When you hear “optic nerve atrophy”, you may feel nervous and scared. So, what is “optic atrophy”? How does it happen? Is it impossible to see after optic nerve atrophy? Does it mean that your vision will get worse and worse? We hope this article will help you to solve these questions. Let’s talk about the optic nerve and vision. The optic nerve is located in the retinal ganglion cells of the axons converge into a bundle, from the optic disc through the eye, successively in the eye frame, optic canal, cranial travel, and then above the pituitary gland on both sides of the optic nerve cross to form the optic cross. What the doctor can directly observe in the human body is the section of the optic nerve that starts in the eye, called the “optic disc”, also called the “optic papilla”. The optic disc, also known as the optic papilla, is also examined with the help of a fundoscope. The appearance of a normal optic disc. The border is clear and the color is light red. Under normal conditions, the optic disc is rich in capillaries and the nerve fiber bundles are transparent, so when light reaches the disc, it can be refracted by light to make the disc appear light red. So, what changes occur in the optic disc in optic nerve atrophy? Generally speaking, if a doctor sees that the optic disc has become lighter and whiter, he or she will say that the optic nerve is atrophied. Why does the optic disc look whiter? One is due to a reduction in the vascular network and the other is due to a proliferation of opaque glial cells. You have seen the scars after the skin is broken. Consciousness is pretty much the same, and when the optic nerve is damaged in some way, reactions such as reduction of blood vessels and proliferation of glial cells occur, which can leave marks just like skin scars. In other words, optic nerve atrophy is the legacy of optic nerve damage. Optic nerve atrophy is not a disease. Optic nerve atrophy is the common result of different optic nerve diseases. Optic neuritis, ischemic optic neuropathy, traumatic optic neuropathy, toxic optic neuropathy, hereditary optic neuropathy, compressive optic neuropathy, etc. can all lead to what is called “optic nerve atrophy”. The discovery of optic disc whitening, that is, the discovery of optic nerve atrophy, is not a diagnosis of the disease, and further search for the cause is necessary to target treatment and evaluate the prognosis. Just because the optic nerve is atrophied does not mean that it cannot be treated. It does not mean that the vision will get worse. As we all know, we have two kidneys, and if one of them has a problem, or if one of them is sacrificed, there is no problem to maintain the normal excretory function of the remaining one. The same goes for the optic function. Just because the optic nerve fibers are partially damaged, it does not mean that you will go blind. We have seen many patients with white optic discs, but their vision can still be maintained at about 0.5 or even better. Moreover, the damage to the optic nerve is not progressive and does not deteriorate on its own as long as the damaging factors are removed. Therefore, we should focus on what causes optic nerve atrophy rather than optic nerve atrophy itself. In fact, “optic nerve atrophy” is not an appropriate name, it does not correctly reflect the state of the disease, and it can easily cause misunderstanding and unnecessary psychological burden to patients.