It can also cause nausea and vertigo, particularly for people with acquired nystagmus. This often due to inner ear issues which, teamed with the sudden motion of the eyes, can affect people’s balance. This is usually found in cases of acquired nystagmus and is when the eyes “ drift slowly in one direction and then jerk back in the other direction”. The speed of these movements is often different from person to person, and there is a type of nystagmus called jerk nystagmus. As previously mentioned, the eyes may move quickly up and down, from side to side, or even move in a circular motion. The direction, speed and frequency of the eye movement that comes with nystagmus can also vary greatly from person to person. Some cases of acquired nystagmus can disappear – and reappear – over time, so your symptoms might vary from week to week, or even month to month. This type of nystagmus is also dependent on factors such as tiredness or stress, causing the condition to temporarily worsen. Simply put by the RNIB, “anything that damages the parts of the brain that control eye movements can result in acquired nystagmus”. It can be caused by a number of things, from a stroke or traumatic head injury, to a brain tumour or excessive use of drugs. If there is no obvious cause of the nystagmus, it’s called idiopathic nystagmus.Ī second type of nystagmus is called acquired nystagmus which, as the name suggests, affects people later in life, beyond the stage where infantile nystagmus could be developed in childhood. Children born with nystagmus often don’t realise that they’re doing this, as it’s something they have adjusted to automatically. This provides more stable vision, although finding the spot can often mean that you have to turn your head from side to side or tilt it up and down. The null zone is a point in your visual field where the movement caused by the nystagmus is slowest. Nystagmus tends not to worsen with age, and children born with it typically find their “null zone” naturally, making it easier to cope with. It can be brought on by a number of other visual conditions, such as:Įffects of infantile nystagmus can vary from person – some children just have minimal problems with reading while others struggle with severely reduced vision. Infantile (also known as congenital) nystagmus is a form of the condition that babies develop in their first few months of life, as previously mentioned. There are actually different forms of nystagmus which can appear at different points in your life. When babies are born with eye conditions that affect their vision (such as severe refractive errors), their visual development suffers, potentially leading to nystagmus. At birth, all babies have undeveloped visual systems and it’s over the next few months that their sight progresses and improves. In babies, this can be caused by their visual system failing to develop properly.
The main cause of nystagmus is an issue with the part of the eye that communicates visual signals to the brain to be processed, providing the final image that we see. There is also a genetic link for some types of nystagmus. It’s most common amongst the white European population, and tends to affect boys more than girls. Figures for people suffering with nystagmus vary between 1 and 2.4 instances per 1,000 people, and some sources even say it’s the “ most common form of visual impairment among children”. Most people with nystagmus struggle with their visual acuity, something which glasses tends to help with.
The condition can often make someone’s eyes look like they are shaking, moving quickly either from side to side, up and down, or in a circular motion. Nystagmus is a condition whereby a person suffers with involuntary, uncontrollable eye movements. Everything you need to know about Nystagmus
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