Reasons for blurred vision—and what to do about It

Blurred vision has become a very common problem due to increased screen time and changing lifestyle. Blurred vision makes you feel as if your life is no longer in focus and can be due to issues with cornea, retina or optic nerve or even due to various long-term ailments.

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis or pink eye causes cornea’s inflammation leading to blurred vision. This is usually caused by a virus or bacteria or an allergic infection. This usually gets resolved on its own. However, for speedy recovery antiviral and antibacterial medications can be taken.

Dry Eye Syndrome

This happens due to prolonged video time, low humidity air or fans causing an unusual tear film evaporation or tear production. Other reasons for this are aging, medications, menopause, allergies and auto-immune diseases. Several OTC eye drops cure dry eyes.

High Blood Sugar or diabetes

When blood sugar is not well-controlled you may experience blurred vision, due to a sudden spike in blood sugar. An increase in blood sugar levels causes swelling of your eye lens, resulting in blurry vision. Consult the doctor for lowering blood sugar.

Corneal Abrasion

The cornea is the transparent covering in front of your eye which due to a scratch might cause blurring vision. This usually needs a few days to heal. Lubricating drops can be used to treat minor abrasion or antibiotic drops can decrease the infection.

Eye Strain

Prolonged use of PC or mobile screen or night driving or reading in dim light can cause eye to strain to make your vision blurry. To prevent this, use the standard 20-20-20 rule: which is that after every 20 minutes of screen time, look at something 20 feet away for about 20 seconds to reduce the eye strain.

Angle Closure Glaucoma

This is a condition when the iris bulges and blocks the drainage system inside the eye. The pressure of fluids increases in the eye, causing pain, nausea and redness. This is a medical condition needing urgent treatment with eye drops to decrease the pressure inside the eye and reduce inflammation.

Detached Retina

This is a serious condition when the retina gets detached from the rear of the eye, losing the nerve supply. You will have not just a blurred vision but dark specks of missing vision. A detached retina calls for an emergency surgical treatment.

Transient Ischemic Attack

Vision can be blurred due to a temporary stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack which lasts for a few minutes. This does not cause any damage on a permanent basis but is a warning for future strokes. A prompt check-up is required by your doctor.

Blurred vision due to stroke

Stroke can cause unexpected blurred vision because stroke affects the part of the brain controlling the vision causing blurred vision in one eye or loss of vision. Since stroke affects the eye and brain, it is crucial for prompt treatment to prevent any more damage to the brain cells.