Vision changes often happen so gradually that people adapt without realizing their eyesight is declining. The brain is adept at compensating for small shifts in visual clarity, making it easy to mistake a vision problem for fatigue or aging. This guide helps recognize common signs that suggest you may need an updated prescription or corrective lenses. This self-assessment is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for a comprehensive eye examination by a licensed eye care professional.
Daily Signs of Changing Vision
Many indicators of changing vision appear as physical symptoms during routine daily activities. A common sign is the need to increase the distance between your eyes and reading material, often leading to the feeling that your arms are “too short.” You may also require significantly brighter light to perform close-up tasks like reading small print or working on crafts.
Frequent tension headaches, especially after extended periods of reading, computer use, or driving, signal eye strain. This effort often manifests as habitual squinting, a temporary coping mechanism that slightly narrows the light entering the eye. Blurry vision that fluctuates or comes and goes, rather than being constant, is another subtle clue that your eyes are working harder than they should be.
Difficulties with night vision are concerning. You might notice increased glare or distinct halos around headlights and streetlights while driving after dark. A general struggle to recognize familiar faces or read distant street signs suggests a decline in distance acuity. Difficulty refocusing when shifting your gaze from a near object to a distant object is also a sign of vision change.
What Are Refractive Errors?
The symptoms you experience are caused by common vision problems known as refractive errors. These errors occur when the eye fails to bend light correctly to focus a clear image onto the retina. Glasses correct these errors by adjusting the path of light before it enters the eye, allowing the image to land precisely on the retina.
The most common refractive error is myopia, or nearsightedness, where distant objects appear blurry while close-up vision remains clear. This occurs because the eyeball is slightly too long or the cornea is too steeply curved, causing light to focus in front of the retina.
The opposite condition is hyperopia, or farsightedness, where the eye is too short or the cornea is too flat, causing light to focus behind the retina. Hyperopia often results in near objects appearing blurry, although it can cause eye strain and headaches even when distance vision is clear. Astigmatism is a third type of refractive error caused by an irregularly shaped cornea or lens, shaped more like a football than a sphere. This distortion prevents light from focusing on a single point, resulting in blurred vision at any distance.
Seeking Professional Eye Care
While recognizing symptoms is a helpful first step, a professional examination is the only way to accurately diagnose a vision problem and determine the necessary correction. It is important to distinguish between a simple vision screening, which only checks visual acuity to flag potential problems, and a comprehensive eye exam.
A comprehensive eye exam is a detailed health assessment performed by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist. This thorough evaluation goes beyond checking visual clarity to determine your precise prescription. It includes tests to measure eye pressure, assess peripheral vision, and examine the health of the retina and optic nerve.
These exams detect eye diseases like glaucoma and cataracts in their earliest stages, often before symptoms appear. An eye exam can also reveal signs of systemic health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which manifest changes in the eye’s blood vessels.
You should seek immediate professional attention if you experience certain “red flag” symptoms, including sudden vision loss, double vision that comes on suddenly, persistent eye pain, or seeing an increased number of flashes of light or floaters.