Photophobia is a condition where bright lights hurt your eyes.

Another name for this is light sensitivity.

It’s a common symptom associated with several different conditions, ranging from minor irritations to serious medical emergencies.

Mild cases make you squint in a brightly lit room or while outside.

In more severe cases, it causes considerable pain when your eyes are exposed to almost any type of light.

Photophobia is a common symptom of migraines.

Light sensitivity is commonly associated with a few serious conditions affecting your brain.

These include:

>encephalitis, which happens when your brain is inflamed from a viral infection or other cause.

>meningitis, a bacterial infection causing inflammation of the membranes surrounding your brain and spinal cord.

>subarachnoid hemorrhage, which happens when you have bleeding between your brain and the surrounding layers of tissue.

Photophobia is also common in several conditions affecting your eyes.

These include:

>corneal abrasion, or injury to the cornea, or the outermost layer of your eye.

>scleritis, which occurs when the white part of your eye becomes inflamed.

>conjunctivitis, also known as “pink eye,” occurs when the layer of tissue covering the white part of your eye becomes infected or inflamed.

>dry eye syndrome, which happens when your tear ducts can’t make enough tears or make poor quality tears. It results in your eyes being excessively dry.