Often, when either children an adults experience poor vision, it can be the result of several possible factors such as changes in the body or irregularities in the eye, diseases affecting the eye, side effects caused by medicine or eye injuries. Commonly, people also report visual disturbances associated with age or eye strain. Aging and stress can result in changes in your vision, which might cause pain and even make it harder to get through everyday activities, like reading fine print or looking at a computer screen for long periods. These vision problems can be expressed via the following symptoms: eye strain, headache, blurred vision, and struggling with close and far distances.
One of the first signs of a vision problem can be blurred vision. If you report 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 nearby may be a sign of hyperopia, or farsightedness. It can also be a symptom of astigmatism which occurs due to an abnormality in the way the cornea is formed. No matter the reason you have blurry vision, it's really important to have your eye doctor thoroughly check your vision and decide on the best way to rectify your sight.
Another common warning sign of a vision problem is difficulty discerning different colors or strength of color. This indicates color blindness. Color vision defects are generally not known to the patient until discovered by testing. Color blindness is mainly something that affects males. If present in a female it may indicate ocular disease, and an eye care professional needs to be consulted. For people who can't see objects in dim light, it is a sign of possible night blindness.
A condition commonly found in elderly patients is cataracts, which have a number of indicating signs which include: blurry sight that is worse in bright light, weak night vision, trouble discerning small writing or details, the need for brighter light when reading, unexpected improvement in near vision but a decline in distance vision, painful redness around the eye, and a milky white appearance to the usually dark pupil.
Pulsing eye pain, headaches, unclear sight, redness in the eye, colorful halos around lights, nausea and vomiting are indicators of glaucoma, a severe medical condition, which requires prompt medical attention.
In children, it is important to look out for uncoordinated eye movement, or eyes that cross in or out, which may indicate a vision problem called strabismus. Certain behavior, such as rubbing one or both eyes frequently, squinting, or the need to shut one eye in order to see things better, can often point to this issue.
Though some conditions could be more serious than others, anything that limits clear eyesight will be something that really affects your quality of life. A brief appointment with your optometrist can save you from unnecessary discomfort, or further eye and vision problems.
