I feel intermittent pressure on my left eye, and I wake up with dry eyes. Why?

Question

Hi doctor,

I have a continuous light pressure in my left eye for a few weeks. It comes and goes on and off. It causes trouble in focusing on texts for a long period of time and I wake up with dry eyes.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

You can have various causes. I assume that you have problems with only one eye. The first cause can be latent hypermetropia. It causes problems in focusing on near activities and causes some amount of strain on the eyes when your eyes try to focus. It can be determined by doing cycloplegic refraction by consulting an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They put special drops to dilate your pupil and break accommodation and thereby, they determine the power. The second cause is glaucoma. It occurs when the pressure of the eyeball gets increased. In younger people, it can cause strain on accomodation and problems in near vision. The third cause can be optic neuritis or retrobulbar neuritis. It causes some amount of discomfort or pain during eyeball movements. I suggest you use lubricating eye drops five to six times a day and see whether your dry eye symptoms go away. Follow 20-20-20 rule. Take a break every 20 minutes, focus on an object of 20 feet for 20 seconds. This gives rest to your eye muscles responsible for accomodation.