sight

[Rachel W]

Hi,

I am so worried right now. I was in a car accident back in 2004 and this was about the time that I noticed that my vision seemed a little strange in my right eye; not blurred but distorted, but I thought that it was due to holding my hand over my eye during a basic doctor eye test.

In 2008 I had a proper eye exam due to vertigo that had come from the accident and then I realised that something was wrong as this time I had not put a hand over. I tried to explain to the optician but I think he thought I was just describing blurryness.

When I got home I had tried to look up what it was and found an amsler grid and realised that I had some central distorted vision. As the eye doctor had mentioned harmless marks on my retina I started to worry about MD and rushed myself back to the hospital. They did a full retina scan and said that my retinas were 100% textbook perfect and they thought that it was nerve damage due to the accident.

It is now almost two years later and the distortion does not seem to be worse, and I messaged on MedHelp and they said that if it was anything retinal the amsler grid would have shown changes.

My new issue is as follows:

I have been studying this year for my Master's and spending a lot of time reading on the computer screen. I always use a computer a lot on my days off and evenings, but not usually to read text. I have noticed over the last 6 months that my eyes have felt strained and things just don't seem as acute, but this week I realised that i can only focus on print or other things about 8 or so inches away, 10+ is more comfortable. Anything closer than 8 inches and it is uncomfortable and it looks blurry and double.

Up to last year I could always focus about 4 inches, and sometimes even closer.
I am 40 in December so I know that it is normal for close focusing to be affected, but this seems more sudden. Is it possible that eye strain could make it worse and could it get better a little if I stop using the computer as much? It is really upsetting me as I do a lot of art and due to the eyes not feeling right I am scared it could be something more serious. I have also been very stressed this year as well.

Please help, I am scared I am going to go blind. Also, it seems identical in both eyes and if I try to focus too close then the page looks uneven, like when you look through someone's glasses and it gets a little shadowing too. It also seems like the blurryness stays in certain parts more than others as I move the text to about 8 inches.

Please help. I am panicking!!!

[Rachel W]

anyone?

[Decius]

I am not a doctor.

I think you may be letting your stress get the better of you. Studying for your master's is no simple task, especially if you are writing your thesis. You may just need glasses. I herd for every 20 mins you are on the computer you should take something like 20 secs to look away and focus on something far away. I would also venture to say the car accident may not have anything to do with what is going on with your eyes now. You are scared and stressed out, so your mind is trying figure out what is going on (to regain control of the situation) and will begin looking for any and all possible explanations as to why your eyes may be doing what they are doing. Try an "occam's razor" approach. Meaning the simplest explanation is likely the correct one. You may just need glasses and working on the computer for long periods of time will strain your eyes. You know your body better than anyone else, take a moment and really define your symptoms and if after that you are still concerned talk to your doctor (remember doctors can only treat what you tell them). I would also say DO NOT google your symptoms it will only make things worse. Take a step back, take a deep breath and remind yourself that everything will be okay. I hoped this helped. Good luck on finishing your master's!

[Gareth]

Only an eye doctor can give you a definitive answer on this, but I do know that anxiety can cause all sorts of problems with eyesight. I get "funny eyes" sometimes, in that one of them might go blurry for a little while, and then go back to normal, and sometimes I'll feel like the muscles in my eyes aren't working properly.

It is probably stress from working hard, spending a lot of time in front of a PC, and good old fashioned WORRY.

I often think of something someone once said to me about health anxiety that makes a lot of sense; "You don't find real health problems, they find you!"

[Rachel W]

Thank you. I am pretty sure the car accident caused the distorted vision (if I look at an Amsler grid the lines are squiggly close to the centre and I only noticed distorted vision pretty soon after the accident.

As this hasn't gotten worse and I had a retina scan I hope this means that this was damag and not going to get worse, but it is the sudden lack of being able to focus on close objects and a general feeling of strain that has stressed me. I must admit that I have even spent from 6:30 on evening until 10:30 the following night on the compuetr with only a few minutes break here and there. I have given myself a break from study while I figure out what my research is going to be, but I watch TV and play games on the computer to relax.

Hopefully once I move away from the computer for a bit and get back to normal life once my MSc is finished in January that I will start feeling better.

Thank you again.