What could cause aching eyes?

amother

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 3:20 am

Hi

My 5yo has been complaining on and off about her eyes hurting.
At first, we thought it could be because she was tired.
We had her eyes checked by an eye doctor, and he found nothing wrong.
Sometimes, she comes home and tells me her eyes hurt in kindergarten. Sometimes randomly in the evening.

Any ideas?

salt

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 3:34 am

Hayfever? More like itching eyes, but she might not recognize the difference.
I know the season is starting in Israel now.

amother

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 3:36 am

I don't know...it's been for 2-3 months now. Not continuous. Once in a while, she'll mention it...I just don't what to check...

salt

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 3:53 am

amother OP wrote:

I don't know...it's been for 2-3 months now. Not continuous. Once in a while, she'll mention it...I just don't what to check...

So probably not hayfever.
My DD used to get headaches behind her eyes - it was usually because she was tired. She would say her eyes are hurting, but it was a headache - I don't remember how we worked that out.
But if she went to bed early enough it didn't happen.

Did the eye doctor visit include testing her eyesight?

amother

Plum

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 4:25 am

Definitely sounds like a migraine. You should take her to a neurologist. I would start keeping a log to recognize any patterns, was she tired did she have a good nights sleep, what did she eat that day you can google there are some common triggers.

amother

Cyan

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 4:28 am

I'm assuming the eye doctor teated both vision and for basic physical problems. I would also want her tested for tracking and convergence issues. How is she doing in kindergarten with things like learnkng her letters?

ShishKabob

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 4:46 am

Recently it was one of the symptoms of the flu, however months at a time is not ok. Hugs, hope you find a solution.

Brit in Israel

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 4:56 am

OP so interested that you wrote this now. My 2 yr old started saying it recently.
Just last night was the first time she said it whilst in bed and woke up from coughing and I thought I should check it up but have no idea what to check.
Until now she mainly only said it in the car so I thought it was the sun disturbing her but sometimes there wasn't even sun.

Please let me know what you plan on doing next.

salt

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 5:13 am

Brit in Israel wrote:

Travel sickness?

amother

Lavender

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 5:18 am

Screentime can cause this, especially:

Being super close to a TV while watching (as children tend to do, to the befuddlement of adults)

A phone with the brightness on high (you can and should adjust the brightness!)

amother

Lavender

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 5:21 am

Brit in Israel wrote:

If a 2YO says it in the car, I can't help but wonder if it is carsickness, and not knowing the word for "nausea" she merely says that her eyes hurt (most of us relate nausea more to our bellies, but I can understand also relating it to the head or eyes)

amother

Babyblue

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 5:47 am

Sinus pressure?
Or what kind of eye doctor did you see, sometimes a developmental optometrist can pick up on things a regular optometrist or even opthamolgist didn't as they look deeper into how the eyes work together

amother

Melon

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 6:00 am

2 weird things I find cause me to have either dry eyes or a weird kind of achy feeling-
1) when I don’t drink enough
2) when I eat something I don’t tolerate well. So often if it’s something with a lot of sugar, white flour or chocolate.

I know it’s weird, but putting it out there in case you also notice it food related or when she doesn’t drink enough

amother

Tue, Mar 19 2024, 7:29 pm

Thank you for all these possible directions.
I have to check exactly what the doctor checked because my husband took her.
I'm going to make more of an effort to notice the details when it does happen to see if it could be tiredness/not drinking enough/etc. and then see how we move on from there. Screen time isn't the issue because we don't use screens...