Can Optic Neuritis cause permanent blindness

complicatedsymptoms

I'm sure it depends on where the lesion is if the damage in vision would be permanent..The nerves of the retina sense light & trnsmit the info to the optic nerve which transfers the info to the brain..there could be damage or swelling anywhere in the brain or along the nerve pathways that could affect the vision..A problem anywhere along the optic nerve or its' branches or damage to those areas @ the back of the brain, (occipital region), can change your vision, damage along the nerve pathway causes strange patterns of vision loss. If you have permanent damage between the eyeball & the optic chiasm you may become blind in that eye. If the damage is further back you may only have loss in half of the visual field (hemianopia). usually these permanent damages to the optic nerve are caused by stroke, hemorrhage, or tumor. In MS I'm not too sure how it works because some ppl have swelling that comes and goes, & some have lesions that can permanently affect the brain and the nerves. I hope this helps...

JoyceF

Are you experiencing a blind spot right now Hillbillyoutlaw?? How is the ON manifesting itself with you? I have read somewhere that when MS presents itself with a firs symptom of Optic neuritis, that it generally means that the MS will be milder...hope that helps ease your mind a bit. I had ON for my first symptom and doing just fine since 1985 soooooo.