Pain in the back of the neck with new glasses

Hello all,

A brief history of my expierence with glasses:

When I was very young 4-7 I had to wear an eye patch over one eye in
addition to glasses (apparently this way to stop my brain from relying
on my "good" eye too much.) Since then I've worn glasses or contacts
almost always. I'm now 23. My last 2 years of college I just stopped
wearing my glasses because I felt like I could see just fine without
them. Last year I decided it was time to get a new pair of glasses to
help me see music (I'm a percussionist) and also to help while working
at the computer or reading. Here is the problem I've been having:

When I first started wearing the new glasses I right away had a presure
sensation in the back of my head. Later this sensation developed into
a very very stiff neck and almost a feeling of nausea. I wore them for
about 2 weeks before I gave up. Being the lazy person that I am I
didn't go back to the doctor until about 10 months later. When I did
he said it seemed like the problem was that my eyes were not working
together properly and he would need to change the prescription a little
to compensate for this. After I got the glasses back a week later I
was having the same problem (possibly a little lighter but I'm not sure
if that is because I didn't wear them as long). I went back last week
and again he adjusted the prescription. This time he made it a little
less powerful to "calm things down" and I'm having the issue again.

Has anyone heard of this type of pain from glasses? I can see great,
nothing is blurry. It just a pain in the neck, litteraly. The pain is
not so bad when I am sitting down (computer, driving, reading) but is
still there. It really gets bad whenever I bend down, get up to move,
or walk. I'm going back to my doctor tomorrow but I kind of feel like
since this will be the 3rd time going back that he might not really
know what is causing the issue.

Does it have something to do with your lazy eye? Whats your pescription
in each eye? If its low you may not actually need glasses, maybe except
for driving or watching movies.

Dear Matt,

Perhaps it was an error in your prescription.

Could you post it so some of the ODs could discuss it
with you?

Best,

Otis




Matt wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> A brief history of my expierence with glasses:
>
> When I was very young 4-7 I had to wear an eye patch over one eye in
> addition to glasses (apparently this way to stop my brain from relying
> on my "good" eye too much.) Since then I've worn glasses or contacts
> almost always. I'm now 23. My last 2 years of college I just stopped
> wearing my glasses because I felt like I could see just fine without
> them. Last year I decided it was time to get a new pair of glasses to
> help me see music (I'm a percussionist) and also to help while working
> at the computer or reading. Here is the problem I've been having:
>
> When I first started wearing the new glasses I right away had a presure
> sensation in the back of my head. Later this sensation developed into
> a very very stiff neck and almost a feeling of nausea. I wore them for
> about 2 weeks before I gave up. Being the lazy person that I am I
> didn't go back to the doctor until about 10 months later. When I did
> he said it seemed like the problem was that my eyes were not working
> together properly and he would need to change the prescription a little
> to compensate for this. After I got the glasses back a week later I
> was having the same problem (possibly a little lighter but I'm not sure
> if that is because I didn't wear them as long). I went back last week
> and again he adjusted the prescription. This time he made it a little
> less powerful to "calm things down" and I'm having the issue again.
>
> Has anyone heard of this type of pain from glasses? I can see great,
> nothing is blurry. It just a pain in the neck, litteraly. The pain is
> not so bad when I am sitting down (computer, driving, reading) but is
> still there. It really gets bad whenever I bend down, get up to move,
> or walk. I'm going back to my doctor tomorrow but I kind of feel like
> since this will be the 3rd time going back that he might not really
> know what is causing the issue.

Matt wrote:

<snip>


That's an unusual one. Maybe the glasses are affecting your posture -
sometimes reading glasses can make the reading material appear closer or
further away, and this might in turn affect your posture and give you
the neck trouble.

Presumably the frame itself has been adjusted and is comfortable (not
pressing on your skull behind your ears, not pulling at the back of your
ears?)

Dom