cyclops-filter
November 8, 2022 6:32 AM Subscribe
I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a sharp pain in my right eye. Seven hours later, the pain is gone, but my vision is still blurry in that eye, and I'm blinking constantly. (I have a vague notion that blinking is a normal response to eye problems, but I thought it was worth mentioning.) Any idea what could have happened? Will it heal? How can I help it?
Some other details:
-I was sleeping on my back.
-The pain didn't start immediately when I woke up. I got up to pee, and after I stood up and took a couple of steps, it felt like someone stabbed my eye.
-I put a warm washcloth on it before I went back to sleep.
-My eye is not tender to the touch, and no redder or more bloodshot than usual.
-I didn't notice anything unusual before I went to bed.
I have better-than-20/10 vision, so the experience of blurry vision is pretty disorienting to me. But this is probably just a piece of dust or an eyelash that got under my eyelid and just needs to be washed out, right? Probably not a long term issue? I hope!
Some other details:
-I was sleeping on my back.
-The pain didn't start immediately when I woke up. I got up to pee, and after I stood up and took a couple of steps, it felt like someone stabbed my eye.
-I put a warm washcloth on it before I went back to sleep.
-My eye is not tender to the touch, and no redder or more bloodshot than usual.
-I didn't notice anything unusual before I went to bed.
I have better-than-20/10 vision, so the experience of blurry vision is pretty disorienting to me. But this is probably just a piece of dust or an eyelash that got under my eyelid and just needs to be washed out, right? Probably not a long term issue? I hope!
I have periodically gotten sharp pains like that and been told by a doctor it's related to migraine. I haven't had the blurry vision afterwards though, so I agree that you need to get this evaluated.
posted by FencingGal at 6:39 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by FencingGal at 6:39 AM on November 8, 2022
In my experience, when I mentioned sudden blurry vision, the university hospital-affiliated eye clinic scheduled me to be seen right away, as opposed to weeks or months in the future for dry eyes or vision exams.
I would suggest getting a medical assessment ASAP.
posted by research monkey at 6:44 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
I would suggest getting a medical assessment ASAP.
posted by research monkey at 6:44 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Whoa, go to the doctor right away! It might be/probably is innocuous, but do you want to bet your sight on that?
posted by number9dream at 6:44 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by number9dream at 6:44 AM on November 8, 2022
Any sudden onset blurriness that isn't related to pre-existing migraine or other diagnosed conditions needs a doctor visit! Pain can be weird and random but there is a material change in how your eye is working.
posted by Frowner at 6:46 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by Frowner at 6:46 AM on November 8, 2022
Response by poster: Hey FencingGal, can I ask you for more about the migraine thing? I get pretty bad migraines, but not before or after this particular incident. Does your pain happen during an actual migraine?
The consensus seems to be to go to the doctor, but could you be more specific? My old PCP moved, so I don't currently have a PCP, and because neither my wife nor I wear glasses, we don't have any real experience with eye doctors. Is this something I should find an optometrist for? Can I go to urgent care and get it checked out?
posted by kevinbelt at 6:48 AM on November 8, 2022
The consensus seems to be to go to the doctor, but could you be more specific? My old PCP moved, so I don't currently have a PCP, and because neither my wife nor I wear glasses, we don't have any real experience with eye doctors. Is this something I should find an optometrist for? Can I go to urgent care and get it checked out?
posted by kevinbelt at 6:48 AM on November 8, 2022
Potentially acute glaucoma - get yourself checked now, don't put it off.
Hopefully it's not that, but glaucoma can lead to irrecoverable sight loss and you want to know about it now, not later, so that it can be treated to prevent/slow down further damage. I have the non-acute type of glaucoma, and had lost 15% of the sight in one eye without even noticing (always go for your eye tests, people - that's where I found this out!).
And even if you read that article and think: "Oh, this can't be it - I don't have symptom x/I don't look like the photo/whatever", I'd urge you to get it checked now. There are probably other conditions in a similar vein, and the importance of your sight means the answer is always to get this checked now, however inconvenient, rather than risk permanent sight loss.
On preview: Re. your update - I'm in the UK so not sure I could advise because I think our system is so different, but FWIW, I went for a regular eye test at the local optician's because I could tell I needed reading glasses; they did the visual field test which revealed vision loss and flagged me for a referral to the eye hospital. But mine was non-acute so a bit more relaxed.
So an optometrist could be a good first stop if that's the quickest/easiest person to find and they might at least be able to point you elsewhere. I think urgent care would also probably be appropriate - if it is acute glaucoma, people often get "We're giving you laser treatment right now" from doctors to prevent sight loss, so that sounds like an urgent care appropriate thing.
posted by penguin pie at 6:54 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hopefully it's not that, but glaucoma can lead to irrecoverable sight loss and you want to know about it now, not later, so that it can be treated to prevent/slow down further damage. I have the non-acute type of glaucoma, and had lost 15% of the sight in one eye without even noticing (always go for your eye tests, people - that's where I found this out!).
And even if you read that article and think: "Oh, this can't be it - I don't have symptom x/I don't look like the photo/whatever", I'd urge you to get it checked now. There are probably other conditions in a similar vein, and the importance of your sight means the answer is always to get this checked now, however inconvenient, rather than risk permanent sight loss.
On preview: Re. your update - I'm in the UK so not sure I could advise because I think our system is so different, but FWIW, I went for a regular eye test at the local optician's because I could tell I needed reading glasses; they did the visual field test which revealed vision loss and flagged me for a referral to the eye hospital. But mine was non-acute so a bit more relaxed.
So an optometrist could be a good first stop if that's the quickest/easiest person to find and they might at least be able to point you elsewhere. I think urgent care would also probably be appropriate - if it is acute glaucoma, people often get "We're giving you laser treatment right now" from doctors to prevent sight loss, so that sounds like an urgent care appropriate thing.
posted by penguin pie at 6:54 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Urgent Care or the ER - if you have a detached retina, which is possible, it's a surgery-today sort of deal. Likewise if it was a TIA or a minor stroke - you want to be in an actual hospital.
posted by restless_nomad at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
Generally, you should head for an ocular specialist ASAP rather than an ER or Urgent Care. The latter two tend not to have eye specialists or the specialized equipment necessary. If you don’t already have an ocular specialist, call an optometrist (or maybe your PCP/GP) and ask for a referral.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:58 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:58 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Vision changes can also happen with strokes! Go get seen today!
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:00 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:00 AM on November 8, 2022
Don't bother with an optometrist or an optician (unless there are absolutely no other options), as they are primarily trained to fit glasses and have limited eye education. Find an ophthalmologist, as they are specialized in eye health diagnostics, and are actual medical school graduates.
posted by Violet Blue at 7:07 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Violet Blue at 7:07 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
A thing happens to me very occasionally where just as I'm waking up I move or rub my eye in some unremarkable way and suddenly get a sharp pain as if something is in my eye, something much more painful than an ordinary bit of dust. The first time it happened, I was in college and I ended up going to the campus medical clinic where someone rolled back my eyelid and did end up finding what seemed to be a bit of plastic. The second time I was at home and my dad showed me how you can pull your eyelid out and down over your eyelashes and then let it slide back up over them so they brush the inside of the lid and hopefully remove whatever is in there. As I recall, a loose eyelash appeared after the procedure that I concluded must have been stuck behind my eyelid.
But over the years I've had some more experiences like this and have concluded that when it happens there probably is not actually anything in my eye or if there is something in there, it's a coincidence. The fact that it always happens in similar circumstances, just as I'm waking up, makes it seem less likely that it's really something in the eye and more likely that there's some other mysterious thing going on. I used to try the eyelash brushing trick but it usually didn't seem to work, just irritated my eye more. I've found that what actually makes the pain go away quickest is to do absolutely nothing other than closing my eyes and resting if possible.
This may not be the same thing that happened to you at all. I don't notice long lasting blurry vision. And since I have no idea what the cause of my thing is, I can't actually guarantee you that it's nothing serious, though I do assume my thing is not serious since it's been happening on occasion for 40 years and no problems with my eyes have come up during that time. But it seems similar enough that I thought it might be helpful to mention my own experience. Having a doctor check your eye might not be a bad idea, but if the same thing happens to you again someday just after you wake up it might be helpful to know that sudden eye pain on waking is a possibly harmless thing recurring thing someone else has experienced.
posted by Redstart at 7:41 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
But over the years I've had some more experiences like this and have concluded that when it happens there probably is not actually anything in my eye or if there is something in there, it's a coincidence. The fact that it always happens in similar circumstances, just as I'm waking up, makes it seem less likely that it's really something in the eye and more likely that there's some other mysterious thing going on. I used to try the eyelash brushing trick but it usually didn't seem to work, just irritated my eye more. I've found that what actually makes the pain go away quickest is to do absolutely nothing other than closing my eyes and resting if possible.
This may not be the same thing that happened to you at all. I don't notice long lasting blurry vision. And since I have no idea what the cause of my thing is, I can't actually guarantee you that it's nothing serious, though I do assume my thing is not serious since it's been happening on occasion for 40 years and no problems with my eyes have come up during that time. But it seems similar enough that I thought it might be helpful to mention my own experience. Having a doctor check your eye might not be a bad idea, but if the same thing happens to you again someday just after you wake up it might be helpful to know that sudden eye pain on waking is a possibly harmless thing recurring thing someone else has experienced.
posted by Redstart at 7:41 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Got an appointment with an ophthalmologist this afternoon.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:17 AM on November 8, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 8:17 AM on November 8, 2022 [9 favorites]
Yay!!! I hope it goes well.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:20 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 8:20 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Redstart, your experience has happened to me before too. That's why I just went back to bed. But like you, the couple of times this has happened to me before never had any sort of lingering issue. This time seems like it might be different? But I really hope it's not!
posted by kevinbelt at 8:26 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by kevinbelt at 8:26 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sounds like you've doing the right thing kevinbelt - best of luck this afternoon.
Just to say for general info for anyone reading this thread - the fact that you've not noticed any lingering issue doesn't necessarily mean nothing's wrong. You can lose quite a lot of sight to glaucoma without really noticing because our eyes compensate so well - the other eye covers for it, and our brain also fills in a lot of gaps with interpretations and assumptions and info from when we look sweepingly around a space. So you don't see big blanks or black spaces or holes in your vision.
It might sound a bit like "Well, if you don't notice, what's the problem?" but the issue is that by the time you start to notice something's wrong with your vision, a lot of damage has already been done, and it can't be wound back. Glaucoma is progressive, and it's better to find out when the damage is still not really noticeable and halt it in its tracks with treatment, or at least slow it down. (As I mentioned above, I've lost 15% of vision in my left eye and had absolutely no idea, so if I can keep it there or not much above, I'll be happy).
That's why things like the visual field test are so important, because they pinpoint exactly where/how much your vision has been damaged, in a way that you can't compensate for the way we do in every day life. It's the test where you stare straight ahead at a red light, and then little white lights pop up and you have to press a button every time you see one. It's quite disconcerting to feel like you can see the whole 360 circle, but to know there are white lights popping up that you just cannot see. For me, the damage is all in a particular quadrant of the vision in my left eye - I get next to none of the lights there, but in every day life, things look fine to me, that part of my vision looks the same as the rest.
posted by penguin pie at 8:49 AM on November 8, 2022
Just to say for general info for anyone reading this thread - the fact that you've not noticed any lingering issue doesn't necessarily mean nothing's wrong. You can lose quite a lot of sight to glaucoma without really noticing because our eyes compensate so well - the other eye covers for it, and our brain also fills in a lot of gaps with interpretations and assumptions and info from when we look sweepingly around a space. So you don't see big blanks or black spaces or holes in your vision.
It might sound a bit like "Well, if you don't notice, what's the problem?" but the issue is that by the time you start to notice something's wrong with your vision, a lot of damage has already been done, and it can't be wound back. Glaucoma is progressive, and it's better to find out when the damage is still not really noticeable and halt it in its tracks with treatment, or at least slow it down. (As I mentioned above, I've lost 15% of vision in my left eye and had absolutely no idea, so if I can keep it there or not much above, I'll be happy).
That's why things like the visual field test are so important, because they pinpoint exactly where/how much your vision has been damaged, in a way that you can't compensate for the way we do in every day life. It's the test where you stare straight ahead at a red light, and then little white lights pop up and you have to press a button every time you see one. It's quite disconcerting to feel like you can see the whole 360 circle, but to know there are white lights popping up that you just cannot see. For me, the damage is all in a particular quadrant of the vision in my left eye - I get next to none of the lights there, but in every day life, things look fine to me, that part of my vision looks the same as the rest.
posted by penguin pie at 8:49 AM on November 8, 2022
This has happened to me, I was instructed to immediately go to an ophthalmologist (I'm glad you're going!), and yeah it turned out that it was an "ocular migraine" or migraine without the headache part (I do also get regular migraines)
posted by goodbyewaffles at 8:50 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by goodbyewaffles at 8:50 AM on November 8, 2022
Your symptoms sound similar to mine - it could be a corneal erosion. Some cells on the exterior layer of the cornea swell up a little bit while you are sleeping, then when you open your eyes, the eyelid scrapes off the swollen layer. This is painful and the damaged spot will make your vision blurry until it heals. In my case I get back to normal in 24-48 hours. The ophthalmologist will be able to see the damaged spot using a slit-lamp microscope. I have occurrences infrequently, once every 1-3 months or so, and manage it with treatments for chronic dry eyes: prescription eye drops, normal over-the-counter eye drops, and saline ointment every night.
posted by Arctic Circle at 9:02 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Arctic Circle at 9:02 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hey FencingGal, can I ask you for more about the migraine thing? I get pretty bad migraines, but not before or after this particular incident. Does your pain happen during an actual migraine?
In case you still want an answer to this question, these pains haven't been accompanied by headaches. It's just the eye pain and it doesn't last long. I've also had visual disturbances without headaches that I've been told are migraine. I stopped getting actual headaches with migraines when I hit menopause.
I'm glad you're seeing an ophthalmologist. Just for future reference, where I live, this is absolutely something you can take to the ER. At my hospital, they have ophthalmologists on call. I went to the ER when I had a sudden severe vision change that turned out to be a vitreous membrane detachment (scary sounding but not usually a big deal). They brought in an ophthalmologist right away.
posted by FencingGal at 10:45 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
In case you still want an answer to this question, these pains haven't been accompanied by headaches. It's just the eye pain and it doesn't last long. I've also had visual disturbances without headaches that I've been told are migraine. I stopped getting actual headaches with migraines when I hit menopause.
I'm glad you're seeing an ophthalmologist. Just for future reference, where I live, this is absolutely something you can take to the ER. At my hospital, they have ophthalmologists on call. I went to the ER when I had a sudden severe vision change that turned out to be a vitreous membrane detachment (scary sounding but not usually a big deal). They brought in an ophthalmologist right away.
posted by FencingGal at 10:45 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Recurrent corneal erosion. Doesn't sound like a big deal. That explains the fact that it's happened a few times like Redstart said.
I also got an official diagnosis of floppy eyelid syndrome, which is hilarious and made my day.
Thanks everybody.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:38 PM on November 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
I also got an official diagnosis of floppy eyelid syndrome, which is hilarious and made my day.
Thanks everybody.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:38 PM on November 8, 2022 [11 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by restless_nomad at 6:37 AM on November 8, 2022 [33 favorites]