When to see a doctor

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Seek emergency medical care

Call 911 or your local emergency number for eye pain if:

  • It is unusually severe or accompanied by headache, fever or unusual sensitivity to light
  • Your vision changes suddenly
  • You also experience nausea or vomiting
  • It is caused by a foreign object or chemical splashed in your eye
  • You suddenly begin to see halos around lights
  • You have swelling in or around your eyes
  • You have trouble moving your eye or are unable to keep it open
  • You have blood or pus coming from your eyes

Make a doctor's appointment

Contact your eye surgeon if you're experiencing eye pain and you've had eye surgery in the past or if you've recently had eye surgery or an eye injection.

Seek medical attention if you have eye pain and you wear soft contact lenses, have a weakened immune system or your eye pain is not improving after two to three days of medication.

Feb. 14, 2019

See also

  1. Acute sinusitis
  2. Acute sinusitis: Do over-the-counter treatments help?
  3. Aneurysm Surgery
  4. Are you straining your eyes?
  5. Behcet's disease
  6. Blocked tear duct
  7. Brain aneurysm
  8. Infographic: Cardiac sarcoidosis: A heart under attack
  9. Dengue fever
  10. Don't let your computer stare you down
  11. Dry socket
  12. Entropion
  13. Eye vitamins: Can they prevent or treat glaucoma?
  14. Eyestrain
  15. Glaucoma
  16. Gonorrhea
  17. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
  18. Iritis
  19. Keratitis
  20. New Way to Fix Aneurysms
  21. Oil of oregano: Can it treat sinusitis?
  22. Optic neuritis
  23. Sarcoidosis
  24. Screen time making your eyes buggy?
  25. Sinus infection and toothache: Any connection?
  26. Symptom Checker
  27. Trachoma
  28. Trigeminal neuralgia
  29. Tularemia
  30. Uveitis
  31. West Nile virus
  32. Mayo Clinic Research Finds Risk of Glaucoma Blindness Drops by Half