Feeling when can’t see something so say have eyes open can feel pick anything up but if close eyes can’t feel anything? If so how did it come back and any tips appreciated currently putting stuff in a bag trying to pull things out
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Hello Nico1986 - I can’t say I have experienced this but I am pretty sure there has to be someone on this forum who may have had the same or similar.
Do you think it might help if the subject was changed to include the words feeling and eyes?
For example
“Has anyone else experienced loss of feeling/touch when eyes closed?”
Just a thought 
As an aside, I know that things are different when you close your eyes even if you haven’t had a stroke e.g. the sense of balance. For example, I find it very hard to stand on one leg with my eyes closed, but don’t have a problem if my eyes are open.
So there is a link with vision and other senses anyway.
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Hello - I haven’t experienced exactly what you are describing but depending on where your stroke was there could be a link between eyesight and processing touch. My stroke was at the back of my head behind my right ear. It effected processing, working memory and eyesight to name but a few. Now when my brain becomes cognitively overloaded (which happens even if looking at a computer screen for more than 18 minutes), my eyesight starts to shut down and everything begins to go blurry. I would suggest with you something is going on around the processing of touch and your eyesight. I put the following into ChatGPT - which is not accurate but I did the same with my symptoms and asked a Neuroscientist I am working with how accurate it was and she said 80%. This is what I put in the message and its response: A friend of mine has had a stroke and now can feel things to pickup if they can see them but if they close their eyes they can no longer feel the object - what is going on?
ChatGPT said:
That’s a really important observation — and it sounds like your friend is experiencing a neurological phenomenon known as “sensory ataxia” or a disruption of proprioception and tactile sensory processing due to the stroke.
What’s likely going on?
After a stroke, especially one affecting the parietal lobe (involved in integrating sensory input), a person can lose the ability to sense where their limbs are in space or to interpret touch without visual cues.
So:
- They can feel and interact with objects when they see them, because visual information compensates.
- But if they close their eyes, their brain can’t accurately process where their hand is or what it’s feeling — the connection between touch and perception has been damaged.
This is called:
- Astereognosis: the inability to identify objects by touch alone (also known as tactile agnosia).
- Or more broadly, part of proprioceptive or sensory deficits from the stroke.
Simple example test:
Have them close their eyes and place an object (like a key or coin) in their hand:
- If they can’t describe or identify it without looking, that’s classic astereognosis.
Why does this happen after a stroke?
- Strokes that affect the somatosensory cortex (postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe), thalamus, or white matter tracts can interrupt signals from the hand to the brain.
- Visual input can temporarily “bypass” the broken circuit, but without sight, the brain can’t “map” the sensory data correctly.
Can this improve?
Often, yes — with therapy. The brain is plastic (neuroplasticity), and with occupational therapy and sensory retraining, people can often regain some of this function.
What helps:
- Tactile stimulation exercises (touching different textures, shapes with eyes closed)
- Proprioceptive retraining (weighted objects, joint compression, sensory puzzles)
- Mirror therapy
- Working with a neuro-occupational therapist or physiotherapist
A lot here but perhaps it will give you some avenues to explore and looks like with some exercise it will get better! Good luck!
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My stroke was 7 months ago, I lost all feeling down my left side, for a couple of months if I touched my back accidentally I didn’t know it was my hand, a very spooky sensation….The occupational therapist from our community stroke team taught me how to re sensitise….I was lucky my lovely partner helps me with sensation therapy for about 5 months day in day out, using things like his finger, scourers, hair brush, tooth brush, cotton wool, fleece, sponge to re sensitise, it’s definitely worked, it felt laborious in the beginning but I now can feel those sensations even though the limbs are still numb…I’m still occasionally surprised when I can’t feel my own backside sitting on a hard chair, or the side of my trunk seems to not be part of me, it’s well worth having a go…
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Great tips @Sunshine55 - thanks for sharing
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