What Is Iritis?

Inflammation can happen anywhere. The inside of the eye doesn’t get a free pass from inflammation. When inflammation starts to affect the iris or colored part of the eye, this is called iritis.

Iritis actually has quite a bit of causes! If you get hit in the eye, this can cause iritis. Infections can cause inflammation and iritis. A very common cause that can re-occur frequently is from autoimmune diseases. But even with all the known causes, there is still a good amount of iritis that doesn’t have an identifiable cause.

So what happens with iritis? As with most inflammation, iritis causes discomfort as well as a red eye. But also, iritis causes sensitivity to lights. When lights are shining in the eye, the iris responds by contracting to make the pupil smaller. An inflamed iris trying to constrict causes discomfort. (In fact, one of the ways to treat the discomfort from iritis is to give dilating drops to prevent the iris constricting).

With the right treatment (steroid eye drops to combat the inflammation or infection medication), most iritis goes away without causing any issues with the eye. But in order to get on the right treatment, it’s important to make a trip to your local eye doctor.

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