Often, when either children an adults experience poor vision, it can be caused by several possible factors including anatomical changes or abnormalities in the eye, eye diseases, side effects of medication or injuries to the eye. Commonly, people also report visual disturbances due to aging or eye strain. This can result in changes in your vision, which may cause discomfort and even make it harder to get through daily activities, like reading fine print or looking at a computer screen for long periods. These vision problems can be expressed through the following symptoms: eye strain, headache, blurred vision, and struggling with short or long distances.
Blurred vision is one of the most commonly occurring signs of a vision problem. If you suffer from blurred vision when you're looking at distant objects, you may very well be nearsighted, or myopic. If you suffer from blurred vision when you're looking at something close by this may be a sign of hyperopia, or farsightedness. Blurred vision can also be a symptom of astigmatism because of a flaw in the shape of the cornea, or sometimes the curvature of the lens inside the eye. No matter the reason you have blurry vision, it is essential to have your eye doctor examine your vision and decide on the best way to rectify your sight.
Another warning sign of a vision problem is the inability to distinguish between different colors or intensity of color. This generally means the patient has a problem perceiving color, or color blindness. Color blindness is generally unknown to the patient until diagnosed with a test. Color blindness is mostly something that affects males. If a woman has difficulty perceiving color it might mean she has ocular disease, in which case, an optometrist needs to be consulted. For people who can't see objects in minimal light, it could mean the patient suffers from night blindness.
A problem commonly found in older people is cataracts, which can have a number of warning signs which include: unclear vision that weakens in bright light, weak night vision, trouble seeing small writing or objects, the need for brighter light when reading, redness around the eye, and a milky white look to the usually dark pupil.
Pulsing eye pain, headaches, unclear sight, redness in the eye, rainbow coronas around lights, nausea and vomiting are also signs of glaucoma, a serious medical condition, which needs medical attention.
When it comes to children, it's useful to watch for uncoordinated eye movement, or crossed eyes, which may indicate a condition called strabismus. Certain things children might do, like rubbing eyes, squinting, head tilting, or needing to shut one eye to see things better, can often point to strabismus.
Though some conditions are more severe than others, anything that limits clear eyesight can be a burden, and impact your quality of life. A quick appointment with your optometrist can prevent being avoidably uncomfortable, or further eye damage.