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Medical Forum / General / Vision / March 2006Help - Light sensitivity, now Eye Pain too?!
I have never posted to a newsgroup before, so I appreciate any help that other members here can provide. Thanks in advance for reading. This past year, around the first week in November is when I noticed my eyes seemed to be more sensitive to oncoming headlights and traffic lights. This was right after daylight savings time kicked in so I figured that after driving home during daylight for 8 months that perhaps just the time change, forcing me to drive home in darkness now, was the cause and that my eyes just weren't used to it. Now, three months later - headlights still bother my eyes. Now, even driving during the day if the sun is reflecting in someones window or off of a chrome bumper it seems EXCESSIVELY bright and it hurts my eye for that brief moment. This is something that I have never noticed before. Also Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) are very bright and I have to make an effort not to look directly at them. I also must add that I have a habit of watching oncoming cars while I'm driving --- I don't know why but I've always done it. I would have tried sunglasses but I can't really wear sunglasses b/c of my prescription glasses that I have to wear while driving. Even taillights seem very bright at night, especially if I look directly at them --- even momentarily. Recently, in the past 3-4 days I have started experiencing eye pain as well. It seems to start in the early afternoon around 2-3 o'clock and gets worse until the end of the work day. Naturally after hours of eye pain, I also usually have a headache behind my eyes or along my forehead. Another note, I work on a computer for 8-10 hours a day and up until the last month routinely would spend between 10-12 hours a day behind a computer monitor. Most of my work as a designer requires detailed work and intense staring at the monitor is not uncommon. I am currently taking 25mg of Atenolol daily but do not really suspect this has anything to do with my eye problems. I have recently begun taking a concentrated multivitamin to see if it helps - I've heard that vitamin B (all of them) are good for eyesight. I just had an eye exam in December which came back normal. My eyesight hadn't changed much (it's not that bad anyway) and all other tests were normal. I mentioned the light sensitivity to my optician and he said that it's a common complain "this time of year" (meaning after Daylight Savings Time). My questions: - Could this just be a bad case of dry eye from all the computer work? - Could this be something worse like Optic Nueritis? (doubtful I think) - Anyone else had symptoms like this? Can you point me in a helpful direction? - Am I just being paranoid and over-analyzing what I see??? This has me mildly concerned since my eyes are my job and my life. If they get damaged --- I may not be able to do my job effectively anymore. Thanks for any advice or suggestions that you can offer! > I have never posted to a newsgroup before, so I appreciate any help > that other members here can provide. Thanks in advance for reading. [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > they get damaged --- I may not be able to do my job effectively > anymore. Thanks for any advice or suggestions that you can offer! If the pain/ache is not constant and is in both eyes and is noted after hours of computer usage I'd lean towards dry eye as the culprit. Usually a condition such as an iritis the discomfort /ache will be constant and one eye (not always). I'd advise another eye evaluation to rule out anything serious (just in case) and I would start using pfats (preservative-free artificial tears) starting with 1 drop 4 times daily to see if the symptoms at all are alleviated. frank Frank, thank you for your prompt response! I should also note that the eye pain, particularly today, is worse in my dominant eye - my right eye. As a matter of fact it's down right painful tonight. Once it starts hurting, the pain increases throughout the day. To this point, the pain has never been sudden. To be honest it's the light sensitivity that is really bothersome. However, I will try to locate some pfats tomorrow at our local drug store and begin trying that. I guess I should also ask, typically how long after computer use has stopped do symptoms subside? I've noticed that over the weekend, even if I don't use the computer much - the light sensitivity seems to be about the same while driving. Perhaps 48 hours isn't enough time to rebound from nearly 60 hours of computer use during the week? atenolol is a beta-blocker. this class of drugs promotes dry eyes. as dr. frank suggested, dry eyes seems like a plausible explanation for the pain you are describing and your medications may be exacerbating the problem. have you tried using lubricants? My suggestion: latent hyperopia. You'd need to ask for a cycloplegic eye test to tell whether you've got it (but there are other clues too). Latent hyperopia can cause photosensitivity, eye strain, headaches, especially associated with near work. Dom Latent hyperopia? I'm nearsighted. Perhaps I just don't understand the details of how hyperopia effects the eye. I went out last night and purchased some Visine Pure Tears and have been using those. We'll see over the coarse of the week if they make a difference. I will continue posting to this thread with my progress for others that may encounter a similar problem. > Latent hyperopia? I'm nearsighted. Perhaps I just don't understand > the details of how hyperopia effects the eye. I didn't know you were nearsighted (until now), although I suppose it's still possible that you're overcorrected or pseudomyopic - which is sort of the same as being a latent hyperope. I was really 'going out on a limb' to begin with and if you now say you're nearsighted then that makes my guess a little less likely to be the case. If you *are* overcorrected or a pseudomyope, the way to tell is still the same - cycloplegic refraction. Call it a process of elimination. Dom > Latent hyperopia? I'm nearsighted. Perhaps I just don't understand > the details of how hyperopia effects the eye. I didn't know you were nearsighted (until now), although I suppose it's still possible that you're overcorrected or pseudomyopic - which is sort of the same as being a latent hyperope. I was really 'going out on a limb' to begin with and if you now say you're nearsighted then that makes my guess a little less likely to be the case. If you *are* overcorrected or a pseudomyope, the way to tell is still the same - cycloplegic refraction. Call it a process of elimination. Dom > > Latent hyperopia? I'm nearsighted. Perhaps I just don't understand > > the details of how hyperopia effects the eye. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Dom Not to hijack the thread, but how does this latent hyperopia thing work? Is it like your eyes are semi-permanently overcorrecting toward near, so if you put more plus power in front of your eyes, you couldn't focus through it (even though you should be able to)? If you detect this with eye dilation, does it take a while to work up to the appropriate plus power then? > work? Is it like your eyes are semi-permanently overcorrecting toward > near, so if you put more plus power in front of your eyes, you couldn't > focus through it (even though you should be able to)? Far away, yes. They tell us one quarter diopter more plus is blurry. Remarkably consistent. For the young, accommodation is easy, and apparently easy to adopt as a habit. Sometimes excess accommodation is helpful in keeping images superimposed properly. Other times it's just an habitual reflex like bruxism. Myopes do the same thing, to a lesser extent. > If you detect > this with eye dilation, does it take a while to work up to the > appropriate plus power then? Why try? I'm not being facetious, I'm expressing a valid philosophy. Many uncorrected hyperopes have no symptoms. Would you treat (prescribe glasses) for all of them, regardless? Many get headaches or other discomfort when forced to wear "unwanted" plus. Why create a problem? -MT > > If you detect > > this with eye dilation, does it take a while to work up to the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > -MT Fair enough. I assumed that there may be strain involved, or difficulty with or aversion to near work. I was thinking of it as uncontrolled continuous exertion by the muscles, which might not be as desirable as having that stress unloaded. When it was mentioned, I wondered if I could have this problem (if it is one), since I also seem very light sensitive, and I have a low tolerance for reading for long periods. I recently got some computer glasses with extra plus power and it makes it so much more comfortable to read for long periods of time. It's probably nothing, but it got me thinking anyway. > Fair enough. I assumed that there may be strain involved, or > difficulty with or aversion to near work. Of course there would be symptoms if the problem is bad enough, but individual tolerances vary, especially with age, so we don't assume everybody needs correction. There are idiosyncratic reactions where "accurate" correction leads to headache or diplopia or other discomfort. > I was thinking of it as > uncontrolled continuous exertion by the muscles, which might not be as > desirable as having that stress unloaded. It an intuitive assumption that doesn't always hold. There's little difference between "continuous exertion," which sounds bad, and "muscle tone," which sounds healthy. > When it was mentioned, I wondered if I could have this problem (if it > is one), since I also seem very light sensitive, and I have a low > tolerance for reading for long periods. I recently got some computer > glasses with extra plus power and it makes it so much more comfortable > to read for long periods of time. It's probably nothing, but it got me > thinking anyway. Age is so important. That "extra plus" might do nothing for a 5-year-old, but at age 50 it can change your entire workday. -MT |
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