Asthenopia

Asthenopia: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Asthenopia is a rapidly occurring eye fatigue during visual work. It can be caused by various reasons and manifests itself with various symptoms. In this article we will look at two types of asthenopia - accommodative and muscular, as well as their etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment.

Accommodative asthenopia

Accommodative asthenopia is associated with disturbances in eye accommodation - the ability to change focus when moving from a close object to a distant one and vice versa. Some causes of accommodative asthenopia include uncorrected hypermetropia, presbyopia, astigmatism, and ciliary muscle weakness.

If the ciliary muscle is over-tensioned, it becomes fatigued, and general diseases and intoxications can contribute to its weakening. Symptoms of accommodative asthenopia include a feeling of fatigue and heaviness in the eyes, headaches and eye pain after prolonged work at close distances, as well as blurring of the contours of parts in view or letters of text.

In people over 40 years of age, the phenomena of accommodative asthenopia usually intensify due to age-related weakening of accommodation. For diagnosis, characteristic complaints, determination of refraction and the state of accommodation are used. Detection of moderate to severe hypermetropia, astigmatism, or weakness of the ciliary muscle makes the diagnosis certain.

Treatment and prevention of accommodative asthenopia include early prescription of corrective glasses for hypermetropia, presbyopia and astigmatism. Children should wear glasses at all times; adults should wear glasses when reading or writing. Good, even lighting during close-up visual work, frequent eye rest, restorative treatment and ciliary muscle training can also help.

Muscular asthenopia

Muscular asthenopia is associated with impaired functioning of the eye muscles. Some causes of muscular asthenopia include myopia, heterophoria, convergence weakness, insufficient fusion reserves, and combinations of these.

With uncorrected myopia, work at close range is performed with almost no tension on the ciliary muscle, but requires convergence. As a result of dissociation between accommodation and convergence, weakness and rapid fatigue of the internal rectus muscles of the eyeball appear. With heterophoria and weakened fusion ability, asthenopic phenomena arise due to neuromuscular overstrain to overcome the tendency to deviate one eye.

Symptoms of muscular asthenopia include eye fatigue, eye pain and headache, and transient diplopia when visually working at close range. These phenomena are quickly eliminated if you cover one eye. To diagnose muscular asthenopia, it is necessary to identify myopia or heterophoria, as well as examine fusion reserves.

Treatment and prevention of muscular asthenopia include early optical correction of myopia, creation of favorable hygienic conditions for visual work, exercises (on a synoptophore or using prisms) to develop convergence and normal fusion amplitude. For high degrees of heterophoria, wear glasses with prisms directed toward the deviation of the eye. If treatment measures are not taken in a timely manner, binocular vision is impaired and strabismus may appear.

conclusions

Asthenopia is a problem that can occur in any person, regardless of age and visual problems. It may be caused by problems with eye accommodation or eye muscle function. For diagnosis, it is necessary to conduct an eye examination and identify the causes that caused asthenopic phenomena.

Treatment and prevention of asthenopia include vision correction, creation of favorable conditions for visual work, exercises for the development of eye muscles and restorative treatment. Early diagnosis and timely treatment will help prevent the development of serious eye diseases and maintain healthy vision.