What is Optic Neuritis?

Optic neuritis is a condition that many eye doctors in Miami come across. It is characterized by an inflammation of the optical nerves that connect the eyeballs to the brain. The most common symptoms of this condition are headaches and pain, as well as temporary vision loss. People suffer from this condition for a number of reasons, but there are ways to treat it. It’s common for people to think that they just need eyeglasses in Miami Beach to deal with this issue, but that will not help to resolve the problem. The treatment a patient needs will depend on what’s causing the inflammation and how severely their nerves are swollen.

What Causes Optic Neuritis?

People can sometimes experience an inflammation of their optic nerves simply because they are straining their eyes too much, but that’s not often the case. In order to find out the exact cause of a patient’s optic neuritis, they will need to be examined and diagnosed by their Miami eye doctor. Here are some of the known reasons people suffer from optic neuritis:

● Multiple sclerosis. This is a disease that causes damage to the nerves of the brain and spinal cord, most commonly caused by inflammation. People who suffer from this disease may deal with optic neuritis more often than others.

● Living at higher altitudes. Those who are high above sea level live in conditions with less pressure overall, which can result in the inflammation of their optical nerves.

● Females between the ages of 18-45. Although females are more susceptible to this condition than males, there are men who experience it in their lives.

● Most doctors say that the cause of optic neuritis is unknown, which is why they run tests for other health problems to figure out what’s truly causing the inflammation to happen. Often times, optic neuritis is the first symptom of multiple sclerosis that appears.

Treatments for Optic Neuritis

In most cases, this condition will simply go away on its own and the patient’s vision will be restored fully. However, there are steroidal drugs that can assist this process along. It will be up to your Miami optometrist to determine whether or not you are going to need assistance in reducing the inflammation, but most patients don’t get prescribed anything unless they have completely lost their vision for more than a day or two. If your doctor has told you that you have optic neuritis, then you may want to visit your primary care doctor to get tested for multiple sclerosis as soon as possible.

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