Do any of you have any information on what type of eye glasses one needs to get when they have been diagnosed with Vestibular Neuritis? Progressives or Bifocal....what about contacts? How will these affect compensation?

Thanks

Do any of you have any information on what type of eye glasses one needs to get when they have been diagnosed with Vestibular Neuritis? Progressives or Bifocal....what about contacts? How will these affect compensation?

Thanks

Hi

Read the first article in the "information archives" at the top of the BBS---that is covered in depth---it was written by an Professor of Optometry(Optometrist) at Pacific Univ.

:cool:

I read the information on the sticky post and I can see that any visual change could be difficult....so my question is: which would be the easiest to compensate with? The progressive len, the bifocal or contact lens?

Also does benadryl have any kind of hang over effect? I have taken it to help me go to sleep at night....and I notice that I feel tired even after I get 7-8 hours of sleep in the morning.

Is there any chance that you could become dependent on benadryl?

Thanks

I read the information on the sticky post and I can see that any visual change could be difficult....so my question is: which would be the easiest to compensate with? The progressive len, the bifocal or contact lens?
Thanks

Hi

From the info archive---second item:

..."When the head moves from side to side, the vestibular system detects this motion and sends a message to the eye muscle control systems causing the eyes to move counter to the head movement. This allows gaze to be held still as the head moves. The process is called the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR). Failure of this mechanism can cause oscillopsia (bouncing vision) when a patient walks or otherwise moves the head.

To operate properly, the ratio (sometimes called the gain) of vestibular movement signals to the amount of compensating eye movements must be correct. If the eyes move too much or too little in response to a head movement, a sensory conflict results and the patient gets sick.

If there is a significant power change in the patient's new glasses, the image has been made larger or smaller on the retina so the VOR gain must be re-calculated by the brain. For some patients this is easy to do (a no-brainer), but for others it takes time - up to several weeks. And some never manage the task. This is why some patients experience transient dizziness caused by their new lenses.

Now consider the patient whose vestibular system is a little shaky to begin with and who needs bifocals or progressive addition lenses. In addition to the distortions on the periphery of the lenses, consider the range of VORs the brain has to calculate. A different one is needed for every spot on the lens because the powers are different at each spot.

CLINICAL PEARL. NEVER GIVE A PATIENT WITH A HISTORY OF DIZZINESS OR VESTIBULAR PROBLEMS A PROGRESSIVE ADDITION LENS. IN FACT DO NOT EVEN GIVE THEM A BIFOCAL. GIVE THEM SEPARATE NEAR AND DISTANCE LENSES SO THAT THE BRAIN HAS TIME TO RECALCULATE THE VOR AS THE PATIENT CHANGES GLASSES."....

Given that you understand the "CLINICAL PEARL"...which goes directly to your question---and---you just do not want to deal with

----"Two separate near and distance lenses"

---then---my guess---and it is just a guess----would be---go with the bifocal

----your brain might handle it

---if it can not------you simply will not ever achieve full compensation

---of course you could always ask--a Neuro-Optometrist/Ophthalmologist---that is their area of expertise---according to the posting in the "information archive"

Have no knowledge on---the "Benadryl"--part of your post

:cool:

Thank you so much for the information.