Few things found during the eye exam are more ominous than a swollen optic nerve, and any apparent elevation or swelling can raise suspicion about serious health concerns.  But truly differentiating real optic nerve edema (swelling) from anatomical variations of the nerve that cause it to be elevated in appearance can be difficult during the eye exam.  Luckily, there are a few tell-tale...

Let me start with a picture: Remember, this (above) is what a normal retina looks like.  The red dot in the center of the photograph is the macula, and the yellow circle to the right is the optic nerve. Think of the nerve as a chord that hooks your eye to the brain, a high-speed information highway.  The above picture shows a textbook...