Blepharospasm Bulletin Board

pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity?
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Posted by: mkamper ®
02/13/2004, 14:20:54


Has anyone had experience reducing their sensitivity to light through a pain clinic? My doctor recommended that as a possibility.
Myrna



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Light sensitivity ...
Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity? -- mkamper Top of thread Archive
Posted by: Moderator-JB ®
02/17/2004, 20:32:56


Myrna,

What type of doctor is he?

So far the reccommendation doesn't make sense to me. You might have him explain a bit further.

Take care,

Judy




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Re: Light sensitivity ...
Re: Light sensitivity ... -- Moderator-JB Top of thread Archive
Posted by: myrna j ®
02/17/2004, 21:00:52


He's an opthalmalogist. The theory is that the light sensitivity is actually a pain reflex.



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Re: Light sensitivity ...
Re: Re: Light sensitivity ... -- myrna j Top of thread Archive
Posted by: Sally in Idaho ®
02/19/2004, 22:11:13


I don't understand. Photosensitivity is painful ... at least it certainly is to me. So I think it's the eyes protecting themselves by hurting so that we will do something to take away all that horrid light.

Sally in North Idaho




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Re: Light sensitivity ...
Re: Re: Light sensitivity ... -- Sally in Idaho Top of thread Archive
Posted by: myrna j ®
02/20/2004, 11:02:26


Precisely. Light sensitivity is basically pain caused by light. We often don't think of it as pain, but it actually is. There is some research that apparently suggests that light sensitivity may be a revolving pain pathway that perpetuates itself round and round. The same things happens with chronic pain in other areas of the body. Doctors are having some success in interupting those pain pathways and relieving pain. I don't know a whole lot about this approach for treating light sensitivity, so I was wondering if anyone else has pursued this avenue. It sounds worthwhile to me. Decreased light sensitivity would sure make my life easier.
Myrna



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Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity?
Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity? -- mkamper Top of thread Archive
Posted by: Lynn Yarbrough ®
02/20/2004, 13:34:45


I doubt that a pain clinic can do anything about the light sensitivity, because the two are only very distantly related.

Photophobia associated with BEB is a direct side-effect of the spastic blinking. A normal blink takes about 1/5 second, and the irises (which protect the retina from overexposure) take about 1 second to respond to changes in light level, so they don't respond to a normal blink. The spastic blinks of BEB are usually longer than 1 second, so the iris responds to them, by opening to let more light in; so when the eyelids reopen the irises are already fully open and need 1 sec to close again. It's during this time that the overexposure causes pain to the retinas. But the pain is not intense and is of very short duration, conditions that pain centers don't normally need to deal with.

Botox kills the nerves that cause the spastic blinking, and relieves the photophobia. How much is something that you and your doctors need to work out over time. The nerves regenerate within a few months, so you will get lots of practice over the next several years.

Cheers,

--- Lynn




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Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity?
Re: Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity? -- Lynn Yarbrough Top of thread Archive
Posted by: Virginia in AL ®
02/20/2004, 17:45:40


>Botox kills the nerves that cause the spastic blinking, and >relieves the photophobia.

Lynn - Botox has never decreased my photophobia. I may be the exception, but, if anything, botox makes it worse.




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Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity?
Re: Re: pain clinic to reduce light sensitivity? -- Lynn Yarbrough Top of thread Archive
Posted by: myrna j ®
02/20/2004, 20:27:43


Thanks for your perspective, Lynn. It's an interesting idea. I can't say that Botox relieves my light sensitivity either. I had a myectomy a month ago and my spasms are almost gone but the light sensitivity is still a problem. Myrna



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