Should my wife wear her sunglasses at night?

February 5, 2009 6:35 PM

What can be done to stop or minimize the occurrence of headaches due to oncoming headlights?

Lately, my wife is finding that driving at night is a recipe for a headache. She says the light from oncoming cars trigger migraines. The high-intensity beams are the worst, but even run of the mill, regular headlights can cause a headache if there's enough exposure to them (say a long drive).

Wearing sunglasses doesn't really help. She's tried wearing them when I've been driving and bright lights still give her a headache, plus they don't seem too safe for driving.

Other potentially relevant information: she's prone to migraines when exposed to flashing lights (police sirens, strobe lights, etc.) She's never really had strong night vision, though the headlights haven't always caused this reaction. She wears contact lenses, if that's important.

Has anyone experienced this problem?
Would those glasses they advertise on infomercials help?
Are there specialized night driving glasses that would help?

Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful.

posted by cptspalding to health & fitness (9 comments total)

My sister-in-law swears by yellow driving glasses. I haven't tried them myself but might be worth experimenting.
posted by leslies at 6:53 PM on February 5

Don't know how old your wife is, or long since she's seen an eye doctor.

I experienced similar night blindness and headaches when I began developing cataracts. The pain gets worse and worse as the cataracts get more predominant. Eventually bright light of any kind was a prescription for intense pain, especially sunlight. I basically had to quit driving at night because of the oncoming headlights problem.

Cataract removal surgery and lens implantation took care of everything. My vision is terrific, and I no longer have problem with bright light.

This may be totally unrelated to your wife's condition. Just sharing my own experience.
posted by netbros at 7:26 PM on February 5

Glasses with an AR (anti-reflective) coating can help immensely in reducing the strain from night driving. You can order them from your eye doctor. If your wife doesn't want to have to switch between glasses and contacts, she can get a pair of non-prescription glasses with the AR coating only (doctors' labs do this all the time for people).
posted by amyms at 8:11 PM on February 5

Yeah, try the yellow lenses. I use them when driving cross-country; they brighten up *everything* so the headlights aren't as nauseating.
posted by notsnot at 8:35 PM on February 5

She might want to talk to a neurologist. Migraines from flashing lights, bright lights, unexpected bright light, can be seizure-type activity...Those are the kinds of migraines I always got...I tried many migraine meds...including the really expensive ones($20 per pill!)...which didn't work...I now take vitamin b-2 (riboflavin) and haven't had a full-blown migraine in 3 years...however b-2 only works for some people...again, I recommend a neurologist...you can't really avoid the kind of light situations that trigger these for someone who is susceptible, as far as I understand, so meds might be called for. Caveat: IANAD, and only speak from my own experience.
posted by mumstheword at 10:08 PM on February 5

I have glaucoma and this is a symptom. Please ask your wife to go see an opthamologist.
posted by andreap at 1:12 AM on February 6

Have your wife get a full exam from a good ophthalmologist. It's probably something simple and harmless, but problems with night vision and light sensitivity can be early indicators of a variety of eye problems.
posted by paulg at 7:41 AM on February 6

Migraines are psychosomatic. Read up on TMS and Dr. John Sarno.

Glaucoma is not psychosomatic, however and do what andrea p. says.
posted by Zambrano at 11:00 AM on February 6

Thanks for all the responses and the feedback on things like glaucoma.

My wife is in her mid-30's and generally otherwise healthy. She has recently had an eye exam, with no indication of any problem. However many people in her family have ocular health issues, (including light sensitivity) so thankfully she's pretty vigilant about seeing an optometrist.

Because she's being vigilant on the health side, we're operating on the assumption that it is not anything medical, just an unlucky combination of genes and the roads she drives on. Since we can't really do anything about either, we'll have to look for things like glasses with AR coating (which is an option we might explore.)

Zambrano, I have read Sarno's Mind/Body Prescription as part of my work on my own migraines. While I buy into his ideas that the emotional can affect the physical, I think there are non-emotional, environmental triggers that cause physiological responses that lead to migraines. For example certain smells (perfumes, strong chemical odors, scented candles, etc.) can cause me to develop a migraine. I believe these and other triggers cause physiological responses to "assaults" on the body that lead to migraines which feel very different to me than other types of migraines I experience. I think this is what is happening with my wife, a physiological response to external stimuli.

Not to derail things with a Sarno rant (who I think is generally on to something), but as a migraine sufferer myself, I would say just as some in the medical profession put on blinders and automatically assume all pain is a physiological issue it's equally problematic to lump all pain together as being an emotional issue.

So in that spirit may I suggest that not all migraines are psychosomatic, but that migraines can sometimes be psychosomatic. I don't believe my wife's headaches are psychosomatic.
posted by cptspalding at 4:22 PM on February 6