Why is My Vision Suddenly Blurry?

Why is My Vision Suddenly Blurry?

shutterstock_337726319Has your vision suddenly become blurry? Though there can be many reasons for this, including those that don’t point to serious medical concerns, if your vision becomes suddenly and persistently blurry, this should be considered an eye emergency that requires the attention of your eye doctor or another medical professional. In this post, Dr. Gary Foster discusses some factors that could cause this vision disturbance.

Possible Causes of Suddenly Blurry Vision

Eye strain

Long work days staring at the computer followed by long nights watching our favorite TV shows can strain our eyes from such constant visual attention. Staring at fixed objects for long periods of time, or engaging in a lot of “near work” that requires focused close vision (like texting, reading, etc.) can sometimes cause severe eye strain, which may cause our vision to blur in the short term. This is typically remedied by resting your eyes for a few hours.

High eye pressure as a result of drainage channels between the iris and cornea becoming blocked in some way can cause a sudden blurring or even loss of vision. This condition is referred to as acute angle-closure glaucoma. A serious condition, it requires immediate medical attention to prevent permanent vision loss.

Migraine headaches, also called ocular migraines, includes temporarily blurred vision as one of its symptoms. This could be the cause of your suddenly blurred vision if it’s accompanied by one or more of the other symptoms of this condition, including a persistent headache, seeing flashing lights in your vision and experiencing nausea or vomiting.

A detached retina is a serious eye emergency that occurs when the retina, the innermost layer of the eye wall, becomes detached from the blood vessels that supply it with oxygen and nutrients. Symptoms include suddenly blurred vision, partial loss of vision and seeing floaters and/or flashes of light in your field of vision. Retinal detachment often occurs as a result of trauma to the eye, posterior vitreous separation, or as a complication of diabetes or an inflammatory eye disorder.

Wet macular degeneration (AMD), though a rare eye condition, results from abnormal blood vessels that form behind the macula, or center of the retina, hemorrhaging. When this occurs, a person can experience suddenly blurry vision or even vision loss. Other symptoms of wet AMD include straight lines (like the lines of doors or windows) suddenly appearing wavy, objects appearing the wrong size or shape, colors looking noticeably less sharp, having difficulty reading and/or darkening central vision. If you experience any of these symptoms, call your eye doctor immediately.

Other serious medical issues that include diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure may also cause your vision to suddenly appear blurry. If the condition does not go away after a couple of hours of eye rest, or if it is accompanied by other symptoms, call your doctor immediately.

Schedule an Appointment with Dr. Gary Foster

Would you like to learn more about how to maintain optimal eye health, including effective treatments for eye strain, chronic dry eye and cataracts? Schedule an appointment with Dr. Foster by calling his office today at (970) 419-2693.

No Comments

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.