This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

My s/o has had worsening eye trouble. He has not been diagnosed with ms. The neuro has looked into his eyes during her exam.

My questions:

1. Is looking into the eyes find out all the information related to eyes and ms, or does he still need to see an eye doctor.

2. If he does need to see an eye doctor are they all the same, or is there a special kind he needs to find. Someone said optomalogist? Is that the name of all eye doctors, or are there different kinds.

3. Besides blindness what kinds of things are we looking for? His vision is very very blurry. A year ago he was just using his glasses (that are four years old or older) for reading & driving. Now he wears them all the time.

Thank you for your time.

1. A neurologist will not be able to assess the optic nerve and retina as well as an eye doctor. Also, a neurologist will not be able to assess the refractive error of the eyes, i.e. prescribe glasses if that is all that is warranted.

2. There are two kinds of licensed eye doctors: Optometrist and Ophthalmologist:
An optometrist completes a 4 year bachelors degree and then goes to optometry school for four more years to learn about the eye and eye disease. They primarily perform routine eye examinations and prescribe glasses and contact lenses. They also treat eye disease, but they cannot do surgery.
An ophthalmologist completes a 4 year bachelor's degree and then goes to 4 years of medical school where they learn general medicine. Afterwards, they do an internship in ophthalmology to learn about the eye and eye diseases for 2-3 years. Ophthalmologists are eye surgeons.

3. Although blurry vision along with other specific symtpoms aid in the diagnosis of optic neuritis, blurred vision and increased need for glasses is in no way a definitive factor to aid in the diagnosis of MS. Likely, your s/o has gone through normal changes with the eyes and age that is causing this. If he is over 40 this is definitely normal.

Hope this helps

EyeDoc

thank you so much for your reply.

also he is 31 years old. Does that still mean it's probably normal? We need to get it looked at anyways I know. And we will.

Sure, it can still be a normal change. The most likely cause is adult onset myopia. Not to sound like a broken record, but he needs to get an exam