Optic Nerve Damage

Common symptoms of optic nerve damage include vision distortion, loss of vision, eye redness, and pain when moving the eye. These symptoms may also be present with a variety of other eye conditions, so a proper diagnosis by a qualified medical professional is needed.

In some cases, there may not be any symptoms of optic nerve damage or the conditions that can lead to optic nerve damage. That is why it is important that you have regular eye examinations throughout your lifetime to best ensure early detection and treatment of eye conditions and to minimize the risk of permanent damage to the eye and vision.

Optic nerve damage can cause symptoms that affect the eyes and your vision, which may occur in one or both eyes including:

• Abnormal pupil size and nonreactivity to light

• Bulging of the eyes

• Complete or partial loss of vision

• Diminished ability to see fine details

• Diminished color vision or colors seem faded

• Dimming or blurring of vision

• Double vision

• Eye redness

• Impaired reaction of the pupil to light or dilated pupil

• Involuntary movement of the eyes

• Seeing blind spots in your peripheral vision

• Seeing rainbows or halos

• Severe eye or brow pain or pain when moving the eye

Symptoms of optic nerve damage may also occur with symptoms felt outside the eyes. For example, optic nerve damage due to a stroke may occur along with memory loss and difficulty understanding speech. Other symptoms may include:

• Fatigue

• Fever

• Headache

• Joint pain

• Memory loss

• Mild general dizziness or weakness

• Nausea or vomiting

• Tingling or weakness of extremities

• Trouble concentrating or forgetfulness

• Unexplained weight loss

In some cases, the symptoms of optic nerve damage might indicate a life-threatening condition or a serious condition that can permanently affect your vision. Seek immediate medical care (call 911) if you, or someone you are with, have any of the following symptoms:

• Abnormal pupil size and nonreactivity to light

• Acute bulging of the eyes (caused by pus or bleeding)

• Blurred vision or other vision symptoms after head trauma

• Change in level of consciousness, lethargy, unresponsiveness, or passing out

• Change in mental status, such as confusion or disorientation

• Facial droop

• Numbness or paralysis in any part of the body

• Seizure

• Severe eye pain, which may be accompanied by eye redness

• Severe headache with vomiting or nausea

• Sudden difficulty speaking, slurred speech, or understanding speech

• Sudden loss or distortion of vision, such as double vision or halos around lights
  

• Sudden weakness

Vision distortion and other problems with vision that are symptoms of optic nerve damage may be mild when they first begin. Despite this, optic nerve damage is a critical neurological condition that is caused by a serious underlying disease or condition.

Certain types of diseases or conditions of blood vessels can cause optic nerve damage including:

• Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (stroke of the eye caused by diminished blood flow to the arteries that supply blood to the optic nerve)

• Blood clot that obstructs an artery that supplies blood to the optic nerve

• Cerebral aneurysm (life-threatening bulging and weakening of the wall of an artery that can burst and cause severe hemorrhage)

• Stroke

• Subarachnoid hemorrhage (type of bleeding around the brain)

• Temporal arteritis or giant cell arteritis (inflammation of blood vessels in the head)

Certain types of cancer and tumors can cause optic nerve damage including:

• Choroidal melanoma (type of eye cancer)

• Circumpapillary metastasis with optic neuropathy (cancer in another part of the body that spreads to the eye and affects the optic nerve)

• Optic glioma (type of brain tumor that can affect the optic nerve)

• Optic nerve melanocytoma (tumor of the optic nerve that is usually noncancerous)

• Optic nerve sheath meningioma (tumor of the sheath that covers the optic nerve)

• Orbital tumors that press on the optic nerve (benign and malignant)

A variety of other underlying diseases, disorders and conditions can cause optic nerve damage including:]

• Alcohol abuse during pregnancy (damages the optic nerve of the developing fetus)

• Autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and sarcoidosis

• Diabetes

• Exposure to toxic substances, such as arsenic, lead, thallium, methyl alcohol (methanol or wood alcohol), and tobacco

• Glaucoma (condition in which fluid pressure builds up in the eye, including narrow angle glaucoma and acute angle glaucoma)

• Graves’ disease (type of hyperthyroidism resulting in excessive thyroid hormone production)

• Head or eye trauma

• Hereditary or developmental anomalies, such as the failure of the optic nerve to develop normally

• Infections, such as Lyme disease, viral encephalitis, herpes, measles, rubella, and chickenpox

• Medications (see below)

• Optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve)

• Vitamin B12 deficiency

Drugs implicated in causing optic nerve damage include:

• Amiodarone (Cordarone)

• Cancer chemotherapies

• Digoxin (Lanoxin)

• Disulfiram (Antabuse)

• Ethambutol (Myambutol)

• Isoniazid (Nydrazid or INH)

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)

• PDE-5 inhibitors, such as sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis), and vardenafil (Levitra)

This is not a complete list of medications that are implicated in causing optic nerve problems. Always discuss your complete medication history with your healthcare provider.

Complications associated with damage to the optic nerve are serious. You can minimize the risk of serious complications by following the treatment plan you and your healthcare professional design specifically for you. Complications of optic nerve damage include:

• Brain damage from encephalitis, brain tumor, or hemorrhage

• Decreased quality of vision

• Disability

• Permanent blindness

• Poor quality of life