Blurred vision refers to a lack of sharpness in your sight, leading to an inability to see things in fine detail. It could last just a few seconds, or it could occur long-term and progressively worsen. Blurred vision can occur in one or both eyes, and while it can be caused by eye disease or injury, it can also be a symptom of a condition that doesn’t involve your eyes at all.

Causes of Blurred Vision

Blurred vision can result from many conditions—both minor and major—and most of them are preventable as well as treatable. The conditions below are some of the most common causes of blurred vision; all should be evaluated by a medical professional:

• Astigmatism. A relatively common eye condition, astigmatism occurs when your cornea is irregularly shaped, thus preventing light from focusing on the retina in the back of the eye and making it difficult to focus on what’s in front of you. For more information, check out What Is Astigmatism and Why Does it Make Your Vision Blurry?
• Headaches. Blurred vision is a common symptom of a migraine headache. Migraines can also make your eyes sensitive to light and cause an “aura” or visual disturbance right before the symptoms begin. For more information, check out Migraine Symptoms: Treatment (and Prevention) Tips.
• Head injury. If you experience blurred vision after hitting your head, that’s often a sign of a concussion. Concussion symptoms can also include light and noise sensitivity, dizziness, and slurred speech. For more on concussions, check out “Concussion Symptoms: Here’s How to Identify Them.”

• Eye infection. In addition to itching, pain, and swelling, an eye infection can also affect your vision. Conjunctivitis, also known as pinkeye, is common type of eye infection. For more information, check out Are Eye Infections Clouding Your Vision?
  
• Dry eyes. More than 25 million Americans are affected by dry eyes, which is cause by poor tear production or poor-quality tears. For more information, check out 4 Strategies for Natural Dry Eye Treatment.
  
• Glaucoma. This disease causes irreparable damage due to excess pressure in the eyes. There are no warnings signs for glaucoma, so getting a yearly eye exam is very important. For more information, check out Glaucoma: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention of a Serious Eye Disease.
• Cataracts. This eye condition can cause cloudy spots consisting of protein and water to form on the eyes’ lenses and impair vision. For more about cataracts, check out Cataract Symptoms: Correcting the Clouded Vision Caused by Cataracts.
• Macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration affects the center of the retina and causes blind spots in central vision. For more information, check out What is Age-Related Macular Degeneration?
• Medication. Certain drugs prescribed to treat osteoporosis, erectile dysfunction, high blood pressure, and enlarged prostate can cause blurred vision in some people, according to ConsumerReports.org. Blurred vision is also commonly associated with tricyclic antidepressants, such as Elavil, Pemelor, and Norpramin, according to VeryWellMind.com. With these medications, however, blurred vision usually subsides after a few weeks.
• Celiac disease. Celiac disease comes with numerous symptoms and blurred vision happens to be one of them. To learn about the other 200+ ailments associated with the condition, check out “Celiac Disease Symptoms: List of 281 Ailments.”

There are many more conditions associated with blurred vision, including:

• Brain tumor
• Myopia
• Hypotension
• Hypertension
• Hypothyroidism
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Brain aneurysm

Blurred Vision Testing

Your eye doctor may perform one or more of the following tests to determine the cause of your blurred vision:

• Ophthalmoscopy. This test allows your eye doctor to examine the back of your eye, including your retina, optic disc, and blood vessels. Glaucoma, macular degeneration, and optic nerve damage can be identified using this exam.
• Refraction test. It checks your vision for refractive errors, such as astigmatism and myopia, and helps your eye doctor prescribe glasses or contact lenses if necessary.
• Slit lamp examination. This procedure allows your doctor to view the back of your eye with greater magnification than a basic ophthalmoscopy by using a bright light from a stilt lamp.
• Tonometry. This test detects changes in eye pressure by temporarily flattening or blowing a brief puff of air at your cornea. Some eye doctors alternatively use a handheld device called a Tono-Pen, which provides a digital measurement of eye pressure.
• Blood tests. They can reveal hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which is common in people with diabetes, as well as your white blood cell count if infection is suspected.

Treatments

Depending on the underlying cause of your blurred vision, your doctor may one or more of the following treatments:

• Medication. Your doctor may prescribe eye drops to treat injuries or infection or other medications for underlying conditions that contribute to your blurred vision.
• Laser surgery. These procedures are often used by eye doctors to treat refraction errors, glaucoma, cataracts, and floaters.
• Food. If your blurred vision is caused by low blood sugar, foods containing fast-acting sugars are recommended to increase your blood sugar quickly.

How to Protect Your Eyes from Blurred Vision

To maintain optimal eye health, you should do the following, according to Healthline.com:

• Protect your eyes from the sun. When in the sun, always wear sunglasses that include 99 to 100 percent protection from UVA and UVB rays, which can protect you from long-term eye damage.
• Eat a diet that’s healthy for your eyes. Foods that are rich in three particular carotenoids—lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin—can protect your eyes from damage, fatigue, and vision loss. Fish, eggs, and avocado are just a few of the foods that are a good source of these carotenoids. For more information, check out Eating for Eyesight: Which Foods Protect Your Eyes?
  
• Avoid (or quit) smoking. Smoking increases your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration.
• Get a yearly eye exam. Your eye doctor will be able to identify any issues that could potentially cause blurred vision early and recommend proper treatment. Report any noticeable changes to your doctor as soon as possible in between your exams.
• Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control. Research suggests there is a link between cardiovascular disease and age-related macular degeneration.
• Wash your hands before touching your eyes. This is particularly important if you wear contact lenses. Washing your eyes before putting them in or taking them out can reduce risk of infection.
• Properly protect your head and eyes when working in dangerous situations. It’s important to guard yourself against concussions or severe eye injuries when operating heavy machinery or doing home repairs.

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In the United States, an estimated 2 million people have glaucoma. An equal number of people may have the disease but don’t know it, so it’s important to understand what glaucoma symptoms can occur and to seek treatment right away.

Types of Glaucoma

The most common form of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma. A malfunction in the meshwork that drains the aqueous humor from the “open angle,” where the iris and cornea meet, is the likely cause. In open-angle glaucoma, the drainage slows, leading to a surplus that builds pressure in the eye, damaging the optic nerve and retina.

Angle-closure glaucoma stems from a congenital malformation of the eye’s drainage system. When this develops, the angle into which the aqueous fluid normally drains becomes blocked. The eye pressure increases so rapidly that vision loss can progress to such serious glaucoma symptoms as blindness within just one or two days if not treated aggressively.

How It Happens: Glaucoma Causes and Symptoms

Glaucoma is caused by a build-up of pressure in the eye from excess or blocked aqueous humor. The pressure builds and eventually damages the retina and optic nerve, causing blindness.

Glaucoma can also stem from an eye injury, inflammation, infection, a very mature cataract, diabetes, lupus, or certain medications (particularly steroids).

Angle-closure glaucoma symptoms include these effects:

• Sudden blurry vision
• Severe eye pain or headache
• Nausea and vomiting
• Light sensitivity
• Colored halos forming around lights

If you have any of these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately. Doctors can save your sight with prompt treatment, usually by creating a tiny hole in your iris to relieve pressure. Do not procrastinate, because the damage happens fast, and once vision is lost, it cannot be restored.

Glaucoma Treatments

Although there is no cure for glaucoma, treatments aimed at lowering eye pressure can help control, or delay, vision loss and blindness. Keeping intraocular pressure at a steady, low level might further reduce the risk of vision loss.

In the U.S., medications are typically the first line of treatment for glaucoma, and a variety of classes and formulations have been developed, most taken as eye drops.

Here are some medication options:

• Prostaglandins improve the drainage of fluid from the eye, and they have the advantage of once-daily dosing.
• Prostamides increase the flow of fluid from the eye. Side effects include red or itchy eyes.
• Beta-blockers reduce the amount of aqueous humor the eye produces. Possible side effects are rare but include difficulty breathing, slowed heart rate and blood pressure, impotence, fatigue, and depression.
• Alpha-agonists, such as Alphagan-P and iopidine, reduce the amount of fluid produced and increase drainage from the eye. Side effects include irritation, dry mouth, and fatigue.
• Topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, including Trusopt and Azopt, reduce the amount of fluid in the eye. In some cases, these drugs can cause burning and blurred vision.
• Miotics work by constricting the pupil and opening the eye’s drainage system, allowing more fluid to pass from the eye. Side effects: blurred vision, headache, extreme nearsightedness, and problems with night vision.

One successful treatment is the use of tiny drains the size of an eyelash, called stents. During a clinical trial, these devices reduced intraocular pressure so stably that after six months, most patients no longer needed eye drops.

Glaucoma Surgery

In glaucoma patients with advanced disease who are already taking the maximum doses of medication, laser surgery may be more effective than medication for controlling intraocular pressure.

Trabeculoplasty is a type of laser surgery performed in 10 to 20 minutes as an outpatient procedure in a doctor’s office. The doctor uses a high-energy laser to burn holes in the drainage canals to facilitate drainage. You will receive medications to control inflammation, and regular glaucoma drugs.

In selective laser trabeculoplasty, the laser targets only selected cells in the eye. It conserves healthy tissues better than conventional laser surgery, while still easing drainage of fluid. Selective laser trabeculoplasty can be performed on an outpatient basis.

Laser surgery is not a permanent solution. In fact, more than half of patients later require conventional surgery because their eye pressure rises within two years after a laser procedure. Because the laser procedure carries less risk than conventional surgery, however, many doctors advise trying it first.

Trabeculectomy is the removal of the eye’s drainage meshwork in an effort to reduce intraocular pressure.

Surgery may allow you to reduce your dosage or delay taking certain medications. But surgery may not eliminate the need for drugs. In more than half of all patients, intraocular pressure rises after surgery, and eventually requires increasing drug doses.

Conventional surgery is usually offered to patients when medications and laser surgery have failed, or if there is significant damage to an untreated eye, or if there is scarring. It works by creating a new alternative drainage system to replace the natural meshwork drain.

For most patients, conventional surgery is effective and long lasting, but it does not always work the first time. About 40 percent of people require a second surgery.

Originally published in 2016, this post is regularly updated.

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Because of this condition, light can’t focus on the retina in the back of the eye, making it harder for you to focus on what’s in front of you. In addition to blurry vision, astigmatism can also cause an eye-strain headache as you squint and try to overcome the blurriness on your own.

Fortunately, astigmatism—as diagnosed via an eye test—can usually be treated with the right pair of glasses.

Anatomy of the Eye

Astigmatism can be mild or severe, depending how much the cornea is misshapen. The cornea is the rounded, outermost layer of the eye. Within this thin, clear, outer layer are five thinner layers of tissue or membranes, each with its own function. Their jobs include protecting the eye from foreign objects and infection, as well as keeping the cornea flexible and able to allow light to pass through to the back of the eye.

The retina is the all-important feature in the back of the eye that converts the images you see into electronic signals that travel to the brain. The retina is also very light-sensitive, so if anything interferes with the light reaching it, the retina can’t focus clearly.

Astigmatism means your cornea isn’t smooth and even across its entire surface. One part may bend outward a little too much, or be flatter than another part. Even the slightest variations can affect the light reaching the retina. The majority of people have some form of astigmatism, but if it’s very mild, there won’t be a noticeable impact on vision.

Effects of Astigmatism

When you’ve struggled to see something close up, far away, or somewhere in between, you’ve probably squinted or leaned forward or leaned back. You’ve given your eyes a workout. These gyrations can cause an eye-strain headache while doing little to clear up your blurred vision. (See also our post “Glaucoma: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention of a Serious Eye Disease.”)

Adults who struggle with eye-strain headaches may seek out an ophthalmologist to find out what’s wrong. But children aren’t always so quick to complain or ask for help. And since astigmatism is something you’re usually born with, a child with vision problems and who gets the occasional eye-strain headache may not know any different. He or she may not realize that there’s a solution.

“Especially for school-age children, they won’t know that they have astigmatism, even if it requires correction,” says J. Daniel Twelker, OD, as associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science at the University of Arizona. “They’re not going to generally come to a parent or a teacher and say they can’t see, draw or read at a grade-appropriate level.”

Dr. Twelker adds that correcting astigmatism can greatly improve a child’s ability to read and learn.

Treating Astigmatism

If an ophthalmologist has diagnosed astigmatism, you may be able to overcome your corneal imperfections with eye glasses or contact lenses. Glasses can be made with a special cylindrical lens that can correct for astigmatism. Standard soft-lens contact lenses may not be able to compensate for all types of astigmatism. A type of contact lens known as a toric lens, however, can usually do the job.

Your eye doctor may also recommend a therapy called orthokeratology. In the same way that wearing a retainer on your teeth at night can help realign your bite, rigid contact lenses worn at night can sometimes reshape the cornea. You may not need lenses during the day. Not everyone with astigmatism is a good candidate for orthokeratology. Ask your doctor whether this might be an option for you.

Certain types of LASIK or refractive surgery procedures may also help reshape the cornea and eliminate your astigmatism. These interventions focus on removing or treating the layer of the cornea causing the vision problem.

You have options when it comes to treating astigmatism. Don’t live with blurry vision and the occasional eye-strain headache. See an ophthalmologist soon and start your path toward clearer eyesight.

For further reading on related topics, refer to these University Health News posts:

• “Eye Infections: Symptoms and Treatments“
• “How to Prevent Eye Strain from Computer Use: 6 Easy Tips“
• “4 Strategies for Natural Dry Eye Treatment“

The post What Is Astigmatism and Why Does it Make Your Vision Blurry? appeared first on University Health News.

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