Stabbing or knife‑like eye pain is intense and brief, sometimes recurring in jabs. It can arise from surface injury, neuralgia, or severe inflammation.
Potential Causes
Corneal foreign bodies, abrasions, and recurrent erosions cause sharp stabs of pain, especially with blinking. Trigeminal neuralgia and short‑lasting unilateral neuralgiform headaches may produce stabbing pains near the eye without obvious ocular findings.
- Scleritis can give sharp pain that radiates to the forehead or jaw
- Dry eye with exposed nerves may cause intermittent stabbing sensations
- Post‑surgical or post‑traumatic neuropathic pain can feel like repeated stabs
- Cluster headache includes brief, very intense orbital pain attacks
Assessment
Eye examination is needed to exclude corneal or inflammatory causes. Neurological review is appropriate when ocular structures look normal but pain persists or follows nerve distributions.
- Do not delay seeking help for stabbing pain with redness or visual changes
- Treating surface disease often eases mechanical stabbing sensations
- Neuropathic pain may need specialist medical management
- Keeping a log of frequency and triggers helps characterise the pattern
