Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffOptic neuritis usually affects one eye, although it may occur in both eyes simultaneously. Optic neuritis symptoms may include:
- Pain. Most people who develop optic neuritis experience eye pain that's worsened by eye movement. Pain associated with optic neuritis usually peaks within one week and then goes away within several days.
- Visual loss. The extent of visual loss associated with optic neuritis varies. Some people experience severe difficulty seeing, while others might not notice any changes in their vision. Vision loss, should it occur, usually develops over the course of a day to two weeks and may be worsened by heat or exercise. Vision loss is usually temporary, but it may be permanent in some cases.
- Loss of color vision. Optic neuritis often affects the perception of colors. You may notice that the colors of objects, particularly red ones, temporarily appear "washed out" or less vivid than normal.
The signs and symptoms of optic neuritis may be indications of an autoimmune disorder called multiple sclerosis. In 15 to 20 percent of people who eventually develop multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis is their first symptom.
When to see a doctor
Eye conditions can be serious, because some problems can cause you to lose your vision. Contact your doctor under the following conditions:
- New symptoms. Anytime you have eye pain or notice a change in your vision, make an appointment to see your doctor.
- Worsening symptoms. If you have optic neuritis and experience new eye pain, worsening vision or symptoms that don't improve with treatment, see your doctor.
- Unusual symptoms. If you have unusual symptoms, including numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, which may be an indication of a neurological disorder, see your doctor.
- Germann CA, et al. Ophthalmic diagnoses in the ED: Optic neuritis. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2007;25:834.
- Asturias EJ, et al. Postinfectious and vaccine-related encephalitis. In: Cohen J, et al. Cohen & Powderly: Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2004:307.
- Degenhardt A. Optic neuritis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2008:646.
- Osborne B. Optic neuritis: Pathophysiology, clinical features, and diagnosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
- Osborne B. Optic neuritis: Prognosis and treatment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
- Multiple sclerosis risk after optic neuritis: Final Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial follow-up. Archives of Neurology. 2008;65:727.
- Optic neuritis. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec20/ch235/ch235c.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
- Weinshenker BG, et al. Neuromyelitis optica IgG predicts relapse following longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. Annals of Neurology. 2006;59:566.
- Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Polymyalgia/default.asp#poly6. Accessed Jan. 8, 2009.
- Olek MJ. Epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical features of multiple sclerosis in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
