Published on August 28, 2024

What is Causing Blurred Vision?woman with blurred vision looking through glasses

Blurred vision can happen for a variety of reasons. Understanding what is causing your vision problems is the first step in restoring your vision and seeing things clearly.

Blurred vision affects your ability to see objects, words, people, and your surroundings clearly. In most cases, lines and edges are not as sharp and crisp as they would be with normal vision.

Symptoms of Blurred Vision

There are multiple reasons why you are experiencing blurred vision that range from exhaustion to an underlying health condition. Causes of blurred vision include:

  • Refractive errors such as astigmatism, farsightedness, and nearsightedness
  • Dry eye syndrome
  • Age-related macular degeneration
  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Glaucoma
  • Cataracts
  • Optic neuritis
  • Inherited optic nerve disorders
  • Scars on the cornea

Blurred vision can affect one or both eyes. Oftentimes, you may not know that you have blurred vision in one eye until you close the second eye and look at something with the affected eye. This is because your brain compensates for the lack of vision you have in that eye. Blurred vision can also affect only a part of your vision, such as your peripheral vision, your entire vision field, or your central vision.

Treatments

Treatment for blurred vision is based on what the cause of the blurring is from. In some cases, your vision can be restored with non-surgical treatments such as eye drops, contacts, or glasses. In more advanced situations, surgeries, such as laser eye surgery, may be needed to restore the part of your eye that is damaged.

When Should I See a Medical Professional?

Blurred vision can come from a variety of causes. It is important that you see your doctor if you have changes in your vision. If you are experiencing long term or recurring blurred vision, you may be referred to an ophthalmologist for treatment.

  • Seek immediate medical help if your vision gets blurry quickly, you have sudden vision loss, or you experience:
  • Stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
  • A steep increase in blood pressure
  • Hyphemia (blood clotting in the anterior chamber of the eye)
  • Retinal detachment (flashes or floaters)
  • Concussion
  • Infections of the eye and its tissues
  • Migraine headache
  • Eye injury

Sources: Dr. Andrew Baldwin, clevelandclinic.org, healthdirect.gov