Diffuse episcleritis is a frequently recurring inflammatory condition of the episcleral tissue, which is often bilateral. Onset is usually acute. Symptoms may only be that of a reddened area of the surface of the eye or include pain, photophobia, tearing, and a hot prickly feeling with rare tenderness to manipulation. About one third of patients have an associated underlying systemic condition. Unlike the nodular form of the disease, most episodes of diffuse episcleritis are of short duration (10–21 days) and usually require little if any treatment. The incidence is higher in females and is more common in the fourth to fifth decades. Recurrences may be of either the diffuse type or the nodular type of episcleritis.