Headaches have the tendency to develop at just about any time anywhere. It can affect you while working, in your home, or when you are doing daily activities. The pain of a headache can be throbbing or dull, sharp or located in a pinpoint area of the head. Headaches are miserable and all you want to do is to let the pain go away. If you can identify the cause of the headache, it can help manage the headache and can prevent getting other headaches in the future. But what about having a headache behind the left eye?

What Causes Headache Behind Left Eye?

A headache behind the left eye is not an uncommon condition. There are many people who have these kinds of headaches for various reasons. The pain may originate in the head or in the eye. While you can have both conditions at the same time, a headache behind eye doesn't mean you are suffering from simultaneous eye pain and head pain.

In many cases, if the headache is due to eye problems, it would mean that there is some kind of disease of the eye or surrounding tissues, including the muscles that make the eyeball to move, the nerves around the eye, and the eyelid. In some situations, eye pain is unrelated to problems with the eye at all, regardless of the location of the pain.

Possible causes include the following:

1.   Migraine Headaches

Migraine headaches are a type of headache with no definable cause. It is thought to be the result of an abnormal flow of blood to the brain. While the exact reason behind getting a migraine headache is unclear, there are identifiable triggers, including a lack of sleep, psychological stress, hormonal changes, and eating certain types of foods. Most will complain of pain behind one or both eyes as well as sensitivity to light.

2.   Cluster Headaches

Cluster headaches are considered to be one of the severest types of headaches, but they are less common than migraine headaches. Those who suffer from them describe a stabbing, throbbing or intense burning type of pain that occurs frequently throughout the day for several days or weeks, but then it goes into remission and doesn't occur for many months or years later. Most people complain of headache behind left eye or right eye and it usually does not travel to the other eye.

3.   Eyestrain

Eyestrain is a very common cause of pain located behind the eyes. It is more common now because people spend a lot of time using computers and watching television. It can be due to not blinking enough as well as straining of the muscles that move the eyeballs. Eyestrain is more prevalent in people who have refractive disorders of the eye, such as those with astigmatism, nearsightedness or farsightedness and who don't wear their eye glasses as directed. Other symptoms include excessive tearing, dryness of the eye and eye redness along with blurry vision, tired eyes, and pain in the eye. Eyestrain is also associated with tension headaches.

4.   Sinusitis

Sinusitis is a common cause of headache behind left eye. The problem is due to an allergic reaction or infection in the paranasal sinuses. The tissue that lines the sinuses becomes swollen, congested, and inflamed, leading to the pain. Exactly where the pain is located depends on which of the various sinuses are involved. For example, maxillary sinusitis leads to pain in the cheek, whereas sinusitis in the fontal sinuses leads to pain right above the eyes. And sinusitis in the sphenoid sinuses leads to pain located behind the eyes.

5.   Orbital Cellulitis

This is an infection of the eye that is usually related to the eyelids. It is more common in children as a complication of having a sinus infection. This can be a dangerous infection that can result in blindness if not treated promptly. Besides the eye pain, there is visible swelling of the eye tissues, including the cheeks, eyebrows, and eyelids. The eyes may actually be bulging and moving the eyes is difficult with extreme pain.

6.   Optic Neuropathy

This is a medical condition in which there is disease or damage to the optic nerve in the eye. It is a dangerous eye condition that can lead to total blindness in the affected eye. The various causes of optic neuropathy include toxic exposures, nutritional problems, infections, neurological diseases, and certain hereditary conditions. It can also be a complication of having a sinus infection. There are obvious disturbances in vision along with eye pain that worsens when the sufferer moves the eyes.

7.   Head Injury

A head injury can cause secondary complications of a fractured skull or increased pressure within the brain from swelling or bleeding. A typical symptom of head injury is a headache behind left eye, right eye, or both eyes. Head injuries are commonly associated with sports related injuries, motor vehicle accidents, assaults, and falls from a great height. If a person is suffering from a traumatic head injury, this should be thoroughly evaluated to make sure there are no secondary complications.

8.   Glaucoma

This is a condition that happens when the pressure within the eye itself becomes too high, causing damage to the affected eye. Common symptoms include pain behind the eye and damage to peripheral vision. Eventually, the optic nerve can be damaged and blindness can ensue. This condition occurs at a higher rate among African Americans aged 40 and above.

9.   Aneurysm

An aneurysm in the brain can be a cause of headache behind left eye. This occurs when there are damaged blood vessels within the brain that burst completely or leak blood, causing a hemorrhagic stroke. Other causes of hemorrhagic stroke and headache include having a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding between the brain tissue and the arachnoid lining of the brain. The headache is usually very severe and can be located anywhere on the head.

10.   Tumor or Brain Infection

While these conditions are very rare, they can be the cause of pain behind left eye. The brain tissue itself is generally not the source of the pain, instead, the pain is caused by cancer, a brain abscess, infection or encephalitis, which can damage blood vessels and associated nerves near the eye, leading to the eye pain.

This is not the full list of causes of headache behind left eye. Whenever you or someone near you experiences such kind of condition, see a doctor for early diagnosis and treatment.

Below is a video that helps to relieve the eye strain that almost everyone may experience, please follow the instructions to reduce the stress on them.