Often, when either children an adults experience poor vision, it can be caused by several possible conditions such as changes in the body or abnormalities in the eye, diseases affecting the eye, side effects caused by medication or injury. Lots of people also suffer from visual abnormalities resulting from aging or eye strain. This can lead to changes in your eyesight, which might sometimes make it uncomfortable or difficult to perform daily activities such as reading the newspaper or looking at a computer screen for long periods. These vision problems can be expressed through the following symptoms: eye strain, headache, blurred vision, and trouble seeing from short or long distances.
Blurred vision is one of the most oft-reported signs of a vision problem. If you have blurred vision when you're looking at distant objects or signs, you may very well have myopia, or be nearsighted. Blurred vision that's present when you are looking at anything at close range may be a sign of farsightedness, or hyperopia. Blurred vision can also mean you have astigmatism because of an irregularity in the shape of the cornea, or the curvature of the lens inside the eye. Whatever the cause of blurry vision, it's vital that an eye care professional examine your eyes and decide on the best way to improve your sight.
A sudden onset of flashes of light, often combined with floating black spots and the feeling of a dark curtain or veil that limits a section of your vision indicates the possibility of what's known as a retinal detachment. In this case, make an appointment to see your eye doctor as soon as you can, because this can have severe consequences.
Another common warning sign of a vision problem is trouble distinguishing different colors or intensity of color. This indicates color blindness. Color blindness is generally unknown to the patient until diagnosed with a test. Color blindness is mainly something that affects males. If a woman has problems seeing color it could mean she has ocular disease, in which case, an optometrist should be consulted. For those who have difficulty distinguishing objects in minimal light, it could mean the patient suffers from night blindness.
Cataracts, a condition frequently seen older people can have numerous telltale signs including: blurry sight that is worse in bright light, trouble seeing in the dark or reduced light, trouble discerning small writing or objects, colors that appear faded or yellowed, unexpected improvement in near vision but a decline in distance vision, painful puffiness around the eye, and a milky white look to the normally dark pupil.
Throbbing eye pain, headaches, blurry vision, inflammation in the eye, colorful halos around lights, nausea and vomiting are also signs of glaucoma, a severe medical illness, which requires medical attention.
With younger patients, it is important to keep an eye out for uncoordinated eye movement, or crossed eyes, which may indicate a vision problem called strabismus. Some behavior in children, like rubbing one or both eyes, squinting, or the need to shut one eye in order to look at things better, often indicate strabismus.
If you are familiar with any of the symptoms listed here, see your eye doctor promptly. Though some conditions could be more problematic than others, anything that restricts normal eyesight will be something that really affects your quality of life. A quick consultation with your optometrist can save you from being avoidably uncomfortable, not to mention further eye and vision damage.
