Feeling an unusual, persistent pressure behind one eye can be unsettling and uncomfortable. Before going to WebMD and giving yourself more reasons to stress, know that pressure in one eye is most often due to a simple headache or sinus condition.
However, this pressure can be a symptom of a more serious condition like optic neuritis or Graves’ disease. A comprehensive eye exam with your optometrist can help detect signs of ocular diseases or other health risks that may not be obvious from symptoms of pressure.
Common Causes of Pressure in One Eye
Pressure behind the eyes often feels like a stretching sensation or a fullness while pain generally feels like stabbing, burning, or stinging. Common eye problems like pink eye or allergies can cause eye pain but not pressure, which is an important distinction when figuring out what’s causing your discomfort.
Common causes of pressure behind the eye include migraines, headaches, sinus infections, toothaches, face injuries, Graves’ disease, and optic nerve damage.
Migraines and Other Headaches
Migraines are one of the most common causes of pressure in one eye. These severe headaches often come with a throbbing pain that can affect one side of the head, including the eye area. Along with pressure, migraines may cause sensitivity to light, nausea, and visual disturbances like flashing lights or blind spots.
Cluster headaches, another type of severe headache, can result in intense pain around one eye, often accompanied by redness and tearing. However, most people experience tension headaches, which causes mild, moderate, or intense pressure behind your eyes and in your head and neck.
Sinus Infection
Sinus infections, or sinusitis, is caused by bacteria or viruses that get into the space behind your nose, eyes, and cheeks. When the sinuses become inflamed, they can create a buildup of mucus that puts pressure on the surrounding areas, including behind the eyes. Symptoms of sinusitis also often include:
- Fever
- Cough
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Stuffy or runny nose
- Loss of sense of smell
Tooth Pain
Surprisingly, toothaches can also cause pressure behind the eye, especially if the toothache is caused by an infection. Feeling pressure or pain in parts of the face other than in the mouth or in a specific tooth is often called referred pain, and works like a ventriloquist act. Other dental issues such as abscesses, cavities, or gum infections can also cause this type of discomfort.
It’s also possible that a problem with your teeth or jaw alignment can cause tension in your face muscles, which can induce a feeling of pain or pressure behind your eyes.
Injury to the Face
Though it may seem obvious, eye pressure may not be the most obvious of concerns when it comes to a face injury. Regardless of whether the injury is sustained in an accident, during sports, or any other activity, injuries to the face can result in pressure and pain around the eye – potentially even damage to the eye itself, which can lead to persistent discomfort.
Eye muscles, nerves, and sinuses can all be damaged by face injuries, particularly if the injury causes eye socket fractures, which cause:
- Swelling
- Blurry or double vision
- Numbness in the face
- The appearance of the eye either bulging or sinking into the socket
Graves’ Disease
A less obvious but more serious cause for pressure behind the eye is Graves’ disease: an autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack the thyroid gland, making it release excessive hormones. As a result of an overactive thyroid gland, tissues, muscles, and fat can enlarge.
People with Graves’ disease can have a feeling of pressure behind their eyes, which worsens when they move their eyes. Other Graves’ disease symptoms include:
- Dry or red eyes
- Double vision or vision loss
- Sensitivity to light
- Eyes bulging or swelling
- Ulcers on the eyes
Optic Neuritis
Similar to Graves’ disease, optic nerve damage can be another serious cause for pressure behind your eyes. This damage to the optic nerve is typically caused by autoimmune conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS) or lupus but not always.
Pain and brief vision loss are common side effects that can last up to twelve weeks. Additional symptoms can include reduced vision, color blindness, blurry sight, or the pupil reacting unusually to bright light.
When Eye Pressure Is an Emergency
While pressure in one eye is often manageable, there are instances when it signals a medical emergency. If you experience sudden vision loss, severe pain, or any other alarming symptoms, it’s crucial to seek immediate medical attention.
How to Avoid Pressure Behind Eyes in the Future
Over-the-counter pain relievers and prescribed medications can help alleviate symptoms of pressure, but preventing the symptoms before they occur involves adopting healthy habits, proactive eye care, and avoiding negative triggers like stress, certain foods, or lack of sleep.
You can get started on managing your eye health by:
- Practicing good eye hygiene by regularly washing your hands, avoiding rubbing your eyes, and keeping eyewear clean
- Managing stress to ward off migraines and other headaches through relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and regular exercise
- Adopting healthy habits like a balanced diet (with vitamins A, C, E, and omega-3 fatty acids), adequate hydration, and getting enough sleep are beneficial to overall health in addition to eye health
- Using proper eye protection during activities that post a risk of injury (e.g., sports, construction, prolonged UV exposure) can prevent trauma to the eyes and reduce the risk of developing UV-related eye conditions
- Having regular eye check-ups can be a way for your optometrist to detect any potential eye or other health issues before symptoms even appear
Total Vision is proud to provide authentic and detail-oriented eye care to patients of all ages, for a wide range of specialty eye care from dry eye therapy and digital eye strain to myopia control and laser eye surgery consultation. Contact us today so we can help assuage your fears regarding eye pressure.
