What is wrong with unfocused eyes?

In our lives, some people have difficulty focusing their eyes. This may be caused by astigmatism. Generally, myopic patients have a certain degree of astigmatism. People with poor focusing usually cannot see things clearly, so they need a high degree of adjustment to see things. This will easily cause eye fatigue. Therefore, if you have astigmatism, it is best to go to a regular ophthalmology hospital in time to wear glasses.

When symptoms such as eye pain, decreased vision, and blurred vision occur, people's first reaction is that there is something wrong with their eyes. However, they would have never imagined that some eye problems actually stem from rheumatic and immune diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome and ankylosing spondylitis. Due to lack of awareness, these patients either bought eye drops themselves or went to an ophthalmologist for treatment. However, because the primary disease was not treated, the eye disease always recurred. Any patient with eye disease, in addition to eye discomfort, if accompanied by symptoms such as multiple joint swelling and pain, back pain, dry mouth, dry eyes, recurrent oral ulcers, tinnitus, hearing loss, various rashes, etc., should be alert to the possibility of rheumatic autoimmunity disease and please go to the rheumatology and immunology department for examination as soon as possible.

Next, let’s learn about several rheumatic and immune diseases that often affect the eyes.

Sjögren's syndrome

Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that can occur in people of all ages, but it is more common in middle-aged women. At least eight or nine out of every 10 patients are female. The cause of Sjögren's syndrome is still unclear and may be related to autoimmunity, genetics, viral infection and other factors. This disease can exist alone, called "primary Sjögren's syndrome", or it can appear in other autoimmune diseases, such as secondary to rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, etc., called "secondary Sjögren's syndrome".

The most prominent feature of Sjögren's syndrome is "dryness". Because the patient's exocrine glands are invaded by the patient's own immune cells, the secretion of saliva, tears, digestive fluids in the gastrointestinal tract, sweat and other glands is significantly reduced, resulting in a series of "dryness" symptoms. The more typical symptoms are dry mouth and dry eyes, which may be accompanied by symptoms such as enlarged parotid glands, tooth decay, and joint pain.

Because the tear glands are damaged by autoimmune cells, patients with Sjögren's syndrome experience symptoms of dry eyes. Patients often experience symptoms such as a foreign body sensation in the eye, burning sensation, itchy eyes, dry eyes, etc. Their vision gradually becomes blurred and they have difficulty opening their eyes in the morning. As the disease progresses, conjunctivitis often occurs, and the patient even has no tears when he is sad.

If you have dry eye symptoms for more than 3 months; if you feel sand in your eyes even though you do not have any eye diseases such as trachoma; if you must use artificial tears to moisten your eyes every day, and an ophthalmological examination indicates dry eyes, it is recommended that you see a rheumatologist to determine whether you have Sjögren's syndrome so that you can receive symptomatic treatment.