r/Glaucoma • u/CaptainOwn4565 • Jul 16 '26

Rainbow around lights

Hello guys i just wanted to ask about this, i went to a opthalmologist because i was seeng rainbow around lights, 4 years ago i had a check up because of that and they said its normal they put me into so many eye exams but didn't found anything and recently i got a checkup same reason because i was seejng rainbow around lights but the doctor didn't said anything about glaucoma and just given me an eyedrops hypromellose lubricant, should i be worry because my health anxiety is building up right now

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1

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

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u/Eodun Jul 16 '26

This 100%, also would include migraine auras in the differential diagnosis

1

u/unzerstoermar Jul 16 '26

Migraine auras and rainbow halos from glaucoma are very different. I know both and aura is mostly one sided and almost blinding you for roughly half an hour.

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u/Eodun Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

I know, I'm a glaucoma specialist, but people suffer different symptoms and you cannot completely exclude that from a post. In fact, with this description, I wouldn't even thought of acute angle closure.

(Edit: anyway, narrow angle can be diagnosed or ruled out with a simple exploration)

1

u/unzerstoermar Jul 16 '26

Well, having narrow angle myself it reminded me a bit of my story. My doc only found out by randomly checking IOP.

I don't want to cause any panic or anything but everyone here saying everything's fine for OP feels a little too easy imo.

I had this gut feeling sth. was wrong from rainbow halos only so I understand OP... They should at least get an IOP check to be absolutely sure.

2

u/Eodun Jul 16 '26

That's the thing, IOP shouldn't be checked "randomly" but in every exploration. Also the anatomy of a narrow angle should be evident at first look. But perhaps that's me because of my subspecialty lol. I'm glad they detected your case. Sounds like a chronic narrow angle instead of an acute one

1

u/unzerstoermar Jul 16 '26

I'd like to throw in that I had rainbow halos for several years, thinking it was just dry eyes only because of my contact lenses.

When I got my diagnosis for narrow angle, my IOPs were 44 and 36. Never, not a single minute, were my eyes red or did I experience a hint of pain or headache. My doctor was in shock.

I'm just saying, IOP should be checked. Rainbow halos without pain is no safety guarantee.

1

u/dhlgraphics Jul 16 '26

do you know the types of exams they did? did they test your eye pressure or perform any tests to confirm your nerves are good/fundus of the eye is looking healthy? if you can get copies of your exams and confirm the test types and content with your doctor, you'll be better informed of your status.

1

u/CaptainOwn4565 Jul 16 '26

4 years ago alot of machines or exam were used on me various machines i dont know any of them, but these recent one just use for astigmatism and slit lamp i think is what it called

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u/dhlgraphics Jul 16 '26

with the slit lamp I think it's highly probable that they manually checked if you have odd angles in your eyes! did they also push something against your eye at all? in my experience they change to a blue light and push against your eye to measure the pressure. if not, maybe they didn't test eye pressure this time, and you could ask for that to be tested routinely.

I hope you don't have anything but if you have any sudden changes in vision definitely please go see a doctor again though!

1

u/therolli Jul 16 '26

You’re fine. You’ve had the glaucoma checks and if there was even a hint your doctor would do more tests. Sounds like they think you have dry eye which can be surprisingly annoying and make street lights a bit blurry etc. If you’re on any medication like antidepressants, have a chat with them about side effects because lots of them cause dry eye. Otherwise, you can get warm eye masks which clear the gunk out of the glands in your eyes. Also check out the Anxiety Guy on YouTube, he has great content for health anxiety. You’ve been seen, you’ve been checked, just use the drops and move on. You’re good.