Can MS cause blindness?

If you’ve been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), you may be worrying your vision will be affected. Your eyesight, like all other senses, is a precious thing and the thought of it being impaired or lost is very scary.

We’ll cover more about potential blindness in this blog and some other important information about MS related visual symptoms you should know about.

Let’s firstly cover the most important question, can MS make you blind?

It can, but is a rare occurrence

The short answer to this is yes, MSers can experience blindness because of the disease.

It’s important to note however that this is a very uncommon experience, meaning that there very few people with MS that end up blind. When MS does affect the eyes, other symptoms than blindness are more common.

Some MS related visual symptoms

Diplopia

This is essentially where the muscles in your eye that control movement become uncoordinated. As a result of this you’ll find that you see double of everything which is a very unpleasant experience.

What’s more is that it can also impact your balance and co-ordination.

Dry eye syndrome

This symptom is thought to be a product of inflammation caused by MS.

Damage caused to the corneal nerves can lead to your eyes becoming less lubricated than usual, henceforth making them much drier. This often happens to people as they become older but is nothing that some eye drops can’t help ease.

How you can manage with vision problems

Much like many other symptoms caused by MS, there are methods of managing changes to your vision.

MS related medication

Medicines MSers take such as disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) work by reducing the onset of symptoms, therefore helping to make issues with your vision more manageable.

Keep up to date with your eye tests

In the UK it’s recommended to get your eyes tested every two years to keep on top of your eye health. Having regular examinations makes it easier to pick up on any issues with your sight early.

Referral to a vision clinic

If you happen to experience lasting sight problems, then it’s very likely you’ll be referred to a vision clinic (often a part of a hospital’s eye department).

These clinics will help you manage your reduced vision, including how to navigate everyday tasks and on how to utilise specific eye movements to make seeing things a bit easier.

This is only scratching the surface when it comes to your vision and multiple sclerosis. If you’d like to learn more then click the buttons below to get started.