Can Dry Eye cause problems with Night Vision?

[MyDryEyes]

Hello!

I have been noticing that my night vision is getting bad!! Street lights, carlights, etc. have huge starburts and certain kinds of lights are just plain blury. I had refractive surgery last July and have had halos since, but nothing that was really affecting my night vision. I am a bit concerned about these new developments and hope that it is not another late coming, ill effect of my horrible surgery. Does anybody else have these problems with night vision from dry eyes?

[Scout]

Hello!

I have been noticing that my night vision is getting bad!! Street lights, carlights, etc. have huge starburts and certain kinds of lights are just plain blury. I had refractive surgery last July and have had halos since, but nothing that was really affecting my night vision. I am a bit concerned about these new developments and hope that it is not another late coming, ill effect of my horrible surgery. Does anybody else have these problems with night vision from dry eyes?

I really don't know the answer to your question regarding dry eyes and night vision. However, I have experienced worsening of night vision after refractive surgery. I would suggest that you make an appointment with your optometrist to see if glasses with a distance correction would clear up your vision at night. Many people with refractive surgery can see well in the daytime, but at night when the pupils are somewhat larger, get a refractive error just enough for things to be blurry and "starbursty."

I had LASIK nearly 10 years ago, but have always needed distance glasses at night for driving.

Good Luck.

Scout

[MyDryEyes]

Hi Scout,

Did your night vision worsen right after refractive surgery or did it take a while to occur? I have been okay up until about a month ago. It seems it has gotten worse along with my dryness symptoms.

So much to worry about!!

MDE

[Scout]

In the beginning (for about 3-5 years after LASIK), I would have daytime periods in which I would have lots of dryness and it would seem as though my vision was blurry or cloudy. I would instill wetting drops and my vision would clear. But at night, the blurry vision was constant and wetting drops would not clear up the blurriness. That's why I thought it was residual refractive error and asked for glasses. The glasses did help. I think that might help you decided whether it is dry eye or refractive error/pupil size problem. If it clears up with wetting drops, then it may be dry eye. If it does not, it may be refractive error.

My story is long and very atypical of most people who have LASIK so my whole story probably won't help you much. (And DrG told me that my story was scaring the newbies, so I won't bore you with my saga. )

[kitty]

Light sensitivity can be caused by corneal edema, which is caused by inflammation and as such can be dry eye related. I also have had the blurred vision and star bursts. I thought it was my DES. I mentioned it to my OD and he confirmed I have an early cataract. I had seen him at least twice since the onset of the blurred vision but did not mention it. I think the cataract can start to change vision before the eye doc can clearly see it.