Pain behind one eye is usually eye strain, migraine, or sinus pressure - but the severe, same-side, same-time-of-day version is cluster headache and needs a doctor.
The bend-forward test hints at sinuses; throbbing with nausea and light sensitivity points to migraine. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, and can help you tell them apart.
What to do
Common questions
Why do I get headaches behind my eye?
Behind-the-eye pain feels alarming and has a short list of usual explanations. The everyday one is tension-type headache or eye strain: hours of screen focus tire the focusing muscles and the pain refers around and behind the eyes, a dull ache on both sides. Migraine is next: MedlinePlus describes migraine as throbbing, pounding pain often on one side, and behind one eye is a classic seat for it - usually with nausea, light or sound sensitivity, and worsening with movement. Sinus trouble is the third: MedlinePlus's headache encyclopedia describes sinus headache as pain in the front of the head and face from swelling behind the cheeks, nose, and eyes, worse when you bend forward and when you first wake up - that bend-forward test is genuinely useful at home. The fourth is the one to name precisely: cluster headache. MedlinePlus describes it as sharp, very painful headaches occurring daily, sometimes several times a day for weeks or months, then vanishing for weeks or months - typically locked to one side, centred on or behind one eye, often with a watery, red eye and a blocked or runny nostril on that side, and sufferers are restless rather than still. Cluster headache needs a doctor's diagnosis and specific treatment - do not sit on that pattern. The red flags apply to every type: a sudden extremely painful headache, or any headache with numbness, weakness, vision loss, or confusion, is an emergency. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, that can help you tell yours apart.