It’s perfectly normal to be a little sensitive to light from time to time, especially when going from a bright surrounding to a dark or poorly-lit environment — it goes away as soon as your peepers have adjusted to the drastic change in the amount of light present. Also, any bright or flickering light can definitely hurt the eyes.
However, it is a completely different story if the eyes are sensitive to light on a 24/7 basis. There is definitely something wrong if the discomfort is often accompanied by a headache.
This article will get you introduced to some of the most common causes of light sensitivity, or what doctors refer to as photosensitivity. Do take note that none of the pieces of information below should be mistaken for medical advice — it’s something that can only come from the mouth of your doctor.
Feel free to share this article on your different social media sites later on so that your family members and friends, too, may learn that their sensitivity to light could be due to any of the following things:
Migraine
One of the most common causes of light sensitivity is a migraine, that pestering headache that can only affect one side of your head and is usually accompanied by nausea, vomiting and some visual disturbance. Lots of people suffering from migraine report of being photosensitive during a bout of it.
Conversely, it’s very much possible for a migraine to attack after exposure to bright lights. Other common triggers of migraine include stress, intake of coffee and alcohol, sleep disturbances and hormonal imbalance.
Dry Eyes
Your eyes need to be constantly covered in a thin film of tears in order for them to remain lubricated and also functional. If your tear glands are not producing enough tears or there’s a problem with your tear ducts, you might end up with dry eyes. One of its various symptoms is sensitivity to light.
Other symptoms of dry eyes include discharge, redness and the sensation that there is something trapped in your eye, like a grain of sand, even if nothing’s there. A doctor may prescribe artificial tears or eye drops with anti-inflammatory properties, depending on the cause.
Allergic Conjunctivitis
Everyone knows that pink eye, or what doctors sometimes refer to as conjunctivitis, is something that is brought about by bacteria or viruses. Did you know that it’s also something that may come into being if your peepers come into contact with irritants or allergens? It’s what’s referred to by the experts as allergic conjunctivitis.
The signs and symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis is pretty much the same as those of pink eye that everyone’s familiar with, and that includes light sensitivity. Avoiding triggers or allergens and also intake of oral antihistamines are some of the treatments for allergic conjunctivitis.
Corneal Abrasion
Put simply, corneal abrasion is a scratch on your eye, in particular the cornea — the transparent protective covering of the front of your eye. Unlike a scratch elsewhere on your body, a scratch on your cornea can leave you in a great deal of pain. And also, it can cause photosensitivity until it has fully healed.
Aside from pain and light sensitivity, other signs and symptoms of corneal abrasion are redness, tearing, blurring of vision and even a headache. Mild cases of it tends to heal on its own after a few days, although at times a doctor may prescribe eye drops with antibiotic properties to fend off an infection that can make matters worse.
Uveitis
Your eye has a middle layer that’s referred to as the uvea. There are cases in which it can become inflamed due to some inflammatory conditions like psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. It’s what eye specialists call uveitis, and it tends to come on very quickly and cause all kinds of signs and symptoms like pain, redness, floaters, blurring of vision and photosensitivity.
Treatment for uveitis includes the administration of eye drops with anti-inflammatory properties. If the problem is due to an underlying medical condition, it needs to be identified and treated in order to keep uveitis from striking.
