Questions about eye problems

KristinaB

KristinaB

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***I promise, I am not asking for any kind of diagnosis and I will be taking son to eye doctor to ask what could be going on. I am just looking for any info that anyone here might have.

My son has astigmatism with pale pigment of the eyes. HE has very fair skin and both his skin and eyes will burn easily in the sun. He also has SNHL and now has a severe/profound loss bilaterally. His last 3 eye checkups, all in the past 2 years, the doc said that his eye is getting more and more of a football pronounced shape. He is losing more and more vision and having more frequent eye problems. Pain, blurriness and headaches in the eyes.

Could this be more than simple astigmatism. My husband has astigmatism and his never progressed as bad a son's. I am really worried for son as he feels like he will be losing all of his eyesight and hearing and he is only 16 right now.

Any advice would be great. We are trying to get the money together as well as replacement insurance cards for the vision plan to see the doctor again.
 
Sounds like he is getting to be nearsighted. Does he wear eyeglasses now?

Edit: Oh, he would be wearing glasses for his astigmatism. Football shaped eyeballs are nearsighted. I am nearsighted and I have astigmatism, too.
 
SNHL and myopia often come together. I have both. I've got terrible eye sight. If the SNHL is caused by a problem with collagen or keratin, that can affect your eyes, too. Part of being medically interesting.

There are eye doctors that know about hearing loss syndromes. Usually this doctors are profs at medical schools. Do you have a local medical school? Look at their practice. I found one and he was great.
 
That's very interesting. I've never heard that, about myopia and hearing loss often going together. I am very near-sighted also, with astigmatism (worse in one eye than the other), plus now wear the progressive lenses common for older people. And of course the hearing loss, which I've always blamed on the anti-malaria meds, but maybe there's more to it than that. Will check this out further.

Kristina, does your son wear glasses now? I can imagine getting terrible headaches if I were to try to get around without glasses.
 
Oh, no, no, no! I lived in Ghana for two years and we were required to take the anti-malaria medications to *prevent* malaria. Unfortunately a small percentage of people are sensitive to this medication, and a side effect is that it can (and apparently, for me, did) cause hearing loss. I was tested as having normal hearing before I went there, and by the time I left, I needed hearing aids in both ears.

I didn't attribute it to the medication at the time, though, since I didn't know this was a known side effect. I thought it was just my bad luck that I was losing my hearing in my early 30's.

Now it's possible there might have been other causes, I really don't know, and this thing of hearing loss being associated with near-sightedness, I never knew that. I've been near-sighted since I was 7 or 8 years old, so it's fascinating that there might be a connection there, too.
 
with pale pigment of the eyes.
Click to expand...

I've heard that the lack of pigment in the eye is what cause blindness in albino people,
and wondered if the fact that your son eyes are too pale can actually play
a role in the worsening of his sight?
unless the paleness is quite normal, in this case there is no connection.


perhaps you could ask your doctor about this?

also, I wonder if your son had ever checked Vit D levels -
as I suppose if he burns easily maybe he doesn't like to stay in sun much?, and thus his Vit D levels can be on the low side, or even below norm,
and this too can affect an eyesight.


Fuzzy
 
Buffalo said:
Sounds like he is getting to be nearsighted. Does he wear eyeglasses now?

Edit: Oh, he would be wearing glasses for his astigmatism. Football shaped eyeballs are nearsighted. I am nearsighted and I have astigmatism, too.
Click to expand...

Beach girl said:
That's very interesting. I've never heard that, about myopia and hearing loss often going together. I am very near-sighted also, with astigmatism (worse in one eye than the other), plus now wear the progressive lenses common for older people. And of course the hearing loss, which I've always blamed on the anti-malaria meds, but maybe there's more to it than that. Will check this out further.

Kristina, does your son wear glasses now? I can imagine getting terrible headaches if I were to try to get around without glasses.
Click to expand...

Audiofuzzy said:
I've heard that the lack of pigment in the eye is what cause blindness in albino people,
and wondered if the fact that your son eyes are too pale can actually play
a role in the worsening of his sight?
unless the paleness is quite normal, in this case there is no connection.


perhaps you could ask your doctor about this?

also, I wonder if your son had ever checked Vit D levels -
as I suppose if he burns easily maybe he doesn't like to stay in sun much?, and thus his Vit D levels can be on the low side, or even below norm,
and this too can affect an eyesight.


Fuzzy
Click to expand...

He does wear glasses and has since he was 4. He normally goes through 2-3 pairs a year (new prescriptions, not breaking). Right now, they are no strong it is something else entirely.

He does go out daily for short times. I require it and he uses and SPF150 creme when going out. He also gets plenty of Vit D in his diet, between food and supplements. His last blood work showed everything was good and we were doing things right.

Now, for the past day or so, we have had no headaches, so I am thankful for that. He does say that the glasses are not strong enough.

Also, Sallylou, there is no medical school that I know of here. The eye doctor he has is quite knowledgeable and keeps track of everything and checks into the latest research.

Reading up on everything, we know it is astigmatism and a severe case of it. The pale pigment was something else and when he forgets his sunglasses, the eyeball turns very red, like a sunburn even when there is no sun. It's something with the UV rays.

Add these vision issues with his hearing loss, pale skin, multiple allergies to most everything and severe asthma, it's no wonder he does not like to go outside. Both my kids prefer to be outside at night.
 
But was he tested specifically for Vit D levels?

It's not a standard blood tests. Just making sure...


Fuzzy
 
Ghana? That's interesting. I knew that if had to involve an exotic place. We don't have malaria in the states.
 
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