Eye Pain vs.Headache: Where Is the Pain Coming From? | AAO 2025

Pain from around or behind the eyes is a feature of many headaches. But that doesn't mean that there aren't painful eye conditions that cause headaches, explains Michael Gilhooley, M.D., Ph.D., a neuro-ophthalmologist at the Doheny Eye Institute in Pasadena, California.

"We see many patients in the clinic who come in who have a primary problem with their eyes that are sore that gives them pain around their head. We tend to stop calling it a headache when we locate the problem as being something [with] the eye," he said.

Gilhooley said patients with acute angle glaucoma can seek care for "terrible headaches, really uncomfortable." The solution is to reduce the pressure in the eye and that takes away the pain of the headache, he said.

Gilhooley gave a talk today at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual meeting titled, "What You Need To Know About Headache: A Pain for the Patient and a Pain for the Doctor." The title hints at some of the difficulties that ophthalmologist face diagnosing and possibley treating headaches.