Common Eye Issues

Common Causes:

Vision changes and problems can be caused by many different conditions. Some include:

• Presbyopia -- difficulty focusing on objects that are close. Often becomes noticeable in your early to mid 40s.
• Cataracts -- cloudiness over the eye lens, causing poor nighttime vision, halos around lights, and sensitivity to glare. Daytime vision is eventually affected. Common in the elderly.
• Glaucoma -- increased pressure in the eye, causing poor night vision, blind spots, and loss of vision to either side. A major cause of blindness. Glaucoma can happen gradually or suddenly -- if sudden, it's a medical emergency.
• Diabetic retinopathy -- this complication of diabetes can lead to bleeding into the retina. Another common cause of blindness.
• Macular degeneration -- loss of central vision, blurred vision (especially while reading), distorted vision (like seeing wavy lines), and colors appearing faded. The most common cause of blindness in people over age 60.
• Eye infection, inflammation, or injury.
• Floaters -- tiny particles drifting across the eye. Although often brief and harmless, they may be a sign of retinal detachment.
• Night blindness.
• Retinal detachment -- symptoms include floaters, flashes of light across your visual field, or a sensation of a shade or curtain hanging on one side of your visual field.
• Optic neuritis -- inflammation of the optic nerve from infection or multiple sclerosis. You may have pain when you move your eye or touch it through the eyelid.
• Stroke or TIA.
• Brain tumor.
• Bleeding into the eye.
• Temporal arteritis -- inflammation of an artery in the brain that supplies blood to the optic nerve.
• Migraine headaches -- spots of light, halos, or zigzag patterns are common symptoms prior to the start of the headache.

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