“It all started with a pretty little halo of rainbows around lights at night,” describes Jaimee, speaking about the onset of her glaucoma.
Glaucoma is an eye condition that may lead to blindness by damaging the optic nerve. This damage is often caused by high pressure in the eyes. If caught early, glaucoma-related vision loss can be slowed or prevented by treatment and/or surgery.
People who have glaucoma often suffer from light sensitivity. Sunlight, artificial lighting, or driving at night facing bright headlights can cause glare and discomfort for people with this condition. Even working on a computer can become bothersome.
For glaucoma patients, it can be difficult to adapt visually to different environments. For example, changes in brightness could contribute to a lower sensitivity to contrast for people with glaucoma versus those without. This can lead to reduced ability to focus, and make it difficult to adjust from a bright environment to a dark one, or vice-versa. This is where glasses for glaucoma might be beneficial.
Can Tinted Lenses or “Glaucoma Glasses” Help?
There hasn’t been a lot of study about tinted lenses or glasses for glaucoma per se. However, the tint used in Axon Optics lenses has been shown to lessen the uncomfortable effects of blue and green light wavelengths, which can be particularly problematic for people with photophobia. Photophobia, or light sensitivity, is common among people diagnosed with glaucoma.
We know about the link between photophobia and migraine, and between glaucoma and photophobia. But what about migraine and glaucoma? One study found a link between normal-pressure glaucoma and migraine. The study states found that migraine was “significantly more common in patients with normal-pressure glaucoma compared with control subjects.”
While researchers continue to investigate glaucoma, light sensitivity, and migraine, we have heard from several people who have used our eyewear to help ease the effects of light sensitivity due to glaucoma. One customer writes that her Axon Optics lenses have made a huge difference in her ability to drive at night and use her computer:
“Since I know that bright lights and glare while driving are already a migraine trigger for me, I knew I needed to figure out a way to take care of my eyes and minimize these side effects of the glaucoma surgeries, which led me to look into Axon Optics’ glasses as a potential solution for what I was experiencing.
“I’m so glad I did! These with anti-glare, anti-smudge coating have made a drastic difference in how glaucoma affects my life. I can drive at night again without painful glare from headlights and street lights. I can work at the computer without the white, horizontal line of light (ghosting) caused by the extra hole in my iris. I can watch television in a dark room without squinting. I have gone from using my dry-eye drops 3-4 times per day to maybe once per week. Glaucoma definitely looks better through rosy glasses! Thanks, Axon Optics!” -Jaimee
Jerry, diagnosed with glaucoma, reports getting immediate relief from light sensitivity with Axon Optics glasses:
I’m a glaucoma patient…I’d like to say thank you to Axon Optics for the new wraps that I just received I put them on and got immediate relief from my light sensitivity. Thank you once more for this wonderful product.”
If you suffer from glaucoma and have associated light sensitivity, Axon Optics eyewear might help you avoid discomfort that may come from certain wavelengths of light.
Sources:
Bierings RAJM, Kuiper M, van Berkel CM, Overkempe T, Jansonius NM. Foveal light and dark adaptation in patients with glaucoma and healthy subjects: A case-control study. PLoS One. 2018;13(3):e0193663. Published 2018 Mar 6. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0193663.
