What Causes a Headache Behind the Eyes?

Having a headache behind the eyes is a relativelyand strains the eye muscles. This causes pain
common problem, and such headaches happen foraround the eyeballs, which feels like a headache
a variety of reasons.behind the eyes.
Most of the time, such headaches are a sign ofPresbyopia - When we're young, and even in our
some other problem or disorder. This problemearly adult years, the lenses of our eyes are
may have nothing to do with your eyes or vision.pretty flexible. But with passing time, we lose
To stop the pain, you first have to figure outsome of this flexibility.
where the pain is coming from.The result: objects close to us begin to lose their
What Causes a Headache Behind the Eyes?clarity. This is why many people need "reading
Here are the most common reasons most peopleglasses" as they pass into middle age.
get a headache behind the eyes.When you have uncorrected presbyopia, you will
Your sinuses or an infection in your respiratorystrain your eyes trying to make them focus as
system can might be the cause. Swollen nasalyou read. This results in headaches in the area
passages near the eyes can put pressure onaround the eyes.
nerves behind the eyeballs when you have a coldHyperopia - This is similar to presbyopia in that
or the flu..images don't focus correctly on the retina. They
Unfortunately, there's a possibility your headachefocus in an area behind the retina instead. Once
may be caused by a tumor. Hopefully, this is notagain, the brain overworks the eye muscles in an
the case.effort to resolve the problem. This, of course,
But the most common problem that causes alead to strained muscles and soreness around the
headache behind the eyes is related to generaleyes.
eye health and eye conditions or disorders.Tips for Relieving Headache Pain
Something happens that causes the lens of theMany different over-the-counter medications are
eye to cast an unfocused image on the retina.available that will relieve pain from a mild headache
When this happens, your brain automaticallybehind the eyes. Talk to your doctor or
tightens your eye muscles in an effort topharmacist for specific recommendations.
compensate. After this has been going on for aIf over-the-counter pain-relievers don't work, and
while, the eye muscles become strained, causingyour headache persists for several days, call your
soreness.If this situation corrected, the musclesdoctor. He or she may prescribe something
become even more strained and sore.stronger.
There are several common vision problems thatIf your headaches are happening often, and you
are likely to result in soreness and pain behind thehaven't had an eye exam for a while, a visit to
eyes.The list of vision problems that are likely toyour optometrist is probably in order. Since
produce such discomfort or pain include theheadaches behind the eyes are often caused by
following.uncorrected vision, a set of eye glasses or
Astigmatism - Sometimes there's a change in thecontacts may put an end to your discomfort.
shape of the lens, which results in a distortedAcupuncture and massage may help to some
image landing on the retina. Vision becomes blurrypeople.
or fuzzy.Short of the possibilities just mentioned, your best
You'll notice that people who have astigmatismbet is rest and relaxation. If eye strain is the
sometimes have to squint a lot. By squinting,cause of your headaches, then giving your eyes a
they're trying to force their eyes to focus.break is probably the best prescription for finding
Squinting, if it's done often enough, overworksrelief.