What is it?
Optic neuritis is the inflammation of the optic nerve.It is the nerve that carries visual information from your eye to your brain. ON can flare up suddenly from an infection or nerve disease. The inflammation usually causes temporary vision loss that typically happens in only one eye. Those with ON sometimes experience pain. As you recover and the inflammation goes away, your vision will likely return.
What are the symptoms?
The three most common symptoms:
- Vision loss in one eye, which can vary from mild to severe and lasts for 7 to 10 days.
- Periocular pain, or pain around your eye that’s often worsened by eye movements.
- Dyschromatopsia, or the inability to see colors correctly.
Other symptoms can include:
- Photopsia, seeing flashing lights (off to the side) in one or both eyes.
- Changes in the way the pupil reacts to bright light.
- Uhthoff’s phenomenon (or Uhthoff’s sign), when eye vision worsens with an increase in body temperature.
What to expect?
If you are diagnosed with optic neuritis, you can consider discussing the following subjects with your doctor after the initial treatment:
- Was there a specific cause found?
- After initial treatment, what other treatment options do you have?
- A healthy diet, quitting smoking and an active lifestyle can help improve overall health and well-being. Which changes can you make in your lifestyle?
- You may have to go on follow-up after seeing your doctor initially. How often do you need to visit your doctor for follow-up?