“I want to tell you all about it so it doesn’t happen to you,” Pescatore said. <\/p>\n
![\"Sleep](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-880860914.jpg\"\/)
‘I was lucky’<\/p>\n
According to Pescatore, he arrived home last year after a long night shift in the ER<\/a>. <\/p>\n “Like many others who work night shift, I popped an Ambien and jumped into bed,” the doctor said.<\/p>\n “I borrowed my wife’s sleep<\/a> mask. Few hours later, when I woke up, I was blind.”<\/p>\n Pescatore said that the culprit wasn’t the Ambien\u2014rather, it was the sleep mask, which featured puffy eye holes. <\/p>\n “While I slept all night, assisted with the stupor of 5 mg of Ambien, those puffy eyes<\/a> pressed on my eyes all night,” he said.<\/p>\n “They cause a compressive ischemic retinopathy.”<\/p>\n In other words, the blood<\/a> was cut off to Pescatore’s optic nerve. He woke up unable to see anything.<\/p>\n “I was lucky,” he said.<\/p>\n “One of my best friends is an ophthalmologist. I have easy access to emergency care and things got better for me.”<\/p>\n However, Pescatore said these kinds of issues are on the rise, especially given the opioid epidemic<\/a> and the increasing popularity of sleep aids. <\/p>\n “If you’re going to use sleep aids, be careful about what you put on your face and what compresses your eyeball for hours while you sleep,” the doctor said.<\/p>\n ‘I have this mask’<\/p>\n TikTok<\/a> contributors were horrified by Pescatore’s video amid almost 700 comments since January 28.<\/p>\n “Omg\u2026 new fear<\/a> unlocked,” one pundit posted.<\/p>\n Another doctor, meanwhile, chimed in: “As an ophthalmologist, the diagnosis is actually more like compressive optic neuropathy not retinopathy,” to which Pescatore replied, “You’re absolutely right.”<\/p>\n Numerous other night health care<\/a> workers were concerned: “Stop, I\u2019m a night shift nurse<\/a> and I have this mask,” one wrote.<\/p>\n “I like it because it doesn\u2019t press on my eyeballs, mannnn.”<\/p>\n Finally, several commentators required an important clarification: “Hi! I\u2019m an ER nurse. Is it the mask that caused this or the Ambien? Or is it specifically because of the use of both?”<\/p>\n Pescatore replied: “It\u2019s prolonged compression from the mask, but it goes unnoticed more often when pharmacologically ‘assisted’.”<\/p>\n Compressive Optic Neuropathy<\/p>\n Compressive optic neuropathy<\/a> is often caused by tumors<\/a> around the eyes, but whether the compressive element is a tumor or a sleep mask, the issue is the optic nerve, which carries signals from the eyes to the brain<\/a>.<\/p>\n Compression can interrupt that communication<\/a>. When it does, an individual may experience blurred vision<\/a>, headaches, bulging of the eyes or vision loss.<\/p>\n The condition is often treatable, but if it is not treated early, it can lead to long-term problems, including vision loss. <\/p>\n