Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Eye Care (Expert Forum)
Pain Behind Eye on Movement
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Pain Behind Eye on Movement
by Christine__0__0, Jan 11, 1999 12:00AM
Over the past two months I have experienced intermittent pain behind my eyes (predominantly the left eye). I have also experienced frontal headaches. The pain is not incapacitating as much as it is chronic. Sometimes this discomfort will go on for days at a time and then I will go for many days with no discomfort. Pain relievers only have a slight effect. The pain mostly occurs when moving my eye to look in different directions--it is like a sore muscle. I have not noticed an visual changes. I will be having an eye exam on 1/18/99. I do not seem to have this discomfort at rest and it is not there when I awake in the morning; however, it starts within one hour of being awake. I also experience some mild queasiness and a sensation of being off balance. I have had a blood chemistry panel, thyroid panel, sinus CT scan, evaluation by an ENT. Everything normal. I am worried that this could be something serious because my vision seems fine (just passed my driver's license visual test!). Anyway, I would appreciate you comments. By the way, I take Prilosec daily and know that one of the side effects is headache/dizziness. I took Prilosec for about 6 weeks before these symptoms began so I doubt it is the medication.
Thanks,
Christine
christine-
hello. i am happy to try to help. what you are desribing is "retrobulbar" pain- pain behind the eye. if this pain was sudden and associated with decreased vision as well as pain on eye movement I would consider this "optic neuritis", or inflammation of the optic nerve, until proven otherwise. however, given the lenght of time you have been experiencing this I would find that unlikely. Sinus causes would be my next consideration, but you say you had a normal sinus CT. next, I would want a thorough eye exam by an ophthalmologist ( eye md ) to rule out intraocular inflammation. finally, if all of this is normal then I might consider unusual inflammatory conditions such as "orbital myosistis", or muscle inflammation. I would be interested to know what, if anyhting, the CT showed in regards to the orbit. finally, I would have to say that a headache of chronic duration might cause this. I hope this helps. Good luck with the eye exam.
keywords: myositis, orbital myositis, optic neuritis
Disclaimer
This information is provided for general medical education purposes only. Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options pertaining to your specific medical condition
