Tina wrote:
Hello,

I started wearing glasses for reading/computer work about 12 years ago, but I could go without glasses the rest of the time. I’ve always had a really weak prescription, but with astigmatism. Then a year ago, I started getting headaches and my Dr. explained that I might need to wear my glasses all the time. So I started doing that, but cannot ever go without my glasses without getting headaches/blurred vision.

Then tonight, suddenly, I had blurry vision with my glasses on and better vision with them off. About 20 minutes later, I find I need them for the computer in a lit room, but not in a dark room, and that I need them to read the spines of books about 12 feet away, but not for my television (which I always need).

Is it possible that I only need them for reading again? It may be important to note that I have fibromyalgia and have always expected given that the disease attacks the muscles, that it might be related.

I’ll make an appointment with my optometrist, but any insight would be appreciated.

Thank you!

ANSWER

Dear Tina
You do need to see your optometrist. Rapid fluctuations in vision such as you are describing are not normal and are most commonly associated with systemic health conditions. Your fibromyalgia might certainly be a factor, but the possible existence of other conditions such as diabetes needs to be investigated.
Best of luck
Dr. Smit

Peter wrote:
ive been having some problems with vision. when im in a lighted room within minutes my eyes start to hurt and it gets worse and worse until i go into a dark room which makes them stop hurting almost instantly..

secondly, everything looks really weird to me, as if it was more vivid, and like everything is smaller in my eyes, so just by looking at my hands they dont look normal, they look much smaller.

thirdly, sometimes when i close my eyes it seems like the darkness has moved back and so its much bigger and i have to open them, cant sleep for a few hours until it goes away

lastly, i wake up randomly and my eyes are sort of zooming in and out, and i cant stop it for a hour, like it is focusing in and out like its in the distance, which then my head feels all messed up

ive been having the last problem about once every month, and then others constantly the last month, i have to sit in my basement to feel good and i wear sunglasses when i go outside, it helps me deal with the eyes hurting(which they dont ALOT when wearing the glasses) and helps me deal with everything looking weird like as if my eyes are automatically focusing in without me wanting them to..

i have BPPV and my family doctor is sending me to a eye doctor, but i still am looking to find if someone might know whats wrong with me

ANSWER

Dear Peter
Without having access to all your medical data it is hard to say exactly what is going on. My best advice would be to ask your optometrist to refer you to a neuro-ophthalmologist who can investigate with scans and/or MRI if there is a vascular or a brain dysfunction that could explain your symptoms. Some of them could be related to ophthalmic migraine but I doubt that it is as simple as that. A thouroughful exam would determine what part of your symptoms are related to BPPV and what else could de linked with other systemic dysfunctionc. Only a neurological examination would deternine these aspects.
Thanks for your question
Dr. Langis Michaud, Optométriste, MSc, FAAO (Dipl)
Associate Professor – Université de Montréal

Omar wrote:
My left eye was badly injured years ago. It was healed and vision was not affected, however i think as a result it suffered vitreous detachment.

My eye has been examined many times and i was told always it’s in good health. However i often have burning sensation in eye, it also gets red easily and the whiteness isn’t as clear as the other.

What could i do about the irritation and redness? Can some specific eye drops really help?

ANSWER

Omar,
From your symptoms it seems that you may be suffering from dry eyes.  Of course it is good to have them examined by an Optometrist to ensure that this is the cause of your symptoms.  If you are diagnosed with dry eyes the treatment is artificial tears.  These generally need to be used at least three to four times per day.  Your optometrist can recommend a good brand for you to use.  Usually dry eyes occur in both eyes, but because of your history of having an eye injury only one eye may be affected.

Dr. Doman

Justin wrote:
Hi there,

Is Irlen’s Syndrome recognized by the Canadian Association of Optometrists?  I am a teacher in Alberta and one of my students suffers from Scotopic Sensitivity.  He does work online and this requires him to read from both computer screen and from traditional textbooks.  He already has special eyeglasses to help him with his SSS.  I will be having him sit close to the window so he can get as much natural light as possible.  I am looking into how his computer can have colored filters over the screen to help him.  Do you have any other recommendations on how I can help him?

Thanks for any assistance you can provide

ANSWER

Hello Justin,
It sounds like you’re doing everything right to help this young man.  I word of caution, however, about Irlen’s Syndrome: in a study done by Dr. M. Scheiman*, it was found that 95% of patients identified as good candidates for treatment with Irlen filters had other significant undiagnosed visual anomalies.  I sincerely hope that your student has been evaluated by an optometrist to rule out other possible visual perceptual or binocular vision abnormalities.
For a name of an optometrist in your area who specializes in such evaluations, contact the college of optometry for Alberta.

* Scheiman M, Blaskey P, et al. Vision characteristics of individuals identified as Irlen Filter candidates. J Am Optom Assoc 1990;61:600-604

Dr. Donati

Colin wrote:
my eye was exposed to laser radiation. The laser was a 20mW max output at 650 nm. I did not think anything of it at the time. Lately I have been noticing some vision problems. I seem to see faint dots that cause a glossy effect. I saw an optometrist and told him my concern. He preformed his examination and later said he saw no signs of eye diseases. He wrote me a prescription for glasses and sent me on my way. Will my vision get worse or stay the same. Should I see another optometrist or a doctor?

ANSWER

Dear Colin:
I referred your question to Dr. B. R. Chou Associate Professor at the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. He has done much work in the area of environmental and occupational eye safety and has had some involvement in the problems of laser flashing of drivers and pilots. Here is his response.

“Colin’s information indicates he was most likely exposed to a Class 3B laser. These are continuous output lasers of less than 0.5 W output emitting at a wavelength between 315 nm and 2500 nm. Exposure is potentially hazardous if intrabeam viewing occurs as in Colin’s situation, but the duration of the exposure is the key element. Without knowing how long his eye was exposed to the laser, it’s not possible to determine whether he was at risk of an eye injury. However, the fact that the optometrist detected no changes at the retina suggests that no clinically visible damage occurred. It is possible that there is some sub-clinical effect that gives rise to the visual phenomenon he reports, but our best available detection methods likely won’t be able to find any evidence of damage. I don’t know if his vision will get worse as a result of the laser exposure, but it is most likely that there will be no permanent effect resulting from this incident.”

I hope this is helpful.
Dr. Smit

Stephanie wrote:
Three weeks ago I woke up with some crust around my eyes. I thought it was no big deal but it has been occurring ever since. I wear both contacts and glasses. Two weeks ago I noticed a dramatic decrease in the clarity of my vision. It has not worsened, but I just got my prescription changed in March and now I feel like I need a new one again. I also got new contacts with my updated prescription… about 3 months ago… The old one I wore were power: 2.25 and BC:8.5 in both eye’s and the new ones are power:2.5 in on and 3.00 by BC:9. Could the change in the BC be irritating my eyes and effecting the dramatic change in MY vision? And what about the crust around my eyes? I’m worried can you help?!

Thank you so much!

ANSWER

Dear Stephanie
If you are wearing soft contact lenses, dramatic changes in vision are not usually caused by a change in base curve (BC) such as you have described. Going from a BC 8.5 to a BC 8.9 lens means that the primary curve of the back surface of the lens is flatter on your new lenses than on your old lenses. If the material of the lens has been unchanged, then I would expect the new lens to fit a little bit looser on the eye. This normally does not cause a dramatic change in the clarity of the vision. However, different contact lens materials fit on the eyes differently and if your doctor has prescribed a different contact material, it is entirely possible that the new lens made up in an 8.9 base curve fits the same as your old lenses fit with an 8.5 base curve.
I also see that you used to wear the same prescription in both eyes and that now the prescription is different. If you accidentally reversed your contacts (put the left lens in the right eye and the right lens in the left eye), you would have perceived a dramatic change in vision. You could try switching the lenses to see if that clears the vision.
The crustiness of your lids in the morning suggests that your eyes are inflamed. This may be caused by a number of factors that include infection, sensitivity to your contact lens solutions or irritation from the fit of the contact lens to name a few. The only way to determine what is causing your symptoms is to see your optometrist, describe your symptoms and concerns, and have your eyes carefully examined and your contact lenses reassessed. Infections, contact lens fitting issues and sensitivity to solutions can arise at any time, and must be dealt with when they occur.
I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Smit

Janie wrote:
Recently my eyes seem to be bloodshot and burning all the time. My blood pressure is normal and I stopped drinking alcohol months ago. I had my eyes checked about a year ago and the prescription hadn’t changed for my classes. Can you give me some idea of what could be wrong with my eyes and whom should I see about them, if anyone? Thanks, Janie

ANSWER

Dear Janie

Ocular redness comes from 2 sources: inflammation and/or infection. You should consult an optometrist when the eyes are red to determine the nature of that it affects your eyes. That could be a disease, an infection from a virus or a bacteria, that could be related to ocular dryness, that could be an allergic reaction. This could also be linked with the misuse of ocular medication or any other drops you may purchase over the counter (rebound effect). Before doing anything you should have a right diagnosis made before doing anything else.

Thanks for your interest.

Dr. Langis Michaud, OD, MSc, FAAO
Associate Professor
Université de Montréal, School of Optometry

Renatta wrote:
My 7 yr old son has just had an eye exam where the Dr. said he has convergence excess and needs eye therapy. The treatment is very costly and they also recommended readers as well. The therapy could be as long as 1 yr and I just want to make sure that this is serious enough to make this investment. I will do anything to help my son but I don’t have money to spend on something that doesn’t need to be done or isn’t as big of a concern as they have presented it to be.  Any light you can shed on this would be appreciated.
Thanks

ANSWER

Dear Renetta

You are lucky ! Your optometrist did a very good job considering that convergence excess is rarely diagnosed on time and represents the  no. 1 reason for school drop-out. Convervence excess means that your son’s eyes cross too shortly before the text he has to read. This leads to a reduced distance for reading (25 cm vs 40-50 cm). A shorter distance is very disturbing and demanding to the visual system. Imagine  seeing a computer screen at 25 cm as opposed to 60 cm where it is supposed to be. At 60 cm, a patient that suffers form convergence excess will see 2 screens (double vision). Ocular fatigue, migraine, headaches, nausea, loss of binocular vision could develop over time. It is not rare to see this condition, left untreated to lead to school failure. Most often, the student quits before graduation because their visual system cannot handle the demand.

This is why it is crucial to treat convergence excess. This treatment includes not onlyt the prescription of reading glasses (convex lenses help to reduce convergence excess) but also on orthoptics training. The visual system has to learn how to function properly even with the presence of glasses. Namely, with exercises the eyes will “learn” to converge less and to diverge more, making reading, computer work and any near visual tasks not only more comfortable but also for prolonged hours. The future at school of your son depends on the accuracy of this treatment.  Ask yourself how much money you would spend to assure a future to your chilldren and you will be able to balance  the value of the treatment that is proposed to you.

Thanks for your interest.

Dr. Langis Michaud, OD, MSc, FAAO
Associate Professor
Université de Montréal, School of Optometry

Heather wrote:
My son was recently diagnosed with convergence insufficiency.  He is currently wearing prism glasses for this.  I have heard that vision therapy can also be of great help to children with this diagnosis.  Is there anyone in the Belleville area that offers this type of service that your organization knows of?

Thank you

ANSWER

Heather,

To find an Optometrist in your area, contact the Ontario Optometry Association..    http://www.eyecareoao.com/    They should be able to direct you to an Optometrist who specializes in Vision therapy.

Dr. Joan Hansen - Optometrist, for CAO

Kary wrote:
I’m wondering if an optometrist could diagnose a blocked tear duct?  My daughter has had a lot of problems with recurrent eye infections in one eye.  This eye also waters a great deal on a regular basis.  I’ve spoken to my Dr. about seeing an ophthalmologist, but no ophthalmologists in my area see children under 8 years old.  The closest one to us has a waiting list of 10 months long.  I’m wondering if an optometrist could take a look at her (I’ve heard that there’s a dye test that could be performed).  He/she may also give us some tips on how to live with it until we can see an ophthalmologist… or maybe determine if something else is causing all the infections.

Thanks for your help.

ANSWER

Kary,

Yes, your Optometrist should be able to examine your child and offer advice on how you may possibly open the tear drainage without needing to see a surgeon.  You did not say how old your daughter is, but if she is under 2, this is a common condition that we see in kids.  It rarely needs surgical repair, but if this is the case, then your Optometrist can refer you to a surgeon as needed.

Dr. Joan Hansen - Optometrist, for CAO