Eye Ghosting

Hi, I'm 14 years old and I've been having eye problems for quite a while. When I was 8, I went on a skiing trip and when I was skiing the sun got into my vision numerous times, and from then on I started getting nearsightedness and also a small bit of ghosting. I didn't want to get glasses until recently, as my nearsightedness and ghosting have been getting worse and worse. But what I've noticed is that without the glasses, I have really extreme ghosting that at this point is almost not going away when I tilt my head up/down or squint a lot, with glasses, I have a small amount of ghosting, but it's still very uncomfortable.

So now, it's been getting worse and worse, so I went to see a optometrist (or opthamologist?) and they checked my eyes and said they were completely healthy, and they said ghosting could be caused by dry eyes and gave me those 'refresh tears' to use, but I knew it wouldn't work, and they didn't work.

So it's been getting worse and worse, and I don't know how to fix it. I'm wondering what the causes are as well, is overextended computer use a cause? Thanks in advance.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hello Superiorwolf.  Sunlight exposure doesn't cause the eye to need glasses. If you have dry eyes the dry air at the altitude of ski resorts can make the eyes dry while you're there but it will not cause dry eyes at normal altitudes. Excess sunlight exposure at high altitudes reflecting off the snow can cause a tempory burn of the cornea ('snow blindness') but again its not permanent.

It's really unusual for a 14 year old to have dry eyes and that's not a likely cause of your 'ghosting'.

As I've said before there is a huge difference between a quickie exam at a mall optical or by a limited care eye provider (optometrist) and a physician-eye specialist (Ophthalmologist).

It your problem is getting worse have your parents make an appointment with a physician ophthalmologist. That physician will have a MD (Doctor of Medicine) after their name.

You're welcome

JCH MD Eye MD

[Superiorwolf]

I also wanted to add - I have glare as well - The glare used to only happen at night to bright lights, but now it happens in the day as well, and even some 'not too bright objects', like a paper with the sun reflecting off of it, gets glare now too.

Also my ghosting isn't just on top like it used to be, not it's on the side and to the bottom.

[Nancy T]

Hi Superiorwolf,  yes, you definitely should see an ophthalmologist. I had ghosting problems and the optometrists did not really address it and didn't know what to do about it. Only when I saw an ophthalmologist (joined by a neuro-ophthalmologist) did they get me some glasses that solved my problem with ghosting when reading.

They can't always tell you the cause--in my case they did not know why it was happening--but they should be able to help you.

You mention tilting your head up/down and squinting--that is interesting because my ghosting goes away when I tilt my head upward to a certain angle or else squint my eyes partway closed. Is this the case with you too? (My ghosting is only vertical--shadows above letters.)

Is your ghosting worse when tired? Mine definitely is. When I'm VERY tired, the ghosting will occur even without any reading.

Best of luck!
Nancy T.

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