Causes of painful eyelid

Information on Eyelid Pain

So many factors and causes can trigger swelling and painful sensations in the upper, lower, and inner eyelid. Eyelids protect the eye because it is a very delicate organ, and they consist of the thinnest skin on the human body.

Eyelid disorders usually do not affect vision, but the rubbing and blinking may irritate the eye or trigger certain types of bacterial infections. Painful sensations that occur from the outer structures of the eye are medically referred to as ocular pain.

Causes of Eyelid Pain

An eye sty is one of the most common causes of eyelid pain because, in most cases, it is associated with local irritation. A lump develops in the eyelid, and it blocks the oil gland. The lump can be rather painful in some cases. Another medical condition that may be affiliated with swelling and painful sensations in the eyelids is called blepharitis.

It usually also involves inflammatory conditions of the eyelid. This medical condition is one of the most common eye problems, and it may range from minor allergic reactions and irritations to the most severe cases which involve different types of infections and sometimes even skin cancer. Blepharitis is triggered by bacterial infections due to poor hygiene.

Blepharitis occurs at the edges of the eyelids. Anterior blepharitis affects the outer side of the eyelids, while posterior blepharitis usually occurs on the inner side of the eyelids. This medical condition usually involves symptoms such as eye itching, swelling, irritation, eyelid pain, burning, warmth, dry eye, and redness.

Dermatochalasis is an eyelid disease that develops due to excess skin tissue on the upper eyelids, mostly occurs with advancing age, affects the field of vision and creates a feeling of heaviness. There may be pain, erythema, and edema after surgery, as well as pain during surgery. Intraoperative and postoperative pain management should be performed with appropriate and potent analgesic agents before operation.

The pain assessment of patients after first and second eye surgery in different ophthlamic surgeries was evaluated and contributed to the literature. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been found on which eyelid pain is felt more during surgery in upper eyelid blepharoplasty (UEB). The aim of this study is to contribute to the preoperative detailed information of the patient and intraoperative pain management by evaluating whether the pain felt during upper eyelid dermatochalasis surgery is more in the first operated or second operated eyelid.
In this cross-sectional observational study, the patients were divided into two groups, with group 1 representing 40 patients whose surgery was first started on the right and group 2 representing the other 40 patients who started surgery on the left first. UEB was performed to all patients by the same surgeon under the same and equal amount of local anesthesia. Degree of pain felt during surgery on first and second operated eyelid was evaluated with the visual analoge scale (VAS) and Wong-Baker Facial Pain Expression Scale (WBFPES) of all patients immediately after surgery and was compared using paired t-test.
There were 20 female and 20 male patients in both groups. In group 1, the VAS value was 2.8 ± 1.5 and WBFPES value was 2.7 ± 1.6 UEB in the first operated eyelid; the VAS value was 4.1 ± 1.8 and WBFPES value was 3.9 ± 1.8 UEB in the second operated eyelid. A significant difference was found between pains felt during first and second operated eyelid UEB regarding VAS and WBFPES values in group 1 (p = 0.003 and p = 0.002, respectively).
In group 2, the VAS value was 1.9 ± 1.0 and WBFPES value was 2.0 ± 1.0 UEB in the first operated eyelid; the VAS value was 3.0 ± 1.5 and WBFPES value was 2.8 ± 1.6 UEB in the second operated eyelid. A significant difference was found between pains felt during first operated and second operated eyelid UEB regarding VAS and WBFPES values in group 2 (p = 0.009 and p = 0.005, respectively).

✓ Fact confirmed: Comparison of Pain between First and Second Operated Eyelids after Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty Mehmet Icoz, Bilge Tar?m, Sule Gokcek Gurturk Icoz, and Emine Kalkan Akcay; 2023 Jun

Ptosis may be the cause of painful eyelids as well. Another condition that may be the cause of swelling and painful sensations in the eyelids is eyelid edema. It can be triggered by numerous different factors and it can sometimes affect the vision as well. It involves irritation and inflammatory conditions of the eyelids.

Eyelid cellulitis is a medical condition that involves an infection and it can be characterized by itching, swelling, and burning sensations as it affects the entire eyelid. Another condition that may be worth mentioning is eyelid ectropion, in which the lower eyelid gets pulled away from the eye. This medical condition usually involves irritation, dry eyes, swelling, redness, irritation, and tearing.

Eyelid entropion is a condition in which the eyelid gets turned inwards. Painful sensations and swelling can also be triggered by eyelid tumors. Other common causes of swelling and painful sensations in the eyelids may include orbital infection, thyroid eye disease, and dacryocystitis.