Posted in The Medical Stuff

Photophobia

Posted on by One Vision
Cartoon woman covering eyes with both hands

Light sensitivity or “photophobia” is common in people diagnosed with eye conditions or sight loss.

Light sensitivity is where the light level in the environment is too bright and causes discomfort. For some people, this discomfort can be extreme and can further reduce their usable vision.

Glare is also a problem with someone with Photophobia.

I have timed it to the point now that if I can see sunshine bouncing of metal or glass.. ie… Vehicles, windows or signs, I move my head and eyes away from the bright ‘flash’, so I don’t get blinded.

It can actually stop you from seeing for a few moments so you cannot carry on walking or carry on with what you were doing previously until your sight comes back. Like a grey fuzzy haze or when it’s dark like a black blob, both with bright light or green blobs. You will have whatever you were looking at like a silhouette stuck in your vision until it fades, after five to ten minutes.

This is why I haven’t my sunglasses on alot of the time as this causes pain, (when I didn’t wear them I would have headaches and eye pain for days on end) temporary blindness and headaches.

Now I know why, I just pop the sunnies on and the symptoms are loads better now ☺

Posted in How I'm Adapting, No category yet

Sunshine on a rainy day – Sunglasses

Posted on by One Vision

Sunglasses are very good to block harmful blue light, that affects the progression of condition. You also can get apps to pop on your devices with screens to filter this out.

Any little helps as long as to keep the eyesight we have.
This is why you will see me on an overcast day wearing sunglasses.
The light is sometimes still too bright. Just enough to make my eyes feel uncomfortable and will probably bring me alot of pain via headache or eye socket pain later on.
This is something I did pre diagnosis.
During my consultant appointment last September (2019). He told me that I had photophobia due to my condition and probably always had been but didn’t think anything of it.
This is where your eyes are super sensitive to light.
It has probably got progressively worse as the dystrophy began to show itself to me, 5 years ago.
So, if you see someone with sunglasses on and you think they are either trying to be ‘cool’, don’t shout over… ‘It isn’t that sunny love’..
just remember, it maybe because they’re are protecting themselves from discomfort whilst out and about, and preventing themselves from alot of pain later.
Posted in No category yet

Remaking the streets – Accessability Streets and shops

Posted on by One Vision

Now the UK is slowly opening back up. The streets and shops will become a very different place to be.

The RNIB are bringing awareness to this on the link posted below.
Pre Covid-19. People who are visually impaired or completely blind will have had to garner alot of knowledge about their surroundings and they usual places visited on a regular basis. To a point that they find getting around OK and know where everything is… Mostly. There will always be surprises.
This is all changing due to new shop layouts to consider the 2 meter rule we still have in place. The floors will have a one way system marked on them and shopping centres a system to get everyone around safely.
So, now it will be an anxiously time as social distancing will be very hard or near on impossible for blind people to do.
Relearning and being careful.
Everyone should have the right to not rely on people and to live as normal as you can in these altered times.
So hopefully with people like the RNIB highlighting the problems the blind and visually impaired people will face. Hopefully plans will be put in place to somehow make this easier. So then shopping won\’t become an anxious activity to do.
It must have become stressful enough beforehand, without all these changes, which yes, we need right now to get some back to normality.
Just imagine how frightened and anxious someone could get now. It\’s an anxious time for most but what what if you have little or no vision?
I had someone say ‘well they will have people to shop for them’. Hmmm
I would want to get out there and start living again, why should people stay at home now. When they were out about pre virus?
So hopefully there will lower the number of floor obsticles. Bright, big signage.
I really wish people will be patient. With everyone.
If you do see someone taking their time reading labels though. Go easy on them. We don’t do it on purpose and are probably missing out half the stuff we need to get a move on, because we feel rushed or holding a queue up.
Stay safe Everyone ☺