The cause of vision deteriorated sharply. Decreased visual acuity: causes and treatment Signs of visual impairment in adults

Texts of business papers, a computer screen, and in the evening the “blue light” of the TV - with such a load, few people’s vision does not deteriorate. Is it possible to stop this process? Experts believe: a lot depends on ourselves.

Why does vision weaken? Reason 1

Lack of work of the eye muscles. The image of the objects we see depends on the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye, as well as on changes in the curvature of the lens - a special lens inside the eye, which the ciliary muscles cause to become either more convex or flatter, depending on the distance to the object. If you constantly focus on the text of a book or computer screen, the muscles that control the lens will become sluggish and weak. Like any muscle that doesn't have to work, it loses its shape.

Conclusion. In order not to lose the ability to see well far and near, you need to train the eye muscles by regularly performing the following exercise: concentrating your gaze either on distant or close objects.

Reason 2

Aging of the retina. The cells in the retina contain the light-sensitive pigment with which we see. With age, this pigment is destroyed and visual acuity decreases.

Conclusion. To slow down the aging process, you need to regularly eat foods containing vitamin A - carrots, milk, meat, fish, eggs. Vitamin A dissolves only in fat, so it is better to add sour cream or sunflower oil to carrot salad. You should not completely avoid fatty meats and fish. And it’s better to drink not only skim milk. A special substance that restores visual pigment is found in fresh blueberries. Try to treat yourself to these berries in the summer and stock up for the winter.

Reason 3

Poor circulation. Nutrition and respiration of all body cells is carried out with the help of blood vessels. The retina of the eye is a very delicate organ; it suffers at the slightest circulatory disturbance. It is these disorders that ophthalmologists try to see when they examine the fundus of the eye.

Conclusion. Get checked regularly by an ophthalmologist. Retinal circulatory disorders lead to serious diseases. If you are predisposed to this, your doctor will prescribe you medications that improve the condition of blood vessels. There are also special diets that help maintain blood circulation in good condition. In addition, you need to take care of your blood vessels: a long stay in a steam room or sauna, procedures in a pressure chamber, pressure changes are not for you.

Reason 4

Eye-strain. Retinal cells suffer both when they are exposed to too much bright light and from stress when there is insufficient light.

Conclusion. To protect your light-sensitive cells, you need to protect your eyes from too bright light with sunglasses, and also not try to look at small objects or read in low light. It is very harmful to read in transport - uneven light and swaying have a bad effect on vision.

Reason 5

Dryness of the mucous membrane of the eye. For clarity of vision, the cleanliness of the transparent shells through which the beam of light reflected from objects passes is also very important. They are washed with special moisture, so we see worse when our eyes are dry.

Conclusion. It's good to cry a little for visual acuity. And if you can’t cry, special eye drops are suitable, the composition is close to tears.

The main enemy is the screen

Working with a computer puts extra strain on your eyes, and it's not just about the text. The human eye is in many ways similar to a camera. To take a clear “snapshot” of the image on the screen, which consists of flickering dots, it needs to constantly change focus. This adjustment requires a lot of energy and increased consumption of the main visual pigment, rhodopsin. Myopic people spend more of this enzyme than those who see normally. Therefore, a situation arises that is extremely unfavorable for your eyes.

It is not surprising that myopia begins to increase as a result. At the same time, a feeling of depth in the visible image is created on the computer screen, which is especially dangerous. Why are myopia very rare among artists? Because they constantly train their eyes, looking from a sheet of paper or canvas to distant objects. Therefore, when working with a computer, one should not forget about the safety rules that are required when working with text.

Specialists from the Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz believes that “computer glasses” equipped with special filters that bring the color characteristics of monitors closer to the spectral sensitivity of the human eye can be very useful. They can be with or without diopters. Eyes armed with such glasses tire significantly less.

The following technique is also useful for training your eyesight. Taking the printed text in your hands, slowly bring it closer to your eyes until the outlines of the letters lose their clarity. The inner eye muscles tense. When the text is gradually moved to arm's length, without ceasing to look at it, they relax. The exercise is repeated for 2-3 minutes.

Candidate of Medical Sciences Alexander Mikhelashvili advises to be especially attentive to the eyes during the period when long weeks of “light starvation” have depleted our reserves of visual strength, and new strength has not yet been developed due to spring vitamin deficiency. At this time, the retina of the eye especially needs nutrition, because it has to spend significantly more visual pigment than usual. Blueberry preparations will come to the rescue in this case, which, by the way (only in the form of jam), was given to pilots of the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War to improve vision during night flights.

Gymnastics for the eyes

1. Close your eyes tightly and open them wide. Repeat 5-6 times at intervals of 30 seconds.

2. Look up, down, to the sides, without rotating your head, 3 times with an interval of 1-2 minutes. Do the same with your eyes closed.

3. Rotate your eyeballs in a circle: down, right, up, left and in the opposite direction. Repeat 3 times with an interval of 1-2 minutes.

Do the same with your eyes closed.

4. Close your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds, then open them for 3-5 seconds. Repeat 6-8 times.

5. Blink rapidly for a minute.

6. It is also useful to hang a bright calendar, photograph or painting at a distance of 1-2 m from the desktop (this place should be well lit) so that during classes you can look at it from time to time.

7. Extend your hand in front of you and look at the tip of your finger at a distance of 20-30 cm for 3-5 seconds. Repeat 10-12 times.

8. This exercise also has a good effect on the eyes: standing at the window, look for some point or scratch on the glass (you can glue a small circle of dark plaster), then turn your gaze, for example, to the television antenna of a neighboring house or a branch of a tree growing in the distance.

By the way

In order for the text to cause minimal “harm” to the eyes, the distance from the eyes to the paper with a straight back should be about 30 cm, and it is better if the book or notebook is located at a right angle to the gaze, that is, the surface of the table should be slightly inclined, like a desk.

If a person's vision deteriorates, then there are two groups of visual impairments that can cause this effect.

The first group is refractive error. That is, there are problems with light rays passing through the lens and focusing on the desired area of ​​the retina. This group includes:

• Myopia, also known as true myopia. It happens when the eyeball grows unevenly and is too long. As a result, the rays of light cannot converge normally at one point, and vision begins to deteriorate. Primary myopia is observed in children and progresses no longer than until the age of twenty. If a deterioration in the condition is observed (or appears for the first time) later, it can be caused by a hormonal imbalance, infection or spasm of the eye muscles, due to which the eyeball, again, becomes deformed.
• Children's farsightedness. In this case, the problem is that the eyeball is too compressed, short, and the focal point of the light appears to be behind the retina. It is observed in children as a variant of the norm - their eyes gradually grow and the problem goes away.
• Age-related farsightedness. Caused by problems with the lens - it loses its elasticity and cannot focus the rays. It is observed in people over forty-five - either due to an abundance of work that requires eye strain, or due to illness.
• Astigmatism. The reason for this pathology is a violation of the shape of the eyeball. Because of this, the rays of light entering the eye are focused at several points at once, and as a result, a person cannot see either far or near.

The second group of disorders are various eye diseases:

• Glaucoma. One of the most dangerous diseases, which often develops rapidly and ends in blindness. The reason for this is increased eye pressure, due to which the vessels are compressed and oxygen starvation begins, followed by tissue degradation.
• Cataract. Clouding of the lens, which begins unnoticed, but gradually worsens and can lead to complete blindness. Most often observed in older people due to changes in the structure of the eye tissues, but it can also be congenital.
• Retinal detachment. It results from a lack of oxygen, develops quickly and can lead to loss of vision. Among the specific symptoms are flashes of light that the eye perceives, but which in reality are not there.
• Diabetic retinopathy. Due to problems with the circulatory system, the eyes do not receive enough oxygen and the tissues in them begin to degrade.
• Keratitis. Inflammation of the cornea, which is accompanied by the appearance of ulcers on it. Gradually leads to blindness, accompanied by pain.

With most eye disorders, the loss of vision goes unnoticed by the patient, as it progresses gradually. The best way to catch them early is to have preventative eye exams every year.

Causes of decreased vision

Diseases cause vision loss - it changes due to the degradation of blood vessels, due to problems with the lens, due to deformation of the eyeball. However, not a single disease develops on its own - they all have factors predisposing to development.

In the case of eye disorders this is:

• Lack of eye muscle activity. Light passes through the lens, the rays fall on the retina, which sends signals to the brain - and the person reads the image. But in order for the rays to focus, the lens must move, becoming either flatter or more convex. And for this the eye muscles must work. If they don’t work (a person is used to looking at a monitor or phone screen for hours), then they gradually lose tone and the ability to change the position of the lens. This is how age-related farsightedness often develops.
• Poor circulation. Oxygen is supplied to the tissues with the blood, and the tissues of the eye are very sensitive to its lack. Therefore, if a person has problems with the circulatory system, sooner or later he will begin to have problems with his eyes. The reason may be diabetes, bad habits, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure or thrombosis - the effect is always the same.
• Eye-strain. Severe fatigue can trigger muscle spasms, causing the lens to “jam” in one position. Plus, the retina suffers from tension and the blood vessels are partially compressed.
• Dry mucous membrane. It occurs due to fatigue, the eye seems to be “blurred”. As a result, vision decreases temporarily, and if this occurs frequently, keratitis may develop.

The cause of diseases can be hereditary diseases or genetic predisposition. It is because of them that vision in children usually declines.

It is interesting that even before a person develops a full-blown disease, his vision will temporarily decline. This can be noticed, for example, after working at the computer all day - in the evening, when the eyes are dry and tense, vision usually drops, and returns to normal in the morning. But if nothing is done, one day the problem will become really serious.

Deterioration of vision during pregnancy

Deterioration of vision often occurs during pregnancy due to hormonal changes. And in some cases, women simply cannot adequately assess their own condition due to concomitant anxiety.

The best way to make sure that your vision is not deteriorating due to pregnancy is to see a doctor.

Modern restoration methods

In the modern world, a huge number of ways to restore vision have been invented, even if the problem is quite serious and has already developed into a full-fledged disease. For example:

• Myopia, farsightedness and astigmatism, depending on the reasons, are corrected either surgically or with the help of glasses and lenses, if a person does not have enough funds, has contraindications or is simply afraid of surgery;
• cataracts can also be treated surgically - the cloudy lens is cut out, and a thin plastic lens is inserted in its place, which, although not able to focus depending on the level of illumination, still stops the loss of vision and compensates for the problem at least partially;
• glaucoma is treated either conservatively or surgically - in the first case, if the pressure in the eye can be reduced by simple methods, in the second, if the pressure grows quickly, uncontrollably and there are no other ways to contain it;
• retinal detachment can also be treated surgically;
• but diabetic retinopathy is compensated as conservatively as possible, since the cause predisposing to its development cannot be removed;
• Keratitis is treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, and quite successfully.

The most dangerous are glaucoma and retinopathy - it is not always possible to remove their causes, therefore, even surgery does not always help. Everything else is either treated or compensated quite successfully, especially if you don’t delay going to the doctor.

Of course, there are many more reasons why a person’s vision may become blurred than in this short list, but the rest are less common - and are also treated quite successfully.

But if the problem is not yet a disease, but that the eyes get tired, dry out and move too little (and this is the problem of most modern people who are used to spending most of their time at the computer), surgical correction and medication will not be required. It will be enough to put in some effort: do exercises for your eyes, drip moisturizing drops into them and include foods that are healthy for your eyesight in your diet.

The simplest set of eye exercises looks like this:

• close your eyes tightly and then open your eyes wide;
• blink quickly;
• look up, down and to the sides without rotating your head, close your eyes and repeat;
• rotate the eyeballs - first with the eyelids open, then with them closed;
• extend your hand and look at your index finger, and then look at something in the distance;
• stand by the window - look first at a point on the glass, and then at something in the distance;
• extend your hand, look at your index finger, move your hand from side to side, then lower it, without changing the direction of your gaze.

Charging should take about five minutes and be repeated several times a day. Its main purpose is to increase muscle tone and improve blood circulation. If discomfort begins to appear during the process, you should consult a doctor.

Eye drops

An ophthalmologist should prescribe eye drops. Usually their purpose is to moisturize the mucous membrane so that it does not dry out and, accordingly, vision does not deteriorate.

Folk remedies for oral administration

The best remedies that traditional medicine recommends to correct failing vision are a variety of juices and decoctions full of vitamins and nutrients. For example:

• juices from pumpkin, carrots, blueberries - preferably freshly squeezed;
• juice from nettles and apples – freshly squeezed, mixed in a 1:1 ratio;
• a drink of chicory, parsley, carrots and celery - squeeze everything out, mix in equal proportions and drink half a standard glass once a day;
• Parsley decoction - take parsley root, mince, add honey and a little lemon juice, mix and take a teaspoon before meals.

Additionally, traditional medicine advises dripping blueberry juice into the eyes (but this is a dubious remedy), as well as making contrast lotions, for which you need to dip cotton swabs in hot and cold water in turn and apply to the eyes.

Healthy foods

And, of course, it will be useful to include in your diet foods that are rich in vitamins and can improve blood circulation. This:

• blueberries - you can eat them plain, in the form of jam, in the form of juice, and even drink concentrated tablets;
• carrots are rich in vitamin A, you can eat them raw, grate them with sugar, drink juice or make jam;
• pumpkin is an excellent healthy ingredient from which you can make soups, cereals, desserts, jam and even candied fruits;
• broccoli, onions, garlic, spinach, fruits, fish, cottage cheese, real dark chocolate.

It is important to remember that if vision loss is truly serious, you need to see a doctor and not self-medicate with diet.

Prevention

To prevent serious vision problems, you need to:

• do exercises without allowing your muscles to relax and your eyes to get too tired - this is especially true for people who work at the computer or watch TV for a long time;
• eat foods that are good for your eyesight – in any form;
• avoid dry eyes and use moisturizing drops;
• Visiting an ophthalmologist once a year for a preventive examination is the best way to notice a decline in vision at the very beginning and quickly understand the cause.

It is necessary to treat diseases in a timely manner, maintain chronic diseases in remission if possible, monitor your condition, know why vision may deteriorate in the first place, and refrain from bad habits. And, of course, if something goes wrong, consult a doctor immediately, and not hope that the problem will somehow go away on its own.

If a person’s vision has deteriorated, then the quality of his life also drops significantly. The reasons for this can be very different. If vision deteriorates gradually, then it is much easier for people to adapt to the changes. In cases where vision loss occurs abruptly, this can lead to panic, depression, and various neuroses.

It is believed that more than 90% of all information that we receive from the world around us passes through the eyes. However, a sharp deterioration in vision is not a sudden process. Vision will never deteriorate just like that and out of nowhere - some internal or external factor must work.

That is why it is strongly recommended to monitor your eyes systematically, and not just in those moments when it seems that you are seeing worse. Few people know that the work of the visual centers of the human brain and eyes largely depends on the general condition of the body.

What happens to vision?

The causes of visual impairment may be different, so you should not draw independent conclusions about this. The initial symptoms of loss of visual function include the inability to clearly distinguish the contours of distant objects. If the eyes do not see well, then the picture in the distance blurs, a “veil” forms before the eyes, and it is not possible to read some inscriptions from afar (of course, all this is relevant for myopia).

In this case, loss of vision can occur even if the visual center itself and all its elements are in perfect order and do not have any disturbances in their work. This often occurs with the development of certain serious pathologies in the internal organs and systems of the body, when partial loss of vision is only a symptom. Deterioration in the ability to see can be short-term, persistent, or permanent.

• If both eyes of a child or adult are affected, then in this case it is customary to talk about the presence of neurogenic disorders.
• If vision deterioration is observed in one eye, then the problem is most likely local (vascular disease, defect in eye tissue, etc.).

If vision decreases rapidly and sharply, this will indicate the presence of a serious pathology. Ophthalmologists distinguish between ophthalmological and general causes that can lead to such disorders. However, the decline in visual ability is not always due to organic disorders.

Temporary deterioration of vision can occur due to overexertion, excessive fatigue, sleep problems, or after prolonged exposure to a monitor or TV.

Ophthalmic factors

There are several ophthalmological factors that lead to visual impairment. Vision may decrease in one or both eyes at once for the following reasons:

1. Mechanical/chemical damage to the visual organs. This group includes various eye bruises, burns, penetration of chemicals into the eyes, accidental damage from foreign objects, and foreign bodies entering the eyes. Foreign bodies mechanically damage the upper layers of the eye, while chemicals, if ingested, will penetrate into the deeper layers and structures of the eyeball.
2. Retinal hemorrhage. Various reasons can lead to this (excessive physical activity, genetic weakness of the walls of blood vessels, prolonged overexertion, difficult labor, congestion in the veins, ocular hypertension, etc.).
3. Infectious eye lesions. In this case, both eyes are almost always affected. This category includes fungal, bacterial, viral infections: conjunctivitis, keratitis, ulcerative lesions of the eye membranes, blenorrhea, etc.
4. Optic neuropathy. Ischemic eye damage, in which vision will decrease rapidly (without any pain). During an instrumental examination, doctors will be able to find false swelling of the optic nerve and a pale retina. Problems usually occur in only one eye.
5. Detachment and rupture of the retina and eyeball.
6. Retinal migraine. It can potentially lead to the formation of a blind spot in the visual field. The pathology occurs against the background of a disruption in the functioning of the main retinal artery.

All the disorders that were listed above are extremely acute in nature. Therefore, in order to prevent the development of severe complications, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor who can determine the root causes of the pathology that has arisen and prescribe competent treatment.

Benign intracranial hypertension

Benign intracranial usually develops in women who are prone to gaining excess weight and who have problems with the menstrual cycle. The occurrence of the disease can be provoked by various pathologies of an endocrine nature, bearing a child, and iron deficiency in the body.

A disease of this type is characterized by the presence of pain in the back of the head and a significant deterioration in vision, which occurs due to the formation of edema in the area of ​​the optic nerve, stagnation of blood and hemorrhages in the eye area. Such a pathology can be easily treated with the help of modern medicine. Women need to monitor their weight and follow all doctor’s recommendations. In recovered patients, vision is gradually restored after complete recovery.

Temporal arteritis

The disease is an inflammation of arterial vessels localized in the structure of the brain and in the eye area in particular. Pathology in some cases can cause a person to develop blindness in one eye. Typically, as the disease progresses, vision begins to gradually deteriorate.

If the disease is detected in an elderly person, then restoring lost visual functions will be very problematic. In this case, the patient will see completely normally in one eye (one-sided blindness will not affect the second eye in any way). This type of vision disorder can be corrected in young men and women through special operations.

With temporal arteritis, other symptoms also appear that help to identify the pathology in time and begin to treat it, preventing blindness:

• Pain in the area of ​​the artery located in the temple area.
• Temporal area tension.
• , localized in the temples (can radiate to the eyes and frontal lobes).
• Changes in laboratory test parameters, which can be used to determine in advance the onset of the inflammatory process

Sudden blindness

If an elderly person’s vision rapidly deteriorates, a disease such as amavrosis fugax is often registered. The pathology is usually called “sudden blindness,” but in reality it is only a consequence of stenosis of the internal carotid artery. The root cause of the development of this type of disease is disturbances in the blood supply system of the retina. The main symptoms of sudden blindness also include:

• Feeling of weakness in the limbs and throughout the body.
• Contralateral hemisymptoms.
• Noises in the projection of the artery.

If this pathology develops, doctors observe that the patient’s vision has sharply deteriorated in only one eye (less often, in two at the same time). Blurred vision occurs suddenly and literally within a few minutes. Over the next few hours, the eye's ability to see is completely lost.

Sudden blindness often develops against the background of retinal vascular embolism, which occurs due to damage to the carotid artery. Together with the bloodstream, the embolic neoplasm passes into the vessels of the retina, which leads to the development of ischemia. During the acute phase of the development of the disease, the retinal artery becomes fused, so a blood clot can be detected in it using special examination methods.

The human body is capable of dissolving blood clots on its own, so after some time the blindness goes away on its own. In some cases, such recovery does not occur, which is an indication for undergoing certain procedures and surgery (in extreme cases).

Retinal detachment

The retina is the most important part of the eye, where the nerve endings are located that perceive light rays and convert them into a picture that a person can understand. The retina interacts with the vascular system. If the retina becomes detached from the shell, the person’s vision begins to gradually decline. This can happen for various reasons (for example, a blow to the head, any other injury, or a foreign body) in childhood, in adolescents, in adults. Symptoms of the disease are as follows:

• Significant deterioration of vision in one eye.
• Formation of a veil in the field of view.
• The appearance of systematic sparks and flashes.

Treatment of pathology today is carried out only by surgery. After the operation, color perception and previous vision are completely restored. Retinal detachment is a reason for surgical intervention. No other treatment is provided using modern medicine or folk remedies.

Macular degeneration

This type of pathology is observed in people aged 40-50 years. As the disease develops, the area on the retina is damaged, which has a huge number of nerve receptors that are very sensitive to the light received and processed.

There is no consensus on the provoking factor yet. But many famous doctors note that pathology is formed only if there is a significant lack of important elements and vitamins in the human body. Therefore, avoiding vitamin deficiency is the main prevention of this disease.

Macular degeneration can be cured using modern laser equipment, which is available in ophthalmology clinics. Also in a number of countries, the photodynamic treatment method is used, various injectable preparations, drops and tablets are used.

Diabetic retinopathy

As diabetes develops, people experience a gradual deterioration in their vision. If a person has been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus for a long time, then with a probability of 90-95% his vision has deteriorated since the diagnosis was made. Problems with the visual center are observed more often in people with type 1 diabetes.

The pathology develops due to the fact that in diabetes mellitus the capillaries and small vessels located in the retinal area are affected. This leads to the fact that it (or rather, some of its areas) does not receive the required blood supply.

The decrease in visual acuity in this case is an irreversible process. In this regard, systematic observation by an ophthalmologist is recommended for all patients with diabetes. Visual acuity can be corrected with the help of glasses, lenses, or a special operation (if this is possible in a particular case).

Pregnancy

Many women experience certain vision problems during pregnancy. Due to fetal development, there is an increased load on the cardiovascular system. This causes the blood supply to individual tissues and structures to change. In this case, the retina also suffers. Due to the lack of blood supply, the retinal vessels begin to narrow. If a woman has high blood pressure, then there is a certain probability of hemorrhage in the retinal area or its complete detachment.

In addition to the cardiovascular system, the hormonal system has a negative impact on the vision of a pregnant woman. Due to the fact that the level of estrogen and progesterone in a woman’s body is increased, the white membrane of the eye has a negative effect. Because of this, vision deteriorates (by about 1-2 diopters). At the same time, doctors recommend not to do anything or undergo treatment in this case, because after childbirth, everything returns to its original form (if necessary, the woman can be fitted with glasses or contact lenses during pregnancy).

Other reasons

Speaking about why vision may deteriorate, there are a huge number of other reasons:

• Toxic neuropathy. The development of this type of pathology occurs when consuming surrogate alcohol, low-quality methyl alcohol and other toxins in large quantities. In severe forms of intoxication, a person develops complete blindness (it is extremely difficult to return normal vision in the future, since the eyes have a strong toxic effect).
• Osteochondrosis, pinched hernia, compression of blood vessels in the cervical region. Due to these pathologies, eye tissue begins to receive less blood, and as the blood supply deteriorates, visual function is significantly reduced.
• Tumors in the pituitary gland. As the tumor grows, it gradually begins to compress the optic nerves, which in any case causes vision impairment (proportional to the strength of the compression and the size of the tumor).
• Sexually transmitted diseases (in case of infection in the eye area). Vision is deteriorated, there is a “veil” before the eyes. Recovery is observed as the infectious disease is treated.
• Problems with blood supply to the brain (this causes vasospasm, which negatively affects visual acuity).
• Endocrine diseases.
• Damage to the base of the skull (if the area of ​​the optic canal is damaged; in this situation, visual acuity decreases or is completely lost).
• Retrobulbar neuritis. With the development of this disease, the formation of an inflammatory process in the nerve tissues is observed. In addition to a significant deterioration in vision, the patient constantly has “flashers” in front of his eyes, and he complains of pain in the eye area. The disease occurs mainly in people under 30 years of age. As a rule, the functioning of only one eye (right or left) is impaired. It is considered one of the earliest signs of multiple sclerosis.
• Bad habits. Many scientists are sure that alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, drugs - all this negatively affects the condition of the eye muscles (they constantly tense and relax), capillaries and retinal vessels. Violations in this area will gradually lead to deterioration of vision.
• Wrong diet. Eating unhealthy food in large quantities leads to a lack of important vitamins and microelements, which negatively affects the condition of the retina and other organs of vision.

Gradual deterioration of vision is observed with farsightedness (hard to see close up), astigmatism, myopia, binocular vision disorders and other diseases of the eye organs. In old age, many people experience natural wear and tear of the eye tissues, which, in the presence of a number of concomitant diseases, becomes the main cause of vision deterioration in pensioners.

A sharp deterioration in vision greatly changes the quality of life. The reasons for this may be different. When vision gradually declines, a person manages to adapt to the impairment. But the rapid loss of visual ability of the eye causes panic and can plunge one into severe depression. After all, more than 90% of the information received from the outside is provided by the eyes. To preserve vision, you need to pay attention to your eyes not sporadically (from time to time), but constantly. The visual function of the eyes also depends on the condition of the body as a whole. Why does a person begin to see poorly?

The first symptoms of impaired visual function are considered to be the inability to qualitatively distinguish the contours of more or less distant objects, blurry pictures, a “veil” before the eyes, inability to read, etc. The loss of good quality vision is associated not only with defects in the visual organs themselves. A drop in visual acuity or loss of vision can be a symptom of serious systemic diseases of the body. The pathological condition of the eyes can be temporary (passing) or permanent, persistent.

Loss or deterioration of visual ability may be:

• bilateral - the lesion is most often the cause of a neurogenic disorder;
• unilateral - usually associated with a local problem (defect of eye tissue, local vascular pathology).

Why does vision decline rapidly, suddenly? The causes of visual impairment are usually classified as ophthalmological (directly related to the physiology and anatomy of the eyes) and general – those causes that are associated with various general diseases of the body.

The loss of the main function of the eye is not always associated with organic disorders of the body.

Visual acuity may temporarily but sharply decrease due to overwork, constant lack of sleep, or prolonged exposure to a computer monitor, especially if a person’s daily work activity is associated with it.

Ophthalmic factors

A spontaneous decrease in the ability of one or both eyes to see well, its complete or partial loss is a consequence of many ophthalmological pathologies:

1. Injuries (mechanical, chemical) of the visual organs. We are talking about bruises of the eyeball, thermal burns, exposure of aggressive chemicals to the eye, foreign objects, and fractures of the orbit. Particularly severe wounds are caused by piercing and cutting agents; loss of the ability to see in the eye is often a consequence of their exposure. Chemical agents often affect not only the superficial layer, but also the deeper structures of the eyeball.
2. Retinal hemorrhage. The reasons for this can be different - excessive physical activity, fragility of the vascular walls, prolonged labor, venous stagnation, intraocular hypertension.
3. Acute eye infections (usually affecting not one, but both eyes) - fungal, viral, bacterial. This includes blenorrhea, conjunctivitis of various etiologies, keratitis, ulcers of the eye membranes. Loss of quality of vision is usually temporary.
4. Detachment of the retina and eyeball, their ruptures.
5. Optic neuropathy. The nature of the lesion is ischemic. A sudden drop in vision, usually one-sided, appears, but there is no pain. The examination reveals false swelling of the optic nerve, pallor of the retina.
6. Retinal migraine is characterized by a monocular scotoma (a blind spot in the visual field). Its appearance is associated with dyscirculation in the central artery of the retina. It can alternate with another type of migraine - ophthalmological, in which attacks of severe headache are associated with visual dysfunction (sparks before the eyes, flickering, scotomas).

All these pathological conditions are acute. If your vision suddenly deteriorates, you should immediately consult a doctor. Timely assistance in most cases helps restore vision, stop its decline, and save the eyes.

Intracranial hypertension - benign

An increase in intracranial pressure of a benign nature is usually characteristic of girls who are prone to obesity and suffer from cycle disorders. Various pathologies of the endocrine system, pregnancy, and iron deficiency anemia predispose to the disease.

Accompanied by severe pain in the back of the head, which can also be asymmetrical and generalized. Another characteristic symptom is severe visual dysfunction (decreased visibility). A special study indicates swelling of the optic nerve, congestion, and hemorrhages.

Temporal arteritis

Inflammatory damage to arterial vessels: vessels of the head, eyes. This is accompanied by deterioration of vision. The causes of this pathology have not been definitively established. The disease quite often provokes complete one-sided blindness. The disease mainly affects older female representatives of the population.

In addition to eye symptoms, headache, tension and soreness of the temporal artery appear. Indicators of laboratory tests change, which indicate the presence of an inflammatory process.

Amavrosis fugax

Amavrosis fugax – sudden blindness. Stenosis of the internal carotid artery is observed in older patients. As a result of this pathology, a person’s vision suddenly and abruptly disappears. The reason is a transient fluctuation in the level of blood flow in the retina area. Other characteristic signs: noise in the projection of the artery (determined during auscultation), contralateral hemisymptoms, weakness in the limbs, etc. Vision in one (usually) eye deteriorates completely unexpectedly, over a period of minutes or hours. The disturbance continues—loss of visual ability of the eye—for several hours.

Amavrosis fugax may be a consequence of retinal vascular embolism. The cause of the pathology is damage to the carotid artery (internal). With the blood flow, the embolic formation penetrates the vessels of the retina, causing ischemia. The body has a special function provided by nature - the dissolution of blood clots, therefore blindness is often transient. In the acute phase, the retinal artery is fused, and a thrombus is detected in it using additional research methods (angiography).

Other causative factors

Among the other reasons that cause vision loss are the following:

A person’s vision gradually decreases due to vascular damage due to diabetes mellitus (diabetic retinopathy), the formation of cataracts and cataracts. Vision is impaired by pathologies of the visual organs such as farsightedness and myopia. The progression of these diseases leads to loss of the ability to see well. Natural wear and tear of eye tissue and the presence of many concomitant diseases are the causes of decreased vision in old age.

Due to acute stress, visual dysfunction – “psychogenic blindness” – can occur. She often threatens representatives of the fair half of humanity.

Why? Women are distinguished by their emotionality and psychological sensitivity. The patient complains that her vision has sharply decreased. The reactions of the pupils of the eye are preserved, there are no pathological changes in the fundus.

Failure to pay attention to eye symptoms can result in complete loss of visual perception. Treatment depends on the cause of the disorder and the severity of the pathological disorder. In any case, contacting a specialist is an urgent need. Take care of your eyes, monitor their health!

Thanks to the eyes, a person receives over 80 percent of information from his environment. Therefore, changes associated with visual acuity cannot be ignored. If there is a sudden deterioration in visual function, you should visit an ophthalmologist as soon as possible.

Causes of sudden deterioration in vision

A sharp decrease in visual functions can change a person’s quality of life for the worse. Gradual deterioration of vision, as a rule, does not cause much concern. But sometimes the process happens suddenly. Let's consider what to do if your eyes suddenly become worse at seeing, and why this happens.
Decreased visual acuity can be either temporary or permanent. Contrary to generally accepted beliefs, this process is often associated not only with ophthalmological problems, but also with pathological conditions of the body as a whole.
In some cases, the lack of normal refraction occurs due to difficulty focusing the gaze. This may manifest itself as an inability to see the outlines of objects due to their blurriness and indistinctness. The picture often blurs, a veil appears before the eyes, the shapes and sizes of the objects and objects in question are distorted. All these symptoms indicate that it is time to pay attention to eye health.

There are two types of vision loss or deterioration, namely:

• Unilateral - when a local problem is implied (the cause may be vascular pathology, or refraction is impaired due to a defect in the eye tissues).
• Bilateral (most often referring to a neurogenic disorder).

The causes of visual impairment are also divided into two types. They are classified as ophthalmological (when the problem is directly related to eye pathologies), as well as general (i.e., those symptoms that relate to diseases of other organs or systems).

A temporary and sudden drop in vision can be a consequence of overwork, when a person does not observe occupational hygiene and does not alternate workloads with rest. A similar situation may arise against the background of lack of sleep, prolonged time spent at a personal computer or laptop, or in front of the TV (especially if employment is directly related to the regular use of technology).

Spontaneous refractive errors can be a consequence of such ophthalmic pathologies as:

• Chemical or mechanical damage to the eyes. In this case, examples include bruises of the visual organs, including the eyeball, as well as thermal burns and foreign objects.
• Hemorrhages localized in the retinal area. The reasons for their appearance vary: excessive physical activity, insufficient elasticity of the vascular walls, prolonged labor, intraocular hypertension, etc.
• Eye infections, which are especially dangerous during the acute period. These can be fungal or viral infections, as well as diseases caused by the development of bacteria. It is logical to include ulcers of the eye membranes, conjunctivitis, blenorrhea, and keratitis under this point.
• Partial or complete retinal detachment, which requires immediate medical attention.
• Migraine.

The listed conditions are classified as severe. If such symptoms occur, it would be advisable to immediately consult an ophthalmologist.

Visual function may deteriorate with temporal arteritis or in the case of intracranial hypertension.
Factors such as:

• Venereal diseases;
• Toxic neuropathy;
• Circulatory disorders in the brain;
• Tumors (malignant and benign), cervical osteochondrosis;
• Improper functioning of the endocrine system;
• Retrobulbar neuritis;
• Damage or fractures to the base of the skull.

A person may face a problem if he suffers from diabetes for a long time. The so-called diabetic retinopathy is fraught with the appearance of cataracts. Farsightedness and myopia can also cause a sharp decrease in visual function, especially in advanced conditions.
When considering the causes of refractive errors, it is impossible to ignore natural age-related changes.

Deterioration of vision: what symptoms should alert you?

In order to promptly determine the presence of problems with the visual apparatus, it is necessary to understand what symptoms indicate a decrease in refraction or other pathologies associated with visual functions.
A decrease in the sharpness and clarity of perception is the first sign that a person has begun to see worse. In this matter it is necessary to rely on the principle of comparison. If previously a person clearly and clearly distinguished objects on which vision became worse to focus, then this indicates the presence of some kind of pathology. In this case, it is important to pay attention to the distance of objects that have become blurred.
Partial visual impairment is defined as when a person sees well enough, for example, by focusing straight ahead, but the clarity disappears when he or she looks to the side. The situation will be similar when changing lighting.

Another good reason to contact an ophthalmologist is pain in the eyes, which can occur unexpectedly in bright light.

What to do if your vision begins to deteriorate sharply?

At the first sign of vision loss, the reaction should be immediate. It is necessary to apply the most effective measures to stop the loss of visual function and prevent complete blindness. In most cases, a set of therapeutic actions will help slow down the process or completely stop it, which is selected by the doctor individually, after the cause of the change in refraction has been established.
Contacting a specialist should be the first reaction to the deterioration of vision that has occurred. But before visiting the ophthalmologist, it is necessary to take measures to allow your eyes to rest. It is advisable to exclude any stress for some time - this will not only reduce the rate of deterioration of refraction, but will also enable the doctor to more reliably determine the relevant causes.
To help your eyes recover and not become overstrained, it is advisable to reduce your time spent near the monitor and TV. During the acute period, it is recommended to replace technical gadgets with walks in the fresh air and healthy sleep.

Gymnastics for the eyes will help restore tone to the visual muscles and enhance their performance. It is recommended to do exercises several times every day.

Visual exercises are quite simple. Here is an example of such a simple complex that will strengthen the visual system:

• Switching vision. To perform this, you need to move the focus from near to far. For example, you can take an ordinary pencil or pen and go to the window during daylight hours. Holding the object in front of you, you should alternate moving your gaze from it to distant street objects.
• “Pendulum” is another effective remedy for toning the eye muscles. To perform this you will need the same pen or a similar oblong object (for example, a pointer, etc.). First, you need to fix it in a position directly in front of you, then move it to the side, focus your gaze, then return it back to the center, and later move it to the opposite side (to the left).

The exercise time varies between 5-7 minutes.

Often, when vision deteriorates, to relieve symptoms, doctors prescribe medications that support and restore visual function. During the treatment period, it is extremely important not to ignore the relevant recommendations. The ophthalmologist may prescribe drop formulations and vitamin-containing preparations. In some cases, a specialist recommends diversifying your diet with healthy foods. Following the recommendations from the list will help restore visual acuity and avoid unwanted consequences in the future.
If eye pathologies are detected, a person, despite the previously known lifestyle, must give up bad habits at least for a period while recovery is underway.

High-quality healthy sleep also has a beneficial effect on the recovery process if vision begins to deteriorate. This state allows the eyes to relax, get rid of tension, and restore resources.

As a conclusion, we note: to stop vision deterioration, you need to do eye exercises, use special protective equipment when working at the computer, get enough sleep, and adjust your schedule so that there is a “window” for rest. In the winter-spring period, when many people have a lack of minerals and nutrients in the body, you can use pharmaceutical vitamin-containing products to prevent possible problems with the visual apparatus.

Giving up bad habits will have a beneficial effect on blood flow and eliminate oxygen starvation of eye cells and tissues. Periodic consultation with a doctor, which should be carried out at least once every one and a half to two years, guarantees timely detection of problems (the success of the therapy often depends on early diagnosis).

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