Eye pain from coughing ?

[Melissa75]

Last week, I either caught something nasty from the ER (I was there for a family member) or the stress of it all made me get sick. Either way, I've had a fever and one of those itchy convulsive coughs since about a day and a half later. The kind of cough where if you are (finally) sleeping, you really don't want to wake up for a second and set it off for the next two hours.

So anyway, in the midst of one of these fits, I mildly pulled a muscle in my flank AND felt something tweak in my eye !?!? I get a sharp pain when I blink or when I press on it. Forget rubbing it. (My vision is fine, no sudden increase in floaters that would indicate detached retina, which, with my extreme near-sightedness, I am supposed to watch out for. And my mom had in the 80s.)

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm not worried so much as curious.

 

[Ratatosk]

Maybe a type of eyestrain...?

Hasn't happened to me though I DID have a friend who vomited so hard she burst blood vessels in her eyes, turning the whites of her eyes red. No damage as per the eye doctor, but looked incredibly creepy for a week or so. She was a complete idiot when we were going to university and decided to slam a huge glass of whiskey, realized the quantity was a bad idea --- potential for alcohol poisoning and forced herself to throw up.

 

[Melissa75]

Aaah, I remember such shenanigans also lol. In addition to the term "walk of shame," there should also be the term "burst eye vessel of shame."

 

[LittleLab4CF]

Funny thing happened to me on August 11th. Actually there is nothing funny about it, I was rear-ended by a nearly identical car to mine. Too many details normally but the problem was his bumper nailed mine squarely, then slipped under my bumper hitting my car frame in a sort of double tap. Otherwise it was a garden variety fender bender, no air bags, no parts on the road and both cars were drivable.

Immediately something didn't feel right, I had a concussion! I didn't hit my head and the CT and X-rays were normal. My doctor described it as a "brain slosh". I prefer "shaken old guy". This was not funny and I like funny. My initial sensation was a little bit of brain fog and a dull ache deep between my eyes. Fortunately my doctor told me that the best medicine was to listen to my body and head, to be prepared for a long recovery. A long recovery to me was a couple of weeks.

I slept most of the next month and I still fatigue rapidly when I try to read or use a phone or computer for more than a few minutes. I don't have to touch my eyes for them to hurt. I do see more parallels between my brain slosh and a spastic cough or sneeze. A few days ago I saw my eye doctor and I had an appointment with my endocrinologist. Both had some information for my consideration.

The eye doctor suggested possible torn eye muscles, burst blood vessels that could be visible or not. The sudden burst of blood pressure, physical shock that tore other muscles can result in burst vessels behind, above or below the visible sclera or white of the eye. The kicker was a significant change in my glasses prescription. I had seen him for an eye exam a week or so before the fender bender.

I wasn't seeing my endocrinologist about the ongoing issues with my concussion but he noted that the pituitary gland is surrounded by bone and wouldn't move whereas the brain, especially the area where the optic nerves cross in front of the pituitary gland would be strained. His point was that the resetting of the eyes could be a long process. My eye doctor made similar observation, actually suggesting 4-5 months, concussion not withstanding.

When I first read your post, I was more alarmed by it possibly due to my recent experience. Age and health are factors when trauma to blood vessels becomes a potential problem. Being otherwise athletic and fit could work against you. A cough could blow a gasket, somewhere. I assume you had it looked at, or it's not the first time.

Hope you're better soon

LL

 

[Melissa75]

LL,

Oh no, I am so sorry you had all that happen to you - a concussion and eye problems. No one needs that, but on top of the chronic stuff you deal with, it's not fair of the universe at all I hope you improve and faster than the doctor indicated. Are you doing periodic testing? https://www.impacttest.com/ My kids have all had baselines done as per their pediatrician's request. So far despite playing a lot of sports, they have not had concussions. Well, the youngest was dropped headfirst on tile by a neighbor's kid, but that was a long time ago, and by the time the ER doc saw us, my son was giggling and playing, so we went home. Anyway, those tests are useful to see progress.

Speaking of progress...my eye is better. Not sure if you meant to say that being fit could work against me, but I'm inclined to agree in the sense that I can generate some powerful force in my core thanks to climbing and dancing. It's good for mucus clearance, but maybe not good for my eyeballs!

 

[mom2two]

melissa, my regular eye doc has picked up damage on my scans that he attributes to violent coughing. Just yesterday they found 3 retinal tears and part of my retina was starting to detach. I had no idea anything was even going on! No pain, no floaters, nothing. (but double vision when they told me to cover the good eye, so it was compensating a lot) Very happy with the timing and diligence of my eye doc. Got everything repaired immediately with laser sugery, so all is well. But yikes!!

 

[Melissa75]

mom2two,
Wow! That is yikes! Good job to your eye doctor. And sorta impressive about your super compensating eye. So glad it doesn't have to do all that extra work anymore.
Does your doctor or you have any idea how old the tears and partial detachment were? Are you really nearsighted to begin with? People over -6 are prone to this stuff.
I'm gonna make an appointment for a checkup...it's been way too long anyway.