A Possible Correlation Between Astigmastism and Itchy Eyes

The weekend that many of us have been waiting for is finally here, i trust that we have been able to enjoy it so far, having fun moderately and spending time with the family and loved ones. Truly, it beginning to look a lot like Christmas and i am very much excited about that as i am sure you are too.

Learning is an everyday thing and he who stops learning literally stops growing mentally and perhaps even physically, and so we should be open-minded to reading more and learning and relearning each and every day.

So yesterday i was discussing a case of a 5-year-old she saw and we ended up having to look at up some articles and do some quick reading because although the solution to his problem was obvious for which it was done so accordingly, the presenting complain and the end result was quite interesting and it turns out some research is been done in that area on that issue.

So what is this issue i am talking about? For those of us who have been following my discussion on some of the eye conditions you may have already read about astigmatism at one point or another since it falls under the refractive conditions which are solved with glasses or lenses. Then i have also treated Rubbing the eye or itching eyes most of which literally supports to have some form of allergic reaction as the source.

Now whiles there may be other possible causes of rubbing the eye such as a child feeling sleepy or foreign objects just getting into the eye, cutting onions and having to cry and rub the eye without any other stimuli aside the onion, etc, Some research papers are insinuating that another cause of rubbing the eye especially in children could be as a result of they having some form of astigmatism in their cornea curvature.

Now what i could easily insinuate with this theory is that rubbing the eye for a long time could actually affect the curvature of the cornea, the mechanical action could affect the normal curvature and thus introduce some form of astigmatism and if this becomes a hobby for the individual in question and it is overdone for a very long time, then we could even explore the possibility of developing keratoconus.

So i was still skeptical about it until she had a 5 year old come in with complains of rubbing the eye and the refraction reviewed a cylindrical power of up to -2.25 diopters which was very very interesting and in support of the astigmatism rubbing the eye theory, vision improved from 6/36 all the way to 6/5 which was great. And so now i guess that's a possibility to explore as healthcare practitioners and also as an individual. If you are fond of rubbing the eye, you may have some astigmatism lurking with your sight and seeing your Optometrist could clear that up.

Further Reading

_{Kim Y, Oh I, Lee J, Sim CS, Oh YS, Lee JH. Astigmatism Associated with Allergic Conjunctivitis in Urban School Children. J Ophthalmol. 2019 Nov 11;2019:9453872. doi: 10.1155/2019/9453872. PMID: 31827915; PMCID: PMC6885257..}

_{Mevissen MRJ, Hoogslag-Bienfait MF, Stoutenbeek R, Olie L, Wijdh RJHJ. Denk aan keratoconus bij oogwrijven en waziger zicht [Keratoconus in a young patient with itching eyes and blurred vision]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2023 Sep 20;167:D7531. Dutch. PMID: 37823889..}

_{Léoni-Mesplié S, Mortemousque B, Mesplié N, Touboul D, Praud D, Malet F, Colin J. Aspects épidémiologiques du kératocône chez l'enfant [Epidemiological aspects of keratoconus in children]. J Fr Ophtalmol. 2012 Dec;35(10):776-85. French. doi: 10.1016/j.jfo.2011.12.012. Epub 2012 Sep 12. Erratum in: J Fr Ophtalmol. 2013 Mar;36(3):293. PMID: 22981526..}

_{De Smedt SK, Nkurikiye J, Fonteyne YS, Tuft SJ, Gilbert CE, Kestelyn P. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis in school children in Rwanda: clinical presentation, impact on school attendance, and access to medical care. Ophthalmology. 2012 Sep;119(9):1766-72. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2012.03.041. Epub 2012 Jun 7. PMID: 22683059..}