Uveitis

Uveitis is inflammation of your uvea, the middle layer of your eye. It can happen for unknown reasons or because of many known conditions. It can affect a specific area of your eye or multiple areas. Depending on the areas it affects, it can be painful, cause redness and irritation, or even disrupt your eyesight. It can affect one eye or both at the same time.

There isn’t a lot of room inside your eyeball for tissue swelling to happen, so it’s easy for swelling to change your eye shape. Your eye shape is a critical part of how you see, and even tiny changes from swelling can disrupt your sight.

In severe cases, uveitis (pronounced “yoo-vee-EYE-tiss”) can cause permanent vision loss and blindness.

How common is uveitis?

Uveitis is common overall. Worldwide, there are about 4 million new cases each year. In the U.S., estimates range from 80,000 to 168,000 cases each year.

Uveitis is more common in adults, and the odds of having it go up with age. It’s less common in children, who make up only 2% to 20% of cases.