Eye issue

[willous1]

I have a squint and had an op on my eyes to straighten them when I was younger. I'm due another op to straighten them up but worried because of my health anxiety. I went for an eye test in November as every now and then my right I was a bit blurry when looking at screens for too long etc and they recommended glasses for astigmatism. My left eye is perfect but my right eye had a slight one. Lately my eye has been more blurry when looking at things although working on my computer at work is fine. Now my health anxiety is kicking in, I have ordered my glasses as didn't bother before so that might help but one of my big anxiety has always been with my eyes. Thing is, could it be that because I'm thinking so much about it I'm straining my right eye (my dominant eye) more and therefore causing more issues or could there be a problem. My left eye has not changed at all. A couple of months back I had a tuffy wipe rubbed near my eye but it only caused pain for a second, surely that would not have caused this. I'm constantly looking at things to see if my eyes are okay etc. Just want to feel normal!

[montys]

I suffer from health anxiety that focuses almost exclusively on fear of retinal disease / blindness, so when it comes to worrying about optical health, I'm your guy.

Anxiety will manifest itself in a number of visual phenomena, including flashes, floaters, after-images, flickering, fluttering, and occasional temporary blurriness.

The only time you should ever be worried is if you are experiencing an absolute, unquestionable, dramatic, and sudden loss of vision. And if you are not specifically at risk of this, and it sounds like you're not (otherwise your eye doctor would've discussed it with you), odds are it will never happen.

And if you ever feel like you're observing something unusual in your vision, ask yourself if you're absolutely certain that it's happening or if it just might be in your head. If there's any uncertainty, then you're probably fine. In any case, give it two hours and see if it doesn't go away on its own.

Personally, I stay distracted with work/fun whenever I can, keep my visual field cluttered, and I plan to buy some shades so I can observe less "symptoms" when I'm outside.

Give it time and you'll feel normal again, don't worry :)

[willous1]

Thank you for your reply, it has been for a week or so now. Just my right eye. Feels strained today and I don't know if it is because im constantly thinking about it and looking at things to see if I can read fine. Opticians in November said its fine and to come back in 18 months. I have a slight headache where it is strained today. Ive been to a and e and everything before because of my eye when there hgas been nothing wrong so don't want to start the vicious cycle of going again. I may buy some shades, thank you so much for your help. Hate overthinking.

[Sixpack]

If you think about,, worry over, pay attention to any part of your body, you will certainly find "abnormalities". Or "oddities". Anybody would. Now person with a fear over something will make that doubly worse. Your perception of it anyway. Can too much screen time make an eye or eyes blurry? Sure. Eye strain happens. This could be more noticeable if one eye is weaker than another. By the way having one eye weaker than the other is not unusual. Just like having one arm stronger.

As montys said too, give it time. Many folks find an oddity and go running to the doctor right away. This is silly as we all have hiccups in our bodies. It is part of life.

Finally, doctors really do know there stuff. If you have this checked out and get the all clear, believe the doctor. doctors don't slough off problems. In actuality they tend to go overboard with treating it. Four years ago I developed an eye issue. I could see my vision get steadily worse I my right eye over a period of 2 weeks. When I went, the doc found the issue. So give it some time. Time without you checking/fixating on your vision (as that only keeps you anxious about it). If your vision gets worse, then see the doctor. But don't jump to some catastrophic conclusion