Episcleritis

Episcleritis is a common condition. In most cases the problem is mild and vision is normal.

The cause is often unknown. But, it may occur with certain diseases, such as:

• Herpes zoster
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sjögren syndrome
• Syphilis
• Tuberculosis

Symptoms include:

• A pink or purple color to the normally white part of the eye
• Eye pain
• Eye tenderness
• Sensitivity to light
• Tearing of the eye

Your health care provider will do an eye exam to diagnose the disorder. Most of the time, no special tests are needed.

The condition most often goes away on its own in 1 to 2 weeks. Using corticosteroid eye drops may help ease the symptoms faster.

Episcleritis most often improves without treatment. However, treatment may make symptoms go away sooner.

In some cases, the condition may return. Rarely, irritation and inflammation of the white part of the eye may develop. This is called scleritis.

Call your health care provider if you have symptoms of episcleritis that last for more than 2 weeks. Get checked again if your pain gets worse or you have problems with your vision.

Denniston AK, Rhodes B, Gayed M, Carruthers D, Gordon C, et al. Rheumatic disease. In: Schachat AP, Sadda SVR, Hinton DR, Wilkinson CP, Wiedemann P, eds. Ryan's Retina. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 83.

Goldstein DA, Patel SS, Tessler HH. Episcleritis and scleritis. In: Yanoff M, Duker JS, eds. Ophthalmology. 4th ed. St Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier; 2014:chap 4.11.

Yanoff M, Cameron JD. Diseases of the visual system. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 423.

Updated by: Franklin W. Lusby, MD, ophthalmologist, Lusby Vision Institute, La Jolla, CA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.