Vision Problem Question

[Blain]

Vision is related to shooting so I suppose I'll post this in the hopes that one of you might know what the heck I'm talking about. In this case, my question involves being able to see at night for night shooting.

At night time, when I have street lights or headlights in my field of vision, the lights have streaks, or beams that connect from the light source to my sight? It's like a beam that is attached to the light and goes from the light to your eye?

I don't think that my night vision was like this before and I am very interested to know what the heck happened and how it can be restored. Also, if anyone else has a similar problem with vision at night?

Also, just a question I have about vision. Is it better, at night, to have a lot of room lights on and have a brightly lit room, or to have a dimly light room? Which would be better for looking at the computer, reading, or just in the room in general?

Any insight would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[P95Carry]

No idea of your age so hard to comment .. except that the ''streaks'' deal should not I think be that obvious. If however you have slightly ''teary eyes'' ... I have with age .. then that can lead to some halation and similar effects.

As to light in room ... IMO when viewing TV... monitor etc .. the ambient level should be not too low. Why? Well .. your eyes will try to regulate the light from puter screen or TV by reducing pupil aperture but .. if light elsewhere is low then eye also wants to dilate to allow for that too ...... in the end I consider this presents a conflict ... and can add to eye strain.

So .. a moderate light level when at the screen is better i think ... less stress on the eyes. A blacked out room is bad IMO, when at the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh and just one more point .. re reading .. a good light level means your pupils will be closed down quite well .. this is like a pin-hole camera .. and gives good depth of field. So ... your effort at focussing on text etc should be facilitated by good light.

 

[Blain]

What do you mean by teary eyes?

 

[P95Carry]

I'm knocking on 59 .. and last several years I find that when I get up in the morning my eyes are ''wet'' .... not quite clear of a slight film .. mostly what I call ''teary'' .. some lacrimation if you like. This gets worse these days in a cold wind ... have to even dab the eyes.

So ... this is something that can, by virtue of a slight tear, or even thicker, film ......... create halation effects with light sources. Sure as heck now and again gives me a problem getting the clearest sight picture!

Getting old sux!!

 

[Josey]

You need to see a eye doctor. A real one and not a sunglasses and fashion frames retailer. You need to be checked for cataracts and glaucoma. I lived in the southwest as a duty station and I have cataracts due to the sun exposure. The first indicator was streaks from lights. I suggest you get get an appointment Monday!

 

[Blain]

http://www.abledata.com/text2/NIRE/NightVision-Impairments.PDF

I think I found it! Category 2! What is a cataract and what causes it? The site says that my problem is fixable with some procedure.

Category 2 - Blinding Glare and/or Halos Around Lights - disrupting
useful night vision or blinding the driver… but with sharp vision in dim light when
there are no lights to cause glare. These conditions can cause deadly auto accidents.
People with this problem are very numerous and often are not otherwise handicapped.
Typically, glare problems of this type are caused by lesions in one or both eyes.
In some cases, there may be a developing cataract in one or both eyes; in other cases, the
cause can be the result of a scratch, lesion or other defect in the cornea of either or both
eyes. Some people who undergo LASIK treatments develop these problems. Usually,
these problems can be corrected, controlled or improved by appropriate medical or
surgical treatments.
Note: People with normal fused, binocular vision may be unable to drive safely or
comfortably at night when only one eye is damaged. This occurs because the brain fuses
the images from the two eyes into a single composite image. Even if the excessive glare
comes from just one eye, it can impair the composite image from both eyes, thereby
resulting in accidents.
Most people with this type problem can be helped medically or surgically by a qualified
ophthalmologist (medical eye physician). Exceptions: Many patients with damaged
corneas can be helped with corneal surgery or a corneal transplant. Some cannot,
especially those having corneal scars from active, chronic viral infections that cannot be
cured. The problem is that some of these patients would still have the viral infection after
a corneal transplant so that the new cornea would quickly become damaged, just like the
old cornea. For these “ incurable†patients there still is hope because of special lenses
or other devices that can provide functional help.

 

[49hudson]

I had the same problem and went to an Opthomalogist. Turned I had cataracts.
It might be a good idea to have them checked.

 

[Blain]

Is it easy to fix cataracts?

 

[P95Carry]

Well ... I still don't know your age!!

Two things can happen with passing of years ... your cornea can gradually become less than transparent ... heading toward translucent and ultimately opaque .. this can be fixed by a corneal graft. The lens too gets ''hard'' with age and accomodation (focussing) gets impaired ... there is a fix for this too.

Now I think about it ... yeah .. a visit to opthalmologist is a wise move. Glaucoma (increased internal optic pressure) is less likely but need checked nonetheless. Macular degeneration is another thing .... but sure as heck you ain't THAT old!!

 

[Blain]

I'm only in my 20's, I shouldn't be having ANY of this!

 

[Don Gwinn]

Yeah, see a doctor. You can't even keep up with how fast the field changes now. My grandma went to a new eye doctor about something a few months ago and he told her she ought to make an appointment to have cataracts removed. She had Glaucoma at one time and, as she told the doctor, was told that the cataracts would worsen and could not be removed.

The doc laughed at that and told her that it had been true--a few years ago. Now it's a relatively simple outpatient procedure. She went in and had it done, and when she came home she spent half an hour staring at the grain on her antique oak kitchen table. It looked like Grandma had gotten some of those really funny postage stamps. She said she'd half forgotten what things really looked like.

 

[Mal H]

You're right, you shouldn't be having any of the serious eye ailments and diseases at your age. The odds are against it, but you might be. It could be as simple as dry eyes or teary eyes as Chris said or an astigmatism which is fairly common even at your age.

The best advice so far came from Josey and the others who recommended seeing a doctor. We cannot possibly diagnose your problem and neither can you by reading a few pages on the internet. A session with an ophthalmologist or even a competent optometrist is in order. The difference between ophthalmologists (MD's) and good optometrists is becoming less and less as optometrists continue to add eye health knowledge and the equipment to check for eye diseases to their practice. A competent optometrist will know when to refer you to an ophthalmologist.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I have that same problem outside at night. It's sort of a starburst effect.

Do you have dry eye syndrom? That can contribute to it, apparently.

Also a contributor is astigmatism. I've got that, and dry eye syndrom, in spades.

I really don't even notice it anymore I've had it for so long.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"I find that when I get up in the morning my eyes are ''wet''

I'd probably be the same way if every night I dreamed about the Sterling submachine gun that the freaking Queen confiscated...

 

[P95Carry]

I'd probably be the same way if every night I dreamed about the Sterling submachine gun that the freaking Queen confiscated...

LOL ..... well, carbine Mike ... never made it to get the smg! Sure as heck wish I still had it tho ... it was a superb piece.

 

[CatsDieNow]

Assuming that it's not something more serious - I got a coating for my glasses that reduced this significantly and lets me drive at night.

It's called Crizal I think.

 

[AJ Dual]

I have rays or haloes around point-sources of light at night, and in the dot of my reflex rifle sights as well.

Every traffic light, and car light has one. Annoying as all heck.

If you're young and have no other eye problems other than your glasses or contact perscription, if any, it's called "Spherical Abberation". It's an optical term that means your eyes aren't perfect spheres inside and your eyes can't focus on point sources of light properly. You can have this problem without other vision deficits.

It's similar to astigmatisim, but is a different measurment. A carefully adjusted prescription will cut down on night haloes, but according to my optometrist it's hard to correct for completely. The "20/20" standard of vison is a very old and very crude method of measuring vision, and does not account for many of the malajustments our eyes can have beyond just basic focus.

I'm researching LASIK surgery, perhaps for this upcoming fall, if the arrival of newborn twins permits. One helpful poster here PM'ed me with a great site called www.surgicaleyes.com . It's primarily a support group and info site for people that have had BAD LASIK experiences. Although considering that the vast majority of LASIK patients recieve at least some improvment, and no complications, take the tone of the website with a grain of salt, and use it for the excellent technical info and questions to ask you eye doctor or optometrist.

They do however, have a vision simulator utility that is a great tool for letting others "see what you see".

http://www.surgicaleyes.com/visual_effects/visual_effects.htm

I'm looking into getting the VISIX enhanced style of LASIK in which the computer measures your eye for very detailed deficits with a weak light source, and that data is used to program the cutting laser directly. VISIX is an application of adapative optics technology which was initialy pioneered to cancel out atmospheric turbulance to make ground based teloscopes more like the Hubble, and for SDI lasers to punch through the atmosphere better. It is more expensive than the "Only $500 an eye!" guys you see advertised in the paper, but has significantly higher results.

 

[J Jones]

Anyone who'd trust their eyes to a discount surgeon is nuts.

I worry about some of these guys, as badly done surgery can induce the sort of symptoms Blain describes.

 

[Typhoon]

Another thing to be aware of is thinness of the retina leading to, at the worst case, a detached retina. People who are significantly nearsighted (me) are at risk. If you see flashes around your peripheral vision, you may want to have someone take a look.

Good news is, according to my opthomologist, it is easily corrected with laser surgery if caught in time.

 

[cdbeaver]

If you think getting old sucks, try being old! With diabetes, yet.

I don't think you'd go to a chiropractor to have your heart treated. Then why go to an optometrist to have eye disease treated? Optometrists prescribe eyeglasses. Ophthamalogists TREAT eye disease.