Recently, I have met a number of patients who suffer pattern glare and while they had suffered this all their lives, they had never heard of the condition or known there was anything that could help.
What is pattern glare? You can be forgiven for not knowing the answer as it has only been in recent years that I have become aware of this condition myself.
Pattern glare leads to photophobia (extra-ordinary sensitivity to light) in addition to sensitivity when exposed to stripy patterns. This may also affect comfort and vision clarity and stability while reading a page of print. Text can appear as a series of stripes and therefore provides the same stimulus for the discomfort of pattern glare.
It is thought that pattern glare occurs due to the visual cortex (the part of the brain responsible for our vision) becoming ‘over excited’ from certain visual stimuli such as bright lights, flicker or certain patterns.
What are the symptoms?
· Headaches
· Sensitivity to light
· Discomfort with artificial light, flickering or reflections
· Eyestrain
· Reading difficulty- due to words ‘moving’ on the page
Are there any general health associations?
Pattern glare can occur in an otherwise healthy individual, however, there can also be associations with the following;
· Migraine
· Acquired brain injury and stroke
· Concussion and whiplash
· Photosensitive epilepsy
· Blepharospasm- uncontrolled eyelid spasms
· Visual snow- a persistent ‘static’ or white snow-like dots throughout the visual field.
· Autism
· Reading problems and dyslexia
What helps?
It is important to detect any underlying eye health issues along with any focusing or eye-teaming deficits which would require treating first. Then if a pattern glare test is positive, tinted lenses can be beneficial at reducing symptoms and improving reading comfort and performance. The tint colour is individualised for each patient and can be incorporated into glasses or as a clip on or even as a simple overlay to put over a page of print.
If you think you or someone in your family may have pattern glare, feel welcome to book an appointment with me. A comprehensive eye examination is required followed by the pattern glare test to ascertain if you show clinical signs of the condition. If positive, the best tint is established and recommendations would be made as to how best to incorporate this into your lifestyle.