A multitude of conditions can result in sharp or stabbing eye pain. While some can be of minimal concern and resolve on their own, there are many causes that may result in permanent vision loss should they remain untreated. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and seek an evaluation from an eye doctor to prevent more serious damage.—CHRISTINE L. LARSEN, MD, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
A multitude of conditions can result in sharp or stabbing eye pain. While some can be of minimal concern and resolve on their own, there are many causes that may result in permanent vision loss should they remain untreated. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and seek an evaluation from an eye doctor to prevent more serious damage.
—CHRISTINE L. LARSEN, MD, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD
You shouldn’t take any chances when it comes to your eyes and vision, so if you’re experiencing sharp eye pain and you aren’t sure what’s causing it (or you know it’s from an object stuck in your eye that you can’t remove yourself), it’s time to see a healthcare provider.
If you have an infection like pink eye, a healthcare provider will be able to prescribe the correct medication to treat it.
In some cases, more serious treatment will be needed to deal with the underlying condition causing your eye pain, such as:
What Is a Medical Emergency That Requires Immediate Treatment?Eye pain is always something to take seriously, but it’s good to know when you should make an appointment with anophthalmologistto check in, and when it’s a medical emergency. Examples of emergency situations include:Serious eye injury from objects, chemicals, and burnsSomething stuck in the eye that requires a professional to removeVomitingA visual sensation of halos around lightsA buildup of fluid pressure behind the cornea that causes the cornea to become opaqueSigns of bodily infection (such as fever or chills)Blurred visionBulging eyeballsInability to move the eyes through their normal rangeDouble vision
What Is a Medical Emergency That Requires Immediate Treatment?
Eye pain is always something to take seriously, but it’s good to know when you should make an appointment with anophthalmologistto check in, and when it’s a medical emergency. Examples of emergency situations include:Serious eye injury from objects, chemicals, and burnsSomething stuck in the eye that requires a professional to removeVomitingA visual sensation of halos around lightsA buildup of fluid pressure behind the cornea that causes the cornea to become opaqueSigns of bodily infection (such as fever or chills)Blurred visionBulging eyeballsInability to move the eyes through their normal rangeDouble vision
Eye pain is always something to take seriously, but it’s good to know when you should make an appointment with anophthalmologistto check in, and when it’s a medical emergency. Examples of emergency situations include:
Summary
There are many causes of eye pain, some being mild such as inflammation or dry eye, and others being more serious such as glaucoma. In many cases, the source of the pain can be easily identified and taken care of. However, if you’re unsure or don’t recognize a clear cause of eye pain, talk to your healthcare provider to get the right diagnosis and treatment.
13 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MedlinePlus.Eye - foreign object in.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Contact lens-related eye infections.Information NC for B, Pike USNL of M 8600 R, MD B, Usa 20894.Small Objects in the Eye: Overview. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).American Academy of Ophthalmology.Treating acute chemical injuries of the cornea.Penn Medicine.Dry eye.MedlinePlus.Cluster headacheAmerican Optometric Association.Corneal abrasion.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Types of glaucoma.National Eye Institute.Glaucoma.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Conjunctivitis (pink eye).American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is scleritis?National Eye Institute.Uveitis.Penn Medicine.Eye emergencies.
13 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MedlinePlus.Eye - foreign object in.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Contact lens-related eye infections.Information NC for B, Pike USNL of M 8600 R, MD B, Usa 20894.Small Objects in the Eye: Overview. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).American Academy of Ophthalmology.Treating acute chemical injuries of the cornea.Penn Medicine.Dry eye.MedlinePlus.Cluster headacheAmerican Optometric Association.Corneal abrasion.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Types of glaucoma.National Eye Institute.Glaucoma.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Conjunctivitis (pink eye).American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is scleritis?National Eye Institute.Uveitis.Penn Medicine.Eye emergencies.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
MedlinePlus.Eye - foreign object in.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Contact lens-related eye infections.Information NC for B, Pike USNL of M 8600 R, MD B, Usa 20894.Small Objects in the Eye: Overview. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).American Academy of Ophthalmology.Treating acute chemical injuries of the cornea.Penn Medicine.Dry eye.MedlinePlus.Cluster headacheAmerican Optometric Association.Corneal abrasion.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Types of glaucoma.National Eye Institute.Glaucoma.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Conjunctivitis (pink eye).American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is scleritis?National Eye Institute.Uveitis.Penn Medicine.Eye emergencies.
MedlinePlus.Eye - foreign object in.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Contact lens-related eye infections.
Information NC for B, Pike USNL of M 8600 R, MD B, Usa 20894.Small Objects in the Eye: Overview. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Treating acute chemical injuries of the cornea.
Penn Medicine.Dry eye.
MedlinePlus.Cluster headache
American Optometric Association.Corneal abrasion.
Glaucoma Research Foundation.Types of glaucoma.
National Eye Institute.Glaucoma.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Conjunctivitis (pink eye).
American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is scleritis?
National Eye Institute.Uveitis.
Penn Medicine.Eye emergencies.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
