eyes and headache

[Alaink]

1/2
Hello,I am almost 38 years old , I spend a lot of time infront of my laptop screen & TV around 8 hours a day. 5 month ago I experienced headaches,my ophtalmologist  told me with age myopia tends to drop ,Ichanged my eyeglasses myopia droped by 0.5 in each eye ,went well for a while
Recurring eyes & headaches 1month ago  went to ophtalmologist again diagnosed slight disturbance in upper sense and sent me to an optometrist who diagniosed a convergence  in the left eye she taught me an exercise ( look at the tip of a pen while reaching it to my nose) . After 4 days of a daily excersise for 10minutes with slight pain. I visted her again for progress ,I did the excersies infront of her   10min. she tested my eyes with a kind of prism etc it caused unbearable eyes headache for whole day & fatigue in my eyes next day. she aked me to stop the excersise. convergence now is at around 2.5 inches. the symptoms I am experiencing:-red eyes at wake up -Eyes ache  specially when I look outside to daylight. -I feel I have dry eyes -I am unable to work infront of my laptop screen for more than  an hour per day without experiencing disconfort and rarely watch TV now because I feel Unconfortable. at office I feel i am better off without my eyeglasses and sometimes i am confortable wearing them in front of the screen.-I have eye aches when I look at shinning objects or white colored objects and my eyes blur -camera flashes drives me nuts -eyes ache drops to the cheek oftenly.

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

  Dry eyes are a chronic problem that we speak of "control" rather than "cure". Unfortunately, and especially in women, the older the person gets the more medications it takes to control it. This is due to hormonal changes in post menopausal women that 'dry out' their tissues.

There are not problems associated with long term use of artifical tears, gels and ointments. It's just like moisturing cream on the skin.

I suspect that over the coming winter months you will have to use more moisture drops because the air is drier.  You might try some of the other things that are mentioned TheraTears Dry Eye Formula (pills), and if things get worse tear duct plugs and/or Restasis.

JCH III MD

[Alaink]

Dear Dr. Hagan,

for the past 10 days I am only using viscotears(novartis) at night before I sleep
.no need for tear drops or gentel gel during the day anymore I feel well until late at night

As a test I stopped for one night and didn't use the viscotears,  the next day I had eyes etching and like sand inside .I  had heavy eyes all day long

can I use the Viscotears for a long period,without   side effects?

In your opinion I should get better in a while ( how long?) or I will be dependent on artificial tears?
I have been using them for the past 40 days. (10 days  of which only before I sleep)

Thanks
Alain




  

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

No either or but not both together. They are thicker than regular artificial tears. Will last longer. May cause some minor blurriness for 2-5 minutes after you put them in.

JCH III MD

[Alaink]

Dear Dr.Hagan,

you said :"try Genteal Gel during the day also and Celluvisc tears" you mean together?

thanks

[Alaink]

Thank you for your Advise
this is what I did , I have switched from ceiling Neon Lighting  to indirect lighting
one more thing I realized is the True Brigth screens are really harmfull, I changed to TFT
Thanks

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

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[indi1664]

Hello,
          I also work with pc's for 8-10hrs per day..I tend to get headaches if i wear glasses where as if i wear contact lenses i do not seem to get same problem.one thing you have to bear in mind is that I am very high myopic and therefore i tend to strain my eyes more with Glasses trying to get better vision.
Also incorrect lighting(particularly backgrond sunlight) and LIGHTING reflection on your screen will cause this problem.DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS POINT.Do a google search on lighting setup when working on pc ...you will find good info.I was quite surprised as we have good working condition in office and therefore i do not get the headaches whereas at home ...working near direct window light ..cause more problems.I hope this helps ..Good luck.

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

Your eyes will work less hard if you remove your glasses for reading or computer wook.  You will not get dependent on artifical tears any more than you are dependant on breathing or eating. Your cornea has to be moist to stay healthy and not scar and get infected. If your own body can't produce the tears then you have to put them in.

Some drops last longer than others (try Genteal Gel during the day also and Celluvisc tears).

If you can't find tears that last 3-4 hours see an Eye MD to discuss Restasis and/or tear duct plugs.

JCH III MD

[Alaink]

Dear Dr. Hagan,

my glasses prescription is  
OD -1.50 -0.25x135
OL -1.00 -0.25x0

I feel I am dependent on eye drops now,if I don't put regularly ( every 2 hours ) symptoms tends to come back but not disturbing as before
do you think that with time it will be better or I should be relying on tear drops all the time ?

thank you

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

Glad you are better. Keep it up.  If you glasses prescription is -1.00 +/- 0.25 axis ?   you will be better off removing your glasses for near work. When you get in your 40's you will be unable to read at near without taking the glasses off. Right now there is less strain and work by taking it off. You will need reading glasses or bifocals in your later 40's.

JCH III MD

[Alaink]

Dear Dr. Hagan,

After a week of tear drops ( thera Tears) and gel tears at night most of the eye and headache is gone
at wake up the white part of the eyes is light pink for a while  
today while working on my laptop I a had a disconconfort and little strength ache lower muscles under the eyes ,and cheek muscles,with a slight headache.
I am better off not wearing my eyeglasses myopie 1 in each eye with astigmatie 0.25 in each eye)

any idea?

Thanks
Alain

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

______________________

[Alaink]

Thank you

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

It your prople is dry eyes you should see an improvement over the next 2-3 weeks. I'm reposting a reply to a patient with dry eyes from the Eye Forum"

JCH III MD

a Schirmer test of zero indicates that you have severe dry eyes. I'm assuming from your posting that you have tried both preserved and unpreserved artifical tears, gels or lubricating ointments at bedtime, environmental modification, etc. Don't discount eye drops. There are over a 100 different brands of artificial tears and they can't all be lumped together. Sometimes one will find the perfect drop. Because the problem is so prevalent the pharmaceutical compies are coming out with new products all the time. Some of the newest are Systane preserved and unpreserved drops and Optive drops.

If you took Restasis you have used the best prescription medication. A "trial" of Restasis is a minimum of 8 weeks of therapy using one drop in each eye twice/day. Because of the way Restasis works, it takes two months to "start working". I have found that many patients use it for a few weeks then conclude it won't help. The medication often stings when therapy is begun--it usually gets better by week three or your Ophthalmologist (EyeMD) can prescribe a mild steroid drop for a couple of weeks. If you did not take for 8 weeks you need to restart therapy.

If you have tried tear duct plugs you should have had all for tear duct openings (puncta) plugged with a permanent plus (not a disolving one). Usually just the lower lids are done with mild dry eyes. If your problem is as bad as you say, you and your ophthalmologist should discuss permanent closure of some or all four of the tear duct openings with cautery.

Additional things that can help include a diet rich in fatty fish (eg salmon, sardines, etc). Fish oil taken by mouth usually 2 to 4/day has been show to help some patients. In addition there are non-prescription pills for dry eyes available at most major drug stores or by direct order from the companies. Thera-tears is probably the most widely used. You can use any search engine to pull up the websites of the companies that see these.

In dry eyes associated with corneal damage, moisture retaining goggles are used for sleeping. Be absolutely certain you do not sleep under a fan, heating outlet or situation where air moves over your face during sleep. Make certain you home is humidified in the winter, put a humidity gage in the bedroom. If you cannot maintain a 50-60% humidity put a room humidifier in the bedroom.

If you are menopausal or post-menopausal be sure you and your gynecologist maintain optimal hormonal balance. (Many women with dry eyes have dry mouth and dry vaginal canal). If you have joint pain have that evaluated to be sure you don't have Sjorgren's syndrome. Many medications eg antihistamines can make dry eye worse. You might review your medications with your ophthalmologist.

If you reach a point of exhausting all the above see an ophthalmologist that specializes in "Cornea and External Disease". This is their special area of expertise.

Keep digging and moving forward. I suspect you have not exhausted all the ways you can be helped.

[Alaink]

Dear Dr.Hagan,
Sorry forgot to ask how long it should take before I start feeling better?
Thanks

[Alaink]

Dear Dr.Hagan,

thank you for your help
I did visit the ophtalmologist today. and explained again my problem and eyes and headaches ,
wihtout any hint from my side :-) he tested my tears by introducing a drop of a yellow solution , he said that there is no enough tears in my eyes he said that I should use tear drops each 2 hours ,
also he prescribed "Viscotears" an ophtalmic gel that I use before I sleep.
hope this will work

Thank you for your help again

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

With the exception of convergence insufficiency, eye exercises and therapy is generally expensive and worthless.

I suggest you see a different ophthalmologist for a second opinion. As for a Schirmer Test to determine if you have dry eyes.  Use the search feature on this page to read the many discussions of dry eyes and how to treat same.

JCH III MD