Eye's focus fluctuates
March 9, 2015 4:38 PM Subscribe
I notice that my eyes seem to constantly be focussing/defocussing, almost exactly like a crappy phone camera struggling to focus. I have a mild astigmatism, and just got the prescription updated and new glasses issued.
The new glasses work great; they make my vision noticeably sharper, and when my eyes settle, the clarity is pretty good.
However, for some reason my eyes for a long time now struggle to maintain focus on a near object (like a computer monitor). Every so often it seems like my vision blurs, then resets briefly. Sometimes, particularly when I'm stressed, I feel like I semi-conciously tune everything out; my vision defocuses and I just sort of sit there glazed over. I'm not having an absent seizure or anything; I'm aware of it and am still responsive, but it's like my eye's get to the point where I have to force them to focus, and so it's easier just to let my vision glaze over.
Note that there doesn't seem to be a correlation with eye strain; some days I've used a computer all day with little issue, some days it's happening right off the bat in the morning.
I've had this issue for years, but I'm at the point where it does not seem to be a common problem, and so I'm fed up with dealing with it.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I mentioned it to my optometrist and he just waived it away as eyestrain/fatigue.
The new glasses work great; they make my vision noticeably sharper, and when my eyes settle, the clarity is pretty good.
However, for some reason my eyes for a long time now struggle to maintain focus on a near object (like a computer monitor). Every so often it seems like my vision blurs, then resets briefly. Sometimes, particularly when I'm stressed, I feel like I semi-conciously tune everything out; my vision defocuses and I just sort of sit there glazed over. I'm not having an absent seizure or anything; I'm aware of it and am still responsive, but it's like my eye's get to the point where I have to force them to focus, and so it's easier just to let my vision glaze over.
Note that there doesn't seem to be a correlation with eye strain; some days I've used a computer all day with little issue, some days it's happening right off the bat in the morning.
I've had this issue for years, but I'm at the point where it does not seem to be a common problem, and so I'm fed up with dealing with it.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I mentioned it to my optometrist and he just waived it away as eyestrain/fatigue.
I have this same issue (which I've always described as the Magic Eye phenomenon...feeling like I'm looking past things) and haven't been able to get a good answer for it either. My optometrist has blamed it on "aging", but I'm only 36, so that seems irrational. Memail me if you want to compare.
posted by altopower at 4:56 PM on March 9, 2015
posted by altopower at 4:56 PM on March 9, 2015
If you have health insurance, check if ophthalmologists are covered. I had a vision problem a while back, and I was surprised to find out that I was able to see an ophthalmologist (and later a retina specialist) through my regular health insurance rather than my vision insurance.
Optometrists are great for basic vision needs, but they aren't MDs. Ophthalmologists are doctors who went to med school and specialize in eyes - if you have a serious problem that your optometrist can't solve, it's time to see an ophthalmologist.
posted by insectosaurus at 5:44 PM on March 9, 2015
Optometrists are great for basic vision needs, but they aren't MDs. Ophthalmologists are doctors who went to med school and specialize in eyes - if you have a serious problem that your optometrist can't solve, it's time to see an ophthalmologist.
posted by insectosaurus at 5:44 PM on March 9, 2015
This sounds like an issue I have, too; there's a noticeable delay in focusing when I switch from near to far or vice-versa. My eye doctor was familiar with the issue, though I go to a teaching clinic and my appointments are always with groups of students and residents and an attending doctor, all of whom seem to be well-informed about all the weird things that can happen with eyes. They gave me several eye exercises to do daily, and added prism correction to my eyeglasses prescription. It all helped, though I fell off on the exercises quite awhile back.
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:22 PM on March 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:22 PM on March 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Near-sighted, astimagtic lady here with similar problems. I actually brought up this same issue to my new optometrist at my last exam and she told me I had a slightly crossed left eye. She said the crossed side-effects typically become more apparent when my eyes are fatigued. Like rhiannonstone above, my doctor recommended to either: get eyeglasses with a prism correction, or go to a specialist for eye exercises to correct the crossing.
posted by the ghost of so and so at 12:13 AM on April 1, 2015
posted by the ghost of so and so at 12:13 AM on April 1, 2015
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I've seen many optometrists and a few ophthalmologists over the years and except for one outstanding optometrist (who I still see) the ophthalmologists gave me a vastly more complete and thorough exam. The flip side is there might be more cost to you (if you're in the US), and you might have to wait a relatively long time for an appointment.
posted by sevenless at 4:50 PM on March 9, 2015