Types of Vision Disturbance Caused by MS
Vision problems in people with multiple sclerosis may come and go. They vary from mild to severe, and may affect just one eye or both. The eye problem may linger for a period and gradually worsen or may disappear after a short period.
Understanding the types of visual issues that may occur due to MS can help you treat it faster and prepare you for living without them if they become permanent.
Common visual issues that may occur due to MS include:
Optic Neuritis
Optic neuritis [2] is an eye condition that causes blurry and hazy vision in one eye. The effect is usually described as smudge in your field of vision. It can also cause mild pain or discomfort, especially when you move your eye. The greatest visual disturbance tends to be in the center of your field of vision but may also cause trouble seeing to the side. Certain colors may not be as clear.
If you have MS, optic neuritis starts to develop when the protective coating surrounding the optic nerve starts to break down. This process is known as demyelination. The more serious MS gets, the more demyelination spreads and gets more chronic. This means that your symptoms will worsen and your body may not return completely to normal once your symptoms go.
70 percent of people with MS are said to experience optic neuritis at least once during the course of the disease, said the Multiple Sclerosis Trust [3]. In some cases optic neuritis may appear as a person’s first symptoms.
The major symptoms which are pain and blurred vision may worsen for up to a week, and then start to improve.
With most people, their vision returns to normal within two to six months if an acute episode of optic neuritis. The case of severe vision loss is more common among African-Americans, with one source showing only 61 percent vision recovery after one year. Which is unlike Caucasians where 92 percent recovered their vision. In a new study, it showed that the more severe the attack, the poorer the outcome.