The protruding or bulging of one or both eyeballs is known as bulging eyes. It is also scientifically called proptosis or exophthalmos. Patients with this condition tend to blink less and it may even appear as if they are always staring.
This condition sometimes gets confused with other eye disorders such as Cushing’s diseases or primary infantile glaucoma where the appearance of the face or eye changes without causing true bulging.
How Does A Person Develop Bulging Eyes?
The most common cause for bulging eyes is thyroid eye disease (also known as Grave’s disease). This is an autoimmune condition where there is inflammation in the tissues around the eye causing the eyeball to protrude. This is most commonly seen in patients with an overactive thyroid gland. Other than thyroid disease, you are also susceptible to this condition if you have suffered a serious eye injury or infection.
What are the Symptoms Of Bulging Eyes?
Typically, these patients have an abnormal thyroid function and exhibit eye symptoms like redness, dryness, itching, pain, sensitivity to light and double vision. Apart from that they also exhibit other physical symptoms such as weight loss, increase in appetite, palpitations, fatigue, irregular heartbeat, increased sweating and anxiety.
Can You Self-Diagnose Bulging Eyes?
It is not easy to diagnose bulging eyes on your own, as it very easy to confuse it with other medical conditions that cause swollen eyes. If you suspect one of both of your eyes are bulging, you should consult an ophthalmologist to get a medical opinion.
The ophthalmologist will take your medical history and conduct a physical examination of your eyes to check for signs of abnormality. They may ask you to undergo a computerized tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to further examine your eye sockets. You will also be asked to get your thyroid hormone level checked by performing a blood test. Based on a combination of these results, they may make a definitive diagnosis of bulging eyes or recommend further examination.
What Can A Patient Do To Improve Their Bulging Eyes Condition?
In addition to the medical treatment options available for bulging eyes, there are also certain things a patient can do to aid their recovery. These include maintaining a well-balanced diet, using green tea bags over eyes to relax eyes, taking dietary supplements like bugleweed extract and glucomannan to bring thyroid hormone back to normal levels and performing eye exercises.
What are the Exercises For Bulging Eyes?
Eye exercise plays an important role in strengthening the muscles of the eye and is a natural way of healing the eyes. If the patient has been prescribed any lubricating drops by their ophthalmologist, then it is recommended to use them before performing these exercises.
For the duration of these exercise, the patient needs to lie down on a bed and keep their eyes closed. While the eyes are closed, the patient needs to move their eyes from the extreme right to the extreme left and focus for a few seconds at each position. Next, the patient should move their eyes from extreme top to extreme bottom and focus for a few seconds at each position. Lastly, the patient needs to move their eyes very slowly in a clockwise direction and then repeat this circular motion in the anti-clockwise direction, taking time to focus on certain positions along the way.
Each exercise needs to be done in a set of five and repeated several time a day. The patients can take a break of few minutes and open their eyes between exercises. Typically, the patients will feel either a pressure sensation or a tingling sensation when they are performing these exercises. Some even complain of developing a headache. However, as the patient keeps repeating these exercises, these symptoms ease off and they will start feeling better.
- Mayo Clinic. Graves’ disease. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/graves-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20356240
- American Academy of Ophthalmology. Thyroid Eye Disease. https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/thyroid-eye-disease
- Mayo Clinic. Eye Exercises. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/eye-exercises/about/pac-20384632
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