This presure is killing me.

June 17, 2007 6:30 PM

Pressure on my nose from my glasses, even a very slight pressure, makes me feel like bugs are crawling under my skin. What gives?

I started wearing glasses when I was 7, went to contacts when I was 13, and happily wore contacts 7 days a week until just this past year when my optometrist told me I had GPC. To get rid of this asap, I started wearing my glasses all day, every day, minus special occasions. The problem with this is that sometimes wearing glasses - specifically the pressure they create on my nose - drives me CRAZY. It's like.. bugs under my skin, or like the pressure has migrated from my glasses and now my skin is tightening over the bone/muscle underneath.... I really can't explain the feeling, but suffice it to say that it is unbearable. It's a tightness that starts on the sides of my nose, moves up the bridge, and spreads to my lower forehead. I can't stand it, really can't (can you tell I'm feeling it right now?). But I can't figure out for the life of me what is causing it.

My optometrist posited nickel allergy, but I have no reaction to metals of any kind, and I have worn metal framed glasses in the past with no problems. Other than that, he's stumped.

It doesn't happen every day, and no, my glasses aren't too heavy - in fact, they are as light as can be (featherweight lenses, tiny frames). The nosepads aren't too tight, and adjusting the fit of the glasses has made no difference. The kicker is that I can sometimes feel this same pressure when I'm *not* wearing my glasses - relaxing before bed, maybe, or on a rare occasion when I wear my contacts. The difference about these times, though, is that I can get past it, but I do think, "gee, if I were wearing my glasses this would really drive me nuts."

Add to this that I'm utterly blind, so if I feel this feeling and have to take my glasses off, I'm virtually crippled - can't read, can't do anything because I can't get anything in focus! So this really is a major problem for me (and it makes me a cranky, cranky person). I'm at an absolute loss for what to do.

Help?

posted by AthenaPolias to health & fitness (6 comments total)

Is it similar to the feeling that you get when you think about your nose too much or almost touch your nose with a finger? If so, it might be completely psychosomatic. If not, you could go for even lighter rimless frames.
posted by aye at 7:12 PM on June 17, 2007

Try finding a frame without nose pads. My son wore these for several years, when he first got his glasses because the nose pads drove him crazy. They are hard to find though, so good luck.
posted by jvilter at 7:37 PM on June 17, 2007

I would guess the nose pads of your glasses are distorting your nose enough to impinge upon your tear duct system, and slowing or halting altogether the drainage of your tears out of your eye.

I would also guess you have itching because of inflammation produced by something in your tears as they back up into your eyeball. At least one person in the thread you link to says they got GPC wearing disposable contacts too long, suggesting an infection, and the Wikipedia article says it can be due to bacterial or viral infection. You mention an optometrist, but not an ophthalmologist, who might be able to cure your GPC with a simple prescription for antibiotics if it's due to bacteria, fungi or protozoa.
posted by jamjam at 8:17 PM on June 17, 2007

I don't know what's causing the problem, but I have a workaround. If you're bugged by nosepads, try going old, old, incredibly old-school. These are the frames I wear when I'm in pirate garb. The temple pieces gently squeeze the sides of your head, and the bridge hovers in front of your face without ever touching your nose. They're remarkably comfortable.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:22 PM on June 17, 2007

The lightness might actually be part of the problem, as might be the precise location of the nose pads. I know there are certain spots on the bridge of my nose that are very sensitive to light touch, but a more consistent pressure doesn't cause a problem. It might be worth seeing if a different set of frames would help.
posted by Lady Li at 1:20 PM on June 18, 2007

Especially if you also notice red marks or indenting where the nose pads usually rest, it could be dermatographia, which can cause the type of painful symptoms you describe. It's worth determining whether you have similar symptoms in other body parts. For example, when you wear a tight bracelet, do you get similar symptoms?

Chronic regional pain syndrome can cause this type of ypersensitivity, but (i) I doubt that's it, and (2) I don't know enough about it to tell you more.

Taking an antihistamine or looking for irritants in your diet might be the next step.

Not medical advice.
posted by wireless at 5:38 PM on June 18, 2007