Vision Loss — A Mini Guide Answering All Your Questions

This statement is not to scare you. But vision loss has a notable effect on the life of an affected person, family, and friends.

Let us get to know different kinds of vision loss, their causes, and the methods of managing vision loss by reading this article.

What is Vision Loss?

In our eyes, vision is formed by different circumstances that impact the brain or the entire body. The images we see begin forming when the light passes through the cornea, the front of the eye. 

Likewise, the iris allows the light to move through the lens. Any damage to these processes due to infection or trauma can decrease vision. 

Also, any effect on the pressure of the fluid present in the eye can impact vision. This causes damage to the optic nerve. It is the nerve that transmits the visual impulses to the brain and is essential for proper vision. 

The other possible causes of one-sided or complete vision loss include traumas, migraine, and aging.

What Are The Types Of Vision Loss?

Following are the common vision loss types that occur along with different diseases: 

• Central Vision Loss

This kind of vision loss occurs due to damage to the macula and other parts of the retina. This loss will make you see blurry spots in the middle part of the visual space. As the injury progresses, the blur spots will change into dark ones.

• Peripheral Vision Loss

A kind of vision loss peripheral is also known as tunnel vision. It includes seeing objects in the center brighter and clear as distinguished to things on the sides. This vision loss leaves the person experiencing an only central vision. And it further includes the difficulties of night-blindness or loss of seeing in dim-lit surroundings.

Some other – less severe kinds that you can witness are:

• Blurred Vision

This vision causes difficulty in seeing both near or far, even with the adequate spectacle modification possible.

• Generalized Haze

It irritates the glare that may expand over the whole viewing area.

• Severe Light Sensitivity

Light sensitivity occurs when degrees of brightness overpowers the visual process. It, in turn, produces a washed-out vision. A person with this problem may even suffer pain from moderate illumination levels.

• Night Blindness

It includes the inability to see at night under moonlight or dim-lighted areas such as movie theaters.

What Causes Vision Loss?

The reasons for vision loss can come under temporary vision loss or gradual vision loss. 

Causes of Temporary Vision Loss

The temporary type is when vision loss suddenly occurs usually for a few seconds or minutes. Its cause can include a variety of conditions which are as follows:

• Migraine With Vision Loss 

Many people who suffer from migraine are likely to witness a situation known as migraine aura. It is a problem that involves watching sparkles, zig-zag lines, or spots. 

For others, it is either vision loss in the right eye or vision loss in the left eye. The medication may include painkillers and staying away from radiant lights and loud noises.

• Keratitis

Keratitis is an ailment that occurs in people who wear contact lenses more. It is usually an infection to the eye, including symptoms such as pain, sensitivity to light, or blurry vision.

This situation is temporary. You can get it treated by a doctor by taking medicine.

• Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is an infection in the conjunctiva. It can prompt redness, pain, and difficulty in seeing things. Conjunctivitis generally gets corrected by having antibiotic eye drops.

• Eyestrain

When a person stares at a screen for a long time, the eyes start losing vision. And, sometimes, the person may witness a headache with vision loss.

This disorder is temporary and can get settled by permitting the eyes to rest.

Causes Of Gradual Vision Loss

The vision loss causes of gradual vision impairment include the following, which happens over a long period. 

• Vision Loss From Macular Degeneration

Macular Degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss over 40. It is an eye disease that impacts a central vision of a person. It occurs when people begin seeing blurry, which may intensify over time.

• Vision Loss From Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a league of diseases, which harm the optic nerve located in the eye. Their symptoms occur gradually. And they may remain unidentified until the person has an eye examination. 

Vision Loss with Glaucoma occurs in one or both eyes. And can ultimately cause permanent blindness. Doctors recommend taking eye drops, laser treatment, or surgery to get it treated. 

• Vision Loss From Diabetes

Several individuals who have diabetes face a condition called Diabetic retinopathy. It is a condition in which blood vessels in the retina get badly affected and do not work the right way. 

This problem can lead to permanent blindness if left untreated.

So a person who has diabetes must undergo routine eye check-ups to catch it early.

• Vision Loss After Cataract Surgery

In cataract surgery, doctors discard the clouded lens from the eye and replace it with an artificial lens. After having surgery, a person can develop a condition called Endophthalmitis.

Endophthalmitis is a disorder that causes redness, pain, swelling, or yellow discharge from the eye. The treatment involves the intake of antibiotics injection into the eye or surgery. 

Some Other Cases

Vision Loss With Stroke

Approximately around ⅔ of the world population suffer from vision problems after stroke. There are four kinds of issues that occur with your vision from stroke are:

• Visual Field Loss: A loss to see one part of the vision area. 

• Eye Movement Problems: These include problems of losing control over eye movements. These usually occur after vision loss from stroke.

• Visual Processing Problems: These problems impact the brain’s ability to process the information it collects from the eyes. Symptoms of these problems include bumping into things and thinking that they are not there. 

• Other Vision Problems: Other problems that arise from vision loss stroke are dry eyes or light sensitivity. 

Treatment procedures include optical aids such as magnifiers and minifiers. These problems can also get corrected by using a plastic prism and eye patches.

Vision Loss During Pregnancy

Several women witness optical changes during pregnancy. These occur due to the progesterone fluid shifts in the cornea. And these fluid shifts may lead to blurred vision loss from high blood pressure.

The symptoms may also involve sudden weight gain, faintness, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. 

These refractive changes are temporary. And generally develop during the twenty weeks of pregnancy.

However, any visual ailment that evolves during pregnancy should persuade a medical check-up.

What Are The Symptoms Of Vision Loss?

The vision loss symptoms include the following signs which need medical attention:

• Severe headache

• Difficulty in speaking

• Loss of control on one side of the body

• Facial drooping

• Severe eye pain

• Double and blurry vision

• Seeing flickers of light or rainbows around lights

• Partial vision loss in one eye

• Temporary eye pain

• Itching or irritation in the eyes

• Red eyes or Pink eyes

• White tracts in the pupil

Is 20/80 Vision Legally Blind?

As per American Optometric Association, a person having an acuity of 20/70 to 20/160 is considered to have a moderate visual impairment or vision. So, visual perception of 20/80 is not terrible enough for a person to be lawfully blind.

Yet, they can correct their vision by wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses to complete activities-reading a newspaper and writing a letter.

How To Prevent Vision Loss?

It is not easy to suppress vision loss. Though people can keep an eye on their eye health by taking the following vision loss treatments:

• By following the 20-20-20 eye-strain preventive rule.

• By wearing protective glasses or goggles while doing routine tasks.

• Wearing sunglasses to protect the eyes from both UVA and UVB rays.

• By consuming vitamins for vision loss to delay the beginning of the diseases.

• Removing objects that can make you fall, such as rugs or uneven flooring.

• Using a cane to walk. And can install handrails for safe walking.

You can also consult a vision loss professional for more strategies to live well with perception damage.

To Put It All Together

Vision loss happens due to many reasons. Some are temporary that require minimal medical care. And some medical conditions are severe and lead to perpetual vision loss.

But it is essential to note that both these conditions don’t show any advanced warning signs or symptoms of eye illness. Only timely diagnosis and treatment of eye issues can keep your eyes healthy. So, there is a need to pursue medical attention even if you have a doubt.

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