severe pain behind left eye/headache

river525

I wish someone would answer your question as this is happening to my mother. She is also experiencing double vision along with the pain. All her CTs and MRIs are negative also.

Hopefully someone will have some advice for you and my mom soon.

take care

dnzel

"Severe" pain is not typical of eye strain and eye strain does not develop suddenly. CTs and MRIs may not reveal a low grade inflammation of the optic nerve which could cause this pain on eye movement. The only other logical explanation for severe pain is corneal erosion which would be relieved by keeping your eye closed. You should revisit your eye doctor and/or get a second opinion.

Double vision is another story. This could be a problem with the extraocular muscles but is not necessarily associated with severe pain. Again, seek another opinion on the double vision.

MRIs and CTs have become commmonplace to rule out the really "heavy" stuff but many eye problems are more subtle. There are too many possibilities and not enough information posted to give more meaningful suggestions.

purple2067

Have you had a visual field test to see if you have Optic Neuritis? Sometimes that can detect it even when an MRI cannot. It can detect very subtle changes. That is the usual diagnostic tool. Optic Neuritis can cause eye headaches, double vision, and pain upon movement of the eye especially when looking from side to side and up and down. It feels like a dull ache, almost like you have a sinus infection. Which brings me to another point...... sinus problems can cause pain behind the eyes. When I had very severe sinus problems, sometimes I would even black out. A CT scan would show sinus inflammation though.

It is unlikely that you have a corneal erosion, since the pain you are describing is behind your eye and more resembles a headache. If you had a corneal erosion you would feel it in the front of your eye (that is where your cornea is) and you would feel like there is something sticking in your eyeball, like a piece of sand. If it got really bad and infected you would feel like there is a knife scratching off your cornea.

I'm curious to find out what they diagnose you with, so please keep us updated. My guess would be mild inflammation of the Optic Nerve, otherwise known as Optic Neuritis.