Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Eye Care (Expert Forum)
Believe I damaged my vision... (explanation inside)
Answered by
Michael J Kutryb, MD - Ophthalmology, Cataract Surgery, glaucoma, Laser Vision Correct
Kutryb Eye Institute - Titusville
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Believe I damaged my vision... (explanation inside)
by RonFi, Jul 13, 2008 04:45PM
Hi, hoping someone could offer me some information as to what is happening to my eye
Here's what happened:
I slept with my contacts on (this is like my second time... hopefully this is some helpful information?) and then at night time I got back to my dorm, took off my contacts and I felt something in my left eye. I wash it out with water and I see an eyelash on my eye so I try to remove it with my fingers, then OK good, I got it out. Next day I notice that I have this blindspot on my left eye that I DID NOT have before. Could I have hurt my eye while trying to remove the eyelash with my finger? I was as cautious as I could be while removing the eyelash and gentle as ever.
I was looking at my sink in my dorm and I noticed that I could not see the lightbult that was on my desk (the light was on). Now, I had one eye closed (the right eye) and the lightbult was not visible when my right eye was closed, but when I opened my right eye I could see it because of my right eye's vision. The blindspot is not very noticeable during the day, more like the night time. If I close my right eye and only see through my left eye, I just see this circular fuzzyness/blurry spot on the left of my eye; its about 1 inch or so to the left of the center of my eye's vision. So if I hold up my finger to the blindspot, I can see the top and the bottom, not the middle. I've also tested and noticed that this blindspot "goes away" if I move my finger close to my eye, so its only there after a certain distance.
I believe that I have really damaged my eye after that night and feel completely stupid. Could this possibly be temporarily or permanent damage? Are there steroids to help heal this (of course, I will go to the doctor tomorrow and get everything prescribed.Possibly have eye laser surgery?
Could this be a cataract?
Thank you SO much for any information you can offer me, even if its very minimal.
Here's what happened:
I slept with my contacts on (this is like my second time... hopefully this is some helpful information?) and then at night time I got back to my dorm, took off my contacts and I felt something in my left eye. I wash it out with water and I see an eyelash on my eye so I try to remove it with my fingers, then OK good, I got it out. Next day I notice that I have this blindspot on my left eye that I DID NOT have before. Could I have hurt my eye while trying to remove the eyelash with my finger? I was as cautious as I could be while removing the eyelash and gentle as ever.
I was looking at my sink in my dorm and I noticed that I could not see the lightbult that was on my desk (the light was on). Now, I had one eye closed (the right eye) and the lightbult was not visible when my right eye was closed, but when I opened my right eye I could see it because of my right eye's vision. The blindspot is not very noticeable during the day, more like the night time. If I close my right eye and only see through my left eye, I just see this circular fuzzyness/blurry spot on the left of my eye; its about 1 inch or so to the left of the center of my eye's vision. So if I hold up my finger to the blindspot, I can see the top and the bottom, not the middle. I've also tested and noticed that this blindspot "goes away" if I move my finger close to my eye, so its only there after a certain distance.
I believe that I have really damaged my eye after that night and feel completely stupid. Could this possibly be temporarily or permanent damage? Are there steroids to help heal this (of course, I will go to the doctor tomorrow and get everything prescribed.Possibly have eye laser surgery?
Could this be a cataract?
Thank you SO much for any information you can offer me, even if its very minimal.
Doctor's Answer
by Michael J Kutryb, MD, Jul 13, 2008 09:39PM
, Jul 13, 2008 09:39PM
You should go to the emergency room right now. You either have a serious cornea infection or abrasion or perhaps some sort of serious retinal detachment or other retinal problem. This is the real deal - you are sitting there telling us that you have a serious loss of vision and you are doing nothing about it. Please go to the emergency room, at least they should be able to offer some sort of help.
MJK MD
MJK MD
The retinal specialist did say one thing though and that it may be a disorder among my age group (young men, 18 years old) in which stress/caffeine could cause temporary blindspots to occur. I don't remember the name of the disorder he said it was, but before this happened I was pretty stressed out with exams, but I wouldn't think that it could be started off from removing something in my eye. From this, he said that I may not have noticed it and since I was in the dark, that may have helped me notice the blindpsot.
MJK MD
Are you sure this is not your natural blindspot? You said you close your right eye so that means that you are using your left eye. Your natural blindspot for your left eye is to the left of your center of vision, and the blindspot for your right eye is to the right of your central vision. I can do the same exact thing you are telling me. I can make my middle of my finger dissapear and still see the top and bottom. I can make any object I put in that spot disappear. If you want to test it you could go here. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot/ Just take your time until you get it down with both eyes. BOTH eyes do have a blindspot so find the one on your right eye as well and see if it is the same as the left.
PS. It was freaky when I first found out that I had one too! I thought I was going blind.
If it was natural then I would have noticed it a long time ago. Why would there be a blind spot so close to the center of my eye? I've done tests before with blindspots by moving close or away to the object, this is not a natural blindspot.