STRESS + EYES

Inflation, an election year, back to school, holidays right around the corner… I’m sure we’re all experiencing a little stress to say the least! But did you know that your stress can actually cause some eye symptoms?! Stress is a pretty crazy thing in that just thinking or overthinking about something can actually cause a physical, medical reaction within our bodies. Of course, it is much easier said than done to simply not stress about things, but we do think it is helpful to know the symptoms stress can cause so we know when our stress is getting a little out of hand.

Eyelid twitching

One of the biggest symptoms we hear patients ask about is eyelid twitching, also known as eyelid myokymia. It’s a spontaneous twitch that can happen out of the blue, and it can last for a while or maybe just a second. It can come and go or even show up days to weeks after that one thing you were super stressed about occurred. I often tell my patients that I think of a college student during finals week when I think about lid twitching… increased stress, junk food, and caffeine, can all trigger eyelid twitching. So how do you get it to stop? Obviously, try not to stress! But when that doesn’t work, try to maintain a healthy diet, maybe cut out some sugar or coffee. Also, increased potassium can improve or lessen the severity of the twitching, so try a banana in the mornings. When the twitching is happening, you can also use an artificial tear to relax your eyes a bit.

Blurred Vision

If you’ve heard of “fight or flight” you may know what we’re getting at here. In a heightened sense situation, like stress, our senses go on overdrive. What does that mean for our eyes? They tend to dilate a bit to let more light in but that may cause the vision, especially up close to be reduced. We get a sort of tunnel vision where the periphery is almost blocked out to help us focus on what is in front of us. Sometimes, this can also cause a reduction in depth-perception. While all these things aren’t so terrible to occur for just a few minutes in a high stress situation like maybe when you hear sirens as you are driving, or hear the alarm go off in the morning or at school. But when these symptoms are triggered by day after day stressors that don’t get resolved, the blurry vision can persist for quite awhile as well causing some issues.

DRY EYES

Dryness can come from many different things, but we often see them from more environmental stressors, like dust, wind, chemicals, etc. We often will see significant dryness from those patients that are constantly on the screens or computer for work as well. Again, easier said than done to remove yourself from what may be making your eyes dry, but we do have artificial tears that can provide temporary relief. Feel free to use any drops that we recommend here as well as those gel drops for a thicker, longer lasting relief. If you’ve tried these to no avail, please set up an appointment with one of our doctors so that we can get a better plan of attack for your specific level of dryness.

While stress can also cause floaters, light sensitivity, eye strain, and fatigue, these three are the ones we see most in our patients. So, please, listen to your body if you may be experiencing any of these things. Slow down, try to reduce stress, or schedule an appointment where we can evaluate your eyes better!