Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Vision fluctuation & eye strain

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    There is more than one type of surface irregularity and vision fluctuation being discussed here so I think it might be useful at this point to back up and talk about the parts of the eye for a moment... if not just ignore my mini-lecture

    The front of the eye has three layers that provide the eye's refractive function, that is, clear layers that work to bend light so that it hits the back of the eye (retina) just so. That means three places things can go wrong that affect the stability of your vision:

    1) The preocular tear film

    In any kind of dry eye disease, obviously the preocular tear film is not fully performing its job and since tear production and distribution are affected, it's totally to be expected that vision will fluctuate as spmcc said. This affects some more than others. I know people whose ONLY dry eye symptom is poor, fluctuating vision. I know people who have bone-dry eyes and who amazingly enough still see 20/20. - Takehome point is that tears are not just there for comfort and to protect the eye - they are the first refractive surface of the eye and essential to clear, stable vision.

    2) The cornea (which has 5 layers)

    After lasik or other refractive surgeries there are a number of things that can go wrong here that will cause fluctuating vision. It could be small surface irregularities that make it impossible to maintain a smooth tear layer across the cornea (though over time these tend to improve). It could be a small 'effective optical zone' i.e. the diameter of the area that was FULLY treated by the laser (and I don't mean what they programmed into the machine but what actually came out after all healing which can be quite different... this is something verified with a high res corneal topography) - if this is smaller than the pupil gets when it expands, then we can be particularly prone to a widely fluctuating RX in different lighting circumstances.

    Some of us have irregular corneas, where the dioptric power varies greatly across the surface of the cornea. There are certain patterns to this (esp. in the earlier days of LASIK things like central islands or decentrations) but often they're all lumped together under a somewhat poorly named category of 'irregular astigmatism'. What it really means is the thickness of the cornea is uneven - in other words, a multifocal cornea. (Suppose you had a pair of glasses with different strengths at different parts of the lens - it's like that but built in.) Long story short, for those of us who have ANY of the other reasons for fluctuating vision - dry eye, small effective optical zone, etc - these irregularities will make the the fluctuations seem even worse.

    Then of course there's extremes, like keratoconus (or corneal ectasia as it's known if caused by refractive surgery). Hirentherock that's really different from corneal irregularity in the common sense of the term because keratoconus/ectasia is progressive while irregularity (depending on the cause) can be static.

    One of the things that makes this so confusing is that ALL of the cornea-based fluctuation problems get very difficult to diagnose accurately when your eyes are severely dry. The scanning technologies depend to a significant extent on the presence of a decent tear layer. I haven't really kept up with those technologies in the past 5-ish years so there may be better ways to compensate now but that's what I recall historically as often being a problem.

    3) The lens (that's the part that flexes to change focus from far to near)

    ---

    Rebecca or any other BSL wearers can let me know if they face such problems and get benifited with BSLs?Im really curious to know this coz im banking upon BSL to get me out of this problem of varying vision. My other eye is aphakik and has finger counting vision.So i need the best vision in my recently operated eye.
    Hirentherock, yes, BSLs (really any RGP theoretically, but realistically only sclerals can usually be worn by people with dryness as severe as SJS causes) can stabilize this, because the liquid + hard lens provides an artificially smooth, stable surface to compensate for whatever's going on on/in the cornea.
    Rebecca Petris
    The Dry Eye Foundation
    dryeyefoundation.org
    800-484-0244

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by Rebecca Petris View Post
      [B]



      One of the things that makes this so confusing is that ALL of the cornea-based fluctuation problems get very difficult to diagnose accurately when your eyes are severely dry. The scanning technologies depend to a significant extent on the presence of a decent tear layer. I haven't really kept up with those technologies in the past 5-ish years so there may be better ways to compensate now but that's what I recall historically as often being a problem.
      WELL YES DURING my durgery doctor had to try a hell lot many times on topography machine to get my cornea details...they tried putting tear sunstitute many times...but the machine would give error again and again, due to dryness of eye as they told. My schimer test was 12 a week befire the surgery.
      Im wondering if i have 12(which is decent compared to 0s), what would happen to those who have totally 0 tear figure??

      Thanks rebecca for clearing my doubts on keratoconus.I was frightened to get victim of another eye decease.I was more doubtful for keratoconus coz its smtthing which occurs in teenage, and it is a sign of weak cornea...i already have weak cornea curtseydryness and sjs.

      I will be going for BSL after a few weeks...hoping to get better vision.
      Really need to be a ROCK to take the pain!

      Comment


      • #18
        I do often think that eye strain plays a part in causing MGD and dry eyes even though this is not recognized by doctors. Its like eye glands (both oil and tear) shut down due to eye strain.

        I often got very sore eyes before I got new glasses which would fix the soreness. The last time this happened before I got MGD, I had severe dry eyes for 4 months. At that time I didn't make the connection between the dry eyes and needing new glasses. I was really surprised when getting new glasses immediately resolved the dry eyes, in one day.

        I never went to an optometrist because my vision wasn't good or was blurry. It was always because my eyes hurt like hell.

        I use a different pair of glasses for driving and watching TV than the pair of progressives I use for every day use. I have a cross over problem that is opposite for distance and close and you cannot technically put both corrections in progressive glasses. My eyes will often improve when I use the driving glasses (watching TV). I do have astigmatism which is constantly changing.
        Last edited by Storm; 25-Mar-2012, 08:01.

        Comment


        • #19
          Okay, i really didn' t expect this thread to generate so many reactions. Wow!

          About astigmatism, i guess that is not the case with me,because my eyes have been examined so many times by now and by different opthalmologists and none of them ever mentioned astigmatism. So i guess that is just not the case with me.
          I also did the quick test on the internet the other day to see if any astigmatism is going on,but again. No. Could see everything perfectly clear.

          My eyes have also been examined both numbed with drops. The examinator wanted to make sure he got the right outcome. He could see my eyes are accomodating constantly and he said this could make the test unreliable. Numbed the outcome was; od +0,75 and os +1,0. This test was done halfway in the morning. After all with my current knowledge i should have proposed to do this test again somewhere in the evening,because the outcome certainly would have been quite different from the one in the morning.

          About the irregularities of the cornea. I don't know. What i do know is that one opthalmologist once said; the person who did the lasek refractive surgery on you did a perfect job. All looks good and the scare has healed very well. He told me this while examining my eyes through a slitlamp. I have to admit i never had any trouble with starbursts or halo's. I'm not sure but i guess those are the first symptoms to occur when you have serious irregularities on the cornea.
          However If i look very closely into a magnifying mirror i can very clearly see the edges of the area treated with laser. It kind of looks like i'm still wearing contacts. Which is unfortunately not the case,because than i could just take them out of my eyes to never ever put them there again and give my eyes the break they need so much.

          No,the explanation my optometrist gave me for the fluctuation in vision is that probably the shape of my eyes changes slightly during the day due to both a thin cornea and changing pressure in the eye. That the pressure in the eye is changing during the day seems to be normal,but that it causes vision problems obviously is not normal at all.

          I know that refractive errors can also be caused by a poor aqueous tear layer. Like rebecca says the tear layer is the very first refractive surface so any defects there can already cause vision problems.
          However I don't think that my vision problems exactly fit that profile,because i think my aqueous tear layer is not all that bad.
          I just found a report of an eye examen conducted in 2010. This was done in the morning.
          Schirmer's ; od 21mm and os 14mm. Osmolarity;293.
          Tbut 10 secs. In both eyes.
          Recently my tbuts weren't all that good when measured in the evening; between 3 and 6 secs.
          At that moment my eyes hurt like hell,i was tired and had to drive for a hour and a half in extremely densed traffic to get to the appointment.

          Again,thanks for all your input!
          I'm learning so much from it.
          It is appreciated highly.

          Patrick...

          Comment


          • #20
            Hi,
            If i speak about my experience with morning and evening, its reverse compared to what that report concluded...i get better vision, wetter eyes, less pain in evenings compared to morning!Mornings are really hard to pass at times.

            Even Dr.Dipinder of pitburg says , those who has less vision morning and gets beter as day pass by , are certainly having a compromised cornea. http://video.osnsupersite.com/video/...3A%20exclusive check this She emphasizes , if "better evening vision" is present with a patients, they need special attention before undergoing any surgery, irrespective of other corneal stats being normal.So such corneas are vulnerable.

            I recently had cataract surgery.But since a got new IOL i observed that as soon as i put any eye drops(genteal/antibiotic/pentolate) i get very nice vision up to few seconds...for a minute or two...then it goes to where it was...On this observation rebeccas idea of tear layer deficiency caused vision loss seems to be the case...I cannot conclude this untill i get 3 months completed for my cataract surgery.If tear layer deficiency is causing vision loss then im pretty hopeful for BSLs to be effective to regain significant vision.I would try BSL after 2 months.
            Really need to be a ROCK to take the pain!

            Comment


            • #21
              Originally posted by hirentherock View Post
              i observed that as soon as i put any eye drops(genteal/antibiotic/pentolate) i get very nice vision up to few seconds...for a minute or two...then it goes to where it was...On this observation rebeccas idea of tear layer deficiency caused vision loss seems to be the case...
              If you read Dr. Latkany's book The Dry Eye Remedy, he uses this as a test to reveal dry eye. He writes that "what has happened is that the moisture of the drops has normalized your tear film, and that has improved your visual acuity. But the improvement is temporary, lasting only for a few seconds up to perhaps a minute or so" (pp. 33-34).

              Comment


              • #22
                Found this thread really interesting . I have had highly fluctuating vision since my refractive surgery 25 years ago . I have asked numerous doctors about this but noone has ever had an explanation . I have noticed worse vision since after flights also that can persist for many weeks . Thought it could be due to air pressure being different in the plane , but now that I have had dry eyes I keep thinking may be due it could was dryness , although I did not feel any dryness . Before dryness hit in Feb I never had any pain or head ache related to my refractive vision either . And I was walking around with highly refractive errors and astigmatism that was walking changing constantly .

                Comment

                Working...
                X