What Are The Warning Signs of Unhealthy Eyes?

Good vision and healthy eyes are essential to your quality of life, allowing you to perceive the world around you, read, watch TV, communicate with friends and colleagues, and navigate through your surroundings. However, various conditions can affect your eyesight. In this article, we will discuss the warning signs of unhealthy eyes. Additionally, we'll explore the characteristics of healthy eyes to help you evaluate your eye health.

What are the Most Common Eye Disorders?

Some eye conditions are more common than others, but when you have one of these disorders, it’s important to recognize the symptoms and know what treatments are available.

Let’s consider some of the most common eye disorders that affect people:

• Age-related macular degeneration
• Diabetic retinopathy (in diabetic patients)
• Glaucoma
• Refractive errors
• Strabismus
• Cataracts
• Amblyopia

These conditions affect a lot of people. One report states that, in the year 2020, an estimated 200 million people^[1] had age-related macular degeneration. Other conditions can also affect your vision, like a retinal hemorrhage, trauma, and more.

How Can You Tell If You Have Healthy Eyes?

Before we take a closer look at the signs of unhealthy eyes, let’s first consider what healthy eyes look like. This can help in the assessment of your eye’s current state of health.

Healthy eyes have a sufficient level of lubrication. They’re not too dry and not too watery. Healthy eyes also don’t tend to get tired often and shouldn’t show signs of swelling. Additionally, they don’t develop problems like dryness, irritation, and scratchiness.

Taking the best eye vitamins for blurry vision can often help to overcome some of the conditions that affect your eyes. This can help maintain healthy eyes.

An option like the Ocuvital Eye Health Supplement is a great choice, particularly due to its efficacy and the fact that it uses only natural ingredients.

Important Warning Signs of Unhealthy Eyes You Should Know

Not all eye diseases have a cure, but there are generally ways to effectively manage the symptoms and slow down the rate at which these disorders progress. In this section, we’ll take a look at the signs of unhealthy eyes and disorders that you should never ignore.

1. Sudden blurry or distorted vision:

If you have blurry vision in one eye or both that develops suddenly, it can be a sign of serious problems. Let’s take a closer look at conditions that can cause both blurry and distorted vision to develop.

• Angle-closure glaucoma: This is a kind of glaucoma where an obstruction develops in your anterior chamber angle. Apart from blurry vision, it can also cause pain, headache, and nausea.

• Corneal infection: When microorganisms infect your cornea, it can cause redness in your eyes, affect your vision, and result in pain. In some cases, you may also have corneal ulcers, which is a term that refers to open sores. You may sometimes experience sudden blurred vision and dizziness.

   

• Wet age-related macular degeneration: This is a chronic disease that develops over time but can sometimes result in the sudden onset of certain symptoms. Abnormal blood vessels begin to grow at the back region of your eye and cause damage to your macula.

• Macular edema: If blood vessels begin to leak fluids into your macula, it causes swelling and results in blurry vision. It can sometimes be caused by another condition, such as diabetic retinopathy.

• Conjunctivitis: Many people know this condition simply as pink eye. It causes inflammation in your conjunctiva, a colorless membrane that is found on your eyeball and also in the lining of the eyelid. Conjunctivitis can also result in swelling, excessive tears, and the urge to constantly rub your own eyes.

• Diabetic retinopathy: This condition causes poor vision in people with diabetes which, over time, may lead to blindness.

2. Swelling on and around the eye

If you notice that your eyes are starting to swell up, then it can also be a sign of a serious underlying health condition, such as:

• Black eye: This happens when small blood vessels in the skin around your eyes start to bleed. It can sometimes be caused by an internal injury.

• Corneal ulcer: A corneal ulcer refers to an open sore that develops on the cornea. It is usually linked to an infection.

• Cellulitis: If you have cellulitis, you have an infection that affects both muscle and fat tissue in the area surrounding your eye.

• Scleritis: This is a type of inflammatory condition that causes your sclera to become inflamed. It sometimes only affects one eye, but both can also be affected at the same time.

• Blocked tear duct: A blocked tear duct can make your eye and the skin around this area swell up.

• Conjunctivitis: Pink eye affects your vision and can cause swelling of the eye area.

• Blepharitis: This is a common eye disorder that results in inflammation affecting the edges of your eyelids.

3. Headache

A frequent headache can be one of the signs of unhealthy eyes. Some conditions that can cause headaches include:

• Photokeratitis: This condition refers to temporary, painful eye damage caused by exposure to ultraviolet light and it can also lead to headaches.

• Angle-closure glaucoma: This type of glaucoma can cause eye pain and headaches.

• Migraine: Migraines can sometimes cause visual distortions.

• Corneal infection: An infection in your cornea can cause other symptoms, including headaches and fever.

• Eyestrain: Staring at a computer screen for extended periods can cause eye strain, leading to vision problems and headaches.

4. Red eyes

You may sometimes notice that your eyes are red. There are many reasons why this can happen, including some that are serious.

• Uveitis: This condition refers to inflammation that develops inside the eye. It can be a sign of an infection in some cases.
• Blepharitis: The edges of your eyelids become inflamed, which can also be accompanied by additional symptoms like redness in your eyes.
• Conjunctivitis: One of the most common symptoms that you’ll notice with pink eye is a redness that affects the white region of your eyeball.
• Glaucoma: This chronic condition damages the optic nerve, leading to vision loss and redness.

5. Oversensitivity to light

If you ask, “Why are my eyes sensitive to light all of a sudden?”, it may be due to one of the following conditions:

• Migraine: A severe headache that can increase your light sensitivity.

• Cataracts: When you develop cataracts, they can make your eyes more sensitive to light.

• Strabismus: A condition where your eyes are not aligned properly. One eye may stay focused, while the other one turns inward or outward.

• Allergies: There are cases where allergies affect your eyes, such as when you have seasonal allergies. This can increase light sensitivity.

• Keratoconus: In this condition, your cornea becomes thinner, which also increases how sensitive your eyes are to light exposure.

• Corneal abrasion: When you have a scratch or a cut in your cornea, it will also make you feel more sensitive to any type of light.

6. Night blindness

According to some reports^[2], night blindness affects less than 1% of the global population. Here are certain eye conditions and disorders that can contribute to night blindness:

• Nystagmus: If you have nystagmus, it means your eyes make involuntary movements, and this can become repetitive. It can affect your depth perception and overall vision.

• Glaucoma: Glaucoma also makes it difficult for some people to properly see at night.

• Cataracts: If you have cataracts, they can cause obstructions in your vision, which may become more noticeable at night.

• Retinitis pigmentosa: This rare eye disease causes cells in your retina to start breaking down. This happens gradually, but over time, it can result in complete vision loss.

You May Also Like to Read - Eye Strain Headache: What Causes Them and How To Avoid Them?

Unhealthy Eyes FAQs

How can you tell if your eyes are getting bad?

If you’re having consistent problems with your eyes, such as tiredness, blurry vision, and soreness, it could be a sign that your eyes are not healthy. Headaches can sometimes also be a sign.

What are the symptoms of weak eyes?

Weak eyes generally experience fatigue regularly. You may notice that your eyes are constantly tired. Double and blurry vision and light sensitivity are also common. Consistently having dry-eyes syndrome is also something you should not ignore.

How can you tell if you need glasses?

If objects at a distance or up close appear blurry or you find that your eyes get tired after reading just for a short while, it could mean that you need glasses. Poor vision at night is another sign you should be concerned about.

Key Takeaways

It's important to identify signs of unhealthy eyes as soon as possible to prevent serious problems. Be on the lookout for symptoms such as tired eyes, frequent headaches, dryness, and excessive tearing. In addition to visiting an optometrist, taking a high-quality eye supplement can provide long-term benefits for your eye health.

References

1] ↑https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10300666/
2] ↑https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4324292/