In patients, whether young or old, sometimes poor vision can be due to several possible factors such as anatomical changes in the eye, eye diseases, side effects of medicine or injury. Many people also experience visual abnormalities due to aging or eye strain. These experiences can cause changes in your eyesight, which can make it uncomfortable or difficult to get through daily activities such as reading fine print or working on a computer for long periods. These vision problems can be expressed through the following symptoms: blurry vision, headaches, eye strain, squinting and problems seeing at 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, you could very well be nearsighted, or myopic. If you have blurred vision when you're viewing something nearby this could mean you suffer from hyperopia, or farsightedness. It can also be a symptom of astigmatism due to a flaw in the way the cornea is formed. In all cases of blurry vision, it's vital that an optometrist examine your vision and prescribe a solution to help clarify your sight.
Another warning sign of a vision problem is trouble distinguishing shades or strength of color. This generally means the patient has color blindness. Color blindness is generally not known to the patient until proven with a test. Color blindness is mainly something that affects males. If present in a female it might indicate ocular disease, in which case, an eye care professional needs to be consulted. If you have difficulty distinguishing objects in dim light, it is a sign of possible night blindness.
Cataracts, a condition commonly found in older people can have numerous indicating signs including: unclear sight that worsens in bright light, trouble seeing in the dark or reduced light, difficulty seeing small writing or details, muted or faded colors, improvement in near vision but a decline in distance vision, painful redness around the eye, and an opaque white appearance to the normally dark pupil.
Throbbing eye pain, headaches, unclear vision, inflammation in the eye, rainbow coronas around lights, nausea and vomiting are indicators of glaucoma, a serious medical illness, which calls for immediate medical attention.
When it comes to children, it's useful to watch for uncoordinated eye movement, or crossed eyes, which may indicate a condition known as strabismus. Specific behavior in children, such as rubbing one or both eyes frequently, squinting, or needing to shut one eye to focus better, can often indicate strabismus.
Though some conditions could be more severe than others, anything that restricts good eyesight can be a burden, and impact your quality of life. A short visit to your optometrist can save you from being avoidably uncomfortable, not to mention even more severe eye damage.
