Eye Diseases and Conditions Slideshow Pictures Pink Eye Slideshow Pictures Cataracts Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Jay Robert Woody, MD

Jay Robert Woody, MD

Dr. Jay Woody is a diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Medicine and is an Attending Physician at Parkland Health and Hospital System, Children's Medical Center of Dallas as well as several other north Texas facilities. He is a well-known and widely published authority in the field of emergency medicine and the former regional medical director of a freestanding emergency medicine practice.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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When to Seek Medical Care

If you have eye pain, seek advice from your doctor or an ophthalmologist. It is difficult over the phone for a health-care provider to grade the severity of eye pain or make a diagnosis without examining you.

Because of the specialized nature of eye examination equipment, most eye problems are usually handled best in your ophthalmologist's office. If your ophthalmologist is not available, go to a hospital's emergency department. If the emergency department has the necessary eye equipment, an ophthalmologist may see you in the emergency department after hours.

• Any eye pain related to burns (chemical or flash) needs immediate treatment.



• Eye pain associated with loss of vision, loss of eye movement, painful eye movement, eye swelling, eye discharge, and severe headache are all significant findings that need to be evaluated by your ophthalmologist or in the emergency department immediately.



• Any eye pain related to a traumatic event such as an object puncturing the eye, a blow to the eye with a foreign object, or a motor vehicle collision with injuries affecting the eye needs to be evaluated by your ophthalmologist or in the emergency department immediately.