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

The texts of business papers, the computer screen, and in the evening also the “blue light” of the TV - with such a load, few people's eyesight does not deteriorate. Can this process be stopped? Experts believe that a lot depends on us.

Why does vision weaken? Reason 1

Lack of work of the eye muscles. The image of objects that 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 from the object. If you constantly focus on the text of a book or a computer screen, then the muscles that control the lens will become lethargic and weak. Like all muscles that do not have to work, they lose 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: focusing your eyes either on distant or close objects.

Reason 2

Retinal aging. The cells in the retina of the eye 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. Fatty meats and fish should not be completely avoided. And it is better to drink milk not only skimmed. 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

Deterioration of blood circulation. Nutrition and respiration of all cells of the body 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 disorders. It is these violations that ophthalmologists are trying to see when examining the fundus.

Conclusion. Get regular check-ups with an ophthalmologist. Circulatory disorders of the retina lead to serious diseases. If you have a predisposition to this, the doctor will prescribe you drugs that improve the condition of the vessels. There are also special diets that allow you to 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 drops are not for you.

Reason 4

Eye-strain. Retinal cells suffer both when exposed to too bright light, and from stress in low light.

Conclusion. To save your light-sensitive cells, you need to protect your eyes from too bright light with sunglasses, and also do not try to look at small objects and 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 purity 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 the eyes are dry.

Conclusion. For visual acuity, it is useful to cry a little. And if you can’t cry, special eye drops are suitable, which are close in composition to tears.

The main enemy is the screen

Working with a computer makes the eyes strain especially hard, and it's not just about the text. The human eye is similar to a camera in many ways. To take a clear "shot" of the image on the screen, which consists of flickering dots, he needs to constantly change focus. Such a setting requires a lot of energy and an increased consumption of the main visual pigment - rhodopsin. Nearsighted people use this enzyme more than those who see normally. Therefore, a situation arises that is extremely unfavorable for your eyes.

Not surprisingly, as a result, myopia begins to increase. At the same time, a feeling of depth of the visible image is created on the computer screen, which is especially dangerous. Why do artists rarely have myopia? 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 of the Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases. Helmholtz believe 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 both with diopters and without. Eyes armed with such glasses are much less tired.

The following technique is also useful for training vision. Having picked up the printed text, slowly bring it closer to your eyes until the outlines of the letters lose their clarity. The inner muscles of the eyes tense up. When the text is gradually pushed back 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 pay special attention to the eyes at a time when long weeks of “light starvation” have depleted our visual strength, and new forces have not yet been developed due to spring beriberi. At this time, the retina especially needs nutrition, because it has to spend much more visual pigment than usual. In this case, blueberry preparations will come to the rescue, which, by the way (only in the form of jam) during the Second World War, was given to pilots of the British Royal Air Force to improve vision during night flights.

Gymnastics for the eyes

1. Close and open your eyes tightly. Repeat 5-6 times with an interval of 30 seconds.

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

3. Rotate the 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 picture at a distance of 1-2 m from the desktop (this place should be well lit) in order to look at it from time to time during classes.

7. Extend your arm 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 up to the window, look at the glass for some point or scratch (you can stick a small circle of dark plaster), then look, for example, at the television antenna of a neighboring house or a branch of a tree growing far away.

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 eye, that is, the table surface should be slightly inclined, like a desk.

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

The first group is refractive errors. That is, there are problems with the fact that the light rays, having passed through the lens, are focused on the desired area of the retina. This group includes:

Myopia is true nearsightedness. It turns out 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 fall. Primary myopia is observed in children, progressing no longer than up to twenty years. If deterioration is observed (or manifests itself for the first time) later, it can be caused by hormonal failure, infection or spasm of the eye muscles, due to which the eyeball, again, is deformed.
Children's farsightedness. In this case, the problem is that the eyeball is too compressed, short, and the focal point of the light is, as it were, behind the retina. It is observed in children, as a variant of the norm - gradually their eyes grow and the problem goes away.
Age-related farsightedness. It is 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 in 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 does not see either far or near.

The second group of disorders is a variety of eye diseases:

Glaucoma. One of the most dangerous diseases, which often develops rapidly and ends in blindness. The reason for it is increased eye pressure, due to which the vessels are compressed and oxygen starvation begins, followed by tissue degradation.
Cataract. Opacification of the lens, which begins imperceptibly, but gradually worsens and can lead to complete blindness. It is most often observed in older people due to changes in the structure of eye tissues, but it can also be congenital.
Retinal detachment. It is the result of 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 are not in reality.
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 identify them at an early stage is to undergo preventive examinations by an optometrist every year.

Causes of vision loss

Diseases cause a drop in vision - it changes due to the degradation of blood vessels, due to problems with the lens, due to deformation of the eyeball. However, no disease develops on its own - they all have factors predisposing to development.

In the case of eye disorders, these are:

Lack of activity of the eye muscles. 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 be focused, the lens must move, becoming either flatter or more convex. And for this, the eye muscles must work. If they do not work (a person is used to looking at a monitor or a phone screen for hours), then they gradually lose their tone and ability to change the position of the lens. This is how farsightedness often develops.
Deterioration of blood circulation. Oxygen enters the tissues with 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 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 provoke muscle spasm, due to which the lens will “jam” in one position. Plus, the retina suffers from stress and the blood vessels are partially compressed.
Dryness of the mucous membrane. Occurs due to fatigue, the eye seems to be “blurred”. As a result, vision temporarily falls, and if this is repeated often, then keratitis may develop.

The cause of the disease may be hereditary diseases or genetic predisposition. It is because of them that vision usually falls in children.

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

Visual impairment during pregnancy

Visual impairment often occurs during pregnancy due to hormonal changes. And in some cases, women simply cannot adequately assess their own condition because of the accompanying anxiety.

The best way to make sure that your vision is not falling due to pregnancy is to go to the doctor.

Modern recovery methods

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

myopia, farsightedness and astigmatism, depending on the causes, 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;
cataract is also treated surgically - the clouded 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 fall in 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 rapidly, uncontrollably and there are no other ways to contain it;
retinal detachment is also 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 do not delay going to the doctor.

Of course, there are many more reasons why a person can lose sight than in this short list, but the rest are less common - and are also treated quite successfully.

But if the problem is not yet in the disease, but in the fact 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 make a certain amount of effort: do exercises for the eyes, drip moisturizing drops into them and include foods that are good for vision in the diet.

The simplest set of exercises for the eyes looks like this:

close your eyes tightly, and then open your eyes wide;
blink quickly;
look up, down and to the sides without turning your head, close your eyes and repeat;
rotate the eyeballs - first with open eyelids, then with closed ones;
stretch out your hand and look at the index finger, and then look at something in the distance;
stand at the window - look first at a dot on the glass, and then at something far away;
stretch out 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 optometrist should prescribe eye drops. Usually their purpose is to moisten the mucous membrane so that it does not dry out and, accordingly, vision does not fall.

Folk remedies for oral administration

The best remedies that traditional medicine advises to correct falling eyesight are a variety of juices and decoctions full of vitamins and nutrients. For example:

juices from pumpkin, carrots, blueberries - preferably freshly squeezed;
nettle and apple juice - freshly squeezed, mixed in a ratio of 1: 1;
drink from chicory, parsley, carrots and celery - squeeze everything, mix in equal proportions and drink half a standard glass once a day;
decoction of parsley - take parsley root, pass through a meat grinder, add honey and a little lemon juice, mix and take a teaspoon before meals.

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

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

It is important to remember that if the decrease in vision is really serious, you need to see a doctor, and not self-medicate with a diet.

Prevention

To prevent serious vision problems, you need to:

exercise without allowing the muscles to relax and the eyes to get too tired - this is especially true for people who work at a computer or watch TV for a long time;
there are products useful for vision - in any form;
avoid dry eyes and use moisturizing drops;
visiting an optometrist once a year for a preventive examination is the best way to notice a drop in vision at the very beginning and quickly deal with the cause.

It is necessary to treat diseases in time, maintain chronic diseases, if possible, in remission, monitor your condition, know why vision can deteriorate at all, and refrain from bad habits. And, of course, if something goes wrong, immediately consult a doctor, and not hope that the problem will go away somehow by itself.

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 adjust to the changes. In cases where the loss of vision occurs abruptly, this can lead to panic, depressive states, and various neuroses.

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

That is why it is highly recommended to monitor your eyes systematically, and not only at those moments when it seems that you began to see 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 reasons for visual impairment can 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 blurs in the distance, a “veil” forms before the eyes, 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. Often this happens 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. The deterioration in the ability to see can be short-term, persistent, permanent.

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

If vision falls rapidly and sharply, then this will indicate the presence of a serious pathology. Ophthalmologists distinguish between ophthalmic and general causes that can lead to such disorders. At the same time, the drop in visual ability is not always due to organic disorders.

Temporary deterioration of vision can occur against the background of overstrain, excessive fatigue, sleep problems, after a long stay in front of a monitor or TV.

Ophthalmic factors

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

Mechanical / chemical damage to the visual organs. This group includes various bruises of the eyes, burns, penetration of chemicals into the eyes, accidental damage by foreign objects, ingress of foreign bodies into the eyes. Foreign bodies mechanically damage the upper layers of the eye, while chemicals, if hit, will penetrate into the deeper layers and structures of the eyeball.
Retinal hemorrhage. Various reasons can lead to this (excessive physical activity, genetic weakness of the walls of blood vessels, prolonged overstrain, complex labor activity, congestion in the veins, ocular hypertension, etc.).
Infectious lesions of the eyes. In this case, both eyes are almost always affected. This category includes infections of a fungal, bacterial, viral type: conjunctivitis, keratitis, ulcerative lesions of the membranes of the eye, blennorrhea, etc.
Optical neuropathy. Ischemic eye damage, in which vision will decrease rapidly (without any pain). During an instrumental study, doctors will be able to find false swelling of the optic nerve, a pale retina. Problems are usually observed in only one eye.
Detachment and rupture of the retina and eyeball.
Retinal migraine. Potentially can lead to the formation of a blind area in the visual field. Pathology occurs against the background of a violation in the work of the main artery of the retina.

All the disorders that were listed above have an exceptionally acute course. 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 disease usually develops in women who are prone to gaining excess weight and who have problems with the menstrual cycle. The onset of the disease can be provoked by various endocrine pathologies, childbearing, 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 optic nerve, blood stasis and hemorrhages in the eye area. Such a pathology is easily treated with the help of modern medicine. At the same time, women need to monitor their weight, follow all the doctor's recommendations. In recovered patients, vision is gradually restored after a complete cure.

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. Usually, as the disease progresses, vision begins to gradually deteriorate.

If the disease is found in an elderly person, then it will be very problematic to restore lost visual functions. In this case, the patient will see with one eye completely normally (one-sided blindness will not affect the other eye in any way). Visual impairment of this type can be eliminated 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 region of the artery located in the area of the temples.
The tension of the temporal zone.
, localized in the temples (may give into the eyes and frontal lobes).
Change in the indicators of laboratory tests, with which you can pre-determine the onset of the inflammatory process

sudden blindness

If an elderly person's eyesight is rapidly deteriorating, then a disease such as amavrosis fugax is often recorded. Pathology is commonly 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 a violation in the blood supply system of the retina. The main symptoms of sudden blindness also include:

Sensation of weakness in the limbs and in the whole body.
Contralateral hemisymptoms.
Noises in the projection of the artery.

In the case of the development of this pathology, doctors observe that the patient's vision has deteriorated sharply in only one eye (less often, simultaneously in two). Blurred vision occurs suddenly and literally in a few minutes. Over the next few hours, the ability of the eye 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 blood flow, the embolic neoplasm passes into the vessels of the eye retina, which leads to the development of ischemia. During the acute phase of the development of the disease, the retinal artery is soldered, therefore, using special examination methods, a blood clot can be detected in it.

The human body is able to dissolve blood clots on its own, so after a while blindness goes away on its own. In some cases, such recovery does not occur, which is an indication for 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, which perceive the rays of light and transform them into a picture understandable to a person. The retina interacts with the vascular system. In the event that the retina detaches from the shell, then the person's vision begins to gradually fall. This can happen for various reasons (for example, with a blow to the head, any other injury or foreign body) in childhood, in adolescents, in adults. Symptoms of the disease are as follows:

Significant deterioration in vision in one eye.
The formation of a veil in the field of view.
The appearance of systematic sparks, 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 surgery. Other treatment with the help of modern medicine or folk remedies is not provided.

Macular degeneration

Pathology of this type is observed in people over the age of 40-50 years. With the development of the disease, a zone on the retina is damaged, which has a huge number of nerve receptors that are very sensitive to the received and processed light.

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

Macular degeneration can be cured with the help of modern laser equipment, which is available in ophthalmological clinics. Also, in a number of countries, the method of photodynamic treatment is used, various injections, drops and tablets are used.

diabetic retinopathy

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

Pathology develops due to the fact that in diabetes mellitus capillaries and small vessels located in the retina are affected. This leads to the fact that she (or rather, some of her parts) does not receive the required blood supply.

The decrease in visual acuity in this case is an irreversible process. In this regard, all patients with diabetes mellitus are shown systematic observation by an ophthalmologist. You can correct visual acuity with the help of glasses, lenses, or by performing a special operation (if possible in a particular case).

Pregnancy

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

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

Other reasons

Speaking about why vision may deteriorate, a huge number of other reasons can be distinguished:

Toxic neuropathy. The development of this type of pathology occurs with the use of 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 restore normal vision in the future, since the strongest toxic effect is exerted on the eyes).
Osteochondrosis, pinched hernia, compression of blood vessels in the cervical region. Because of these pathologies, eye tissues begin to receive less blood, and with a deterioration in blood supply, visual function is significantly reduced.
Tumor neoplasms in the pituitary gland. The tumor, as it grows, begins to gradually compress the optic nerves, which in any case causes visual impairment (in proportion 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 worse, there is a "veil" before the eyes. Recovery is observed as the infectious disease is treated.
Problems with blood supply in the brain (due to this, vasospasm occurs, which negatively affects visual acuity).
Endocrine diseases.
Damage to the base of the skull (in the event that the zone of the optic canal is damaged; in this situation, visual acuity is reduced, or it is completely lost).
Retrobulbar neuritis. With the development of this disease, the formation of an inflammatory process in the nervous tissues is observed. In addition to a significant deterioration in vision, the patient constantly “flickers” before his eyes, he complains of pain in the eye area. The disease occurs mainly in people under the age of 30 years. As a rule, the work of only one eye (right or left) is disturbed. 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 state of the eye muscles (they constantly tense and relax), capillaries and retinal vessels. Violations in this area will gradually lead to visual impairment.
Wrong diet. Eating unhealthy foods in large quantities leads to a lack of important vitamins and minerals, which negatively affects the condition of the retina and other organs of vision.

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

A sharp deterioration in vision greatly changes the quality of life. The reasons for this may be different. When vision gradually falls, a person manages to adapt to violations. But the rapid loss of the visual ability of the eye causes panic, can plunge 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 the eyes not sporadically (from time to time), but constantly. The visual function of the eyes also depends on the state of the body as a whole. Why does a person begin to see badly?

The first symptoms of impaired visual function are considered to be the inability to qualitatively distinguish the contours of more or less distant objects, the blurry picture, the “veil” before the eyes, the inability to read, etc. The loss of good quality of vision can be associated not only with defects in the visual organs themselves. A drop in visual acuity, its loss 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 can be:

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

Why does vision fall rapidly, suddenly? It is customary to classify the causes of visual impairment as ophthalmic (directly related to the physiology and anatomy of the eyes) and general - those causes that are associated with various common diseases of the body.

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

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

Ophthalmic factors

Spontaneous decrease in the ability of one or both eyes to see well, its complete or partial loss are the result of many ophthalmic pathologies:

Injuries (mechanical, chemical) of the visual organs. We are talking about bruises of the eyeball, thermal burns, the ingress of aggressive chemicals into the eye, foreign objects, fractures of the orbit. Particularly severe wounds are caused by piercing and cutting agents, the loss of the eye's ability to see is often the result of their impact. Chemical agents often affect not only the surface layer, but also the deeper structures of the eyeball.
Hemorrhage in the retina. The reasons for this may be different - excessive physical activity, fragility of the vascular walls, prolonged labor, venous congestion, intraocular hypertension.
Acute eye infections (usually affecting not one, but both eyes) - fungal, viral, bacterial. This includes blennorrhea, conjunctivitis of various etiologies, keratitis, ulcers of the eye membranes. The loss of visual quality is usually transient.
Detachment of the retina and eyeball, their breaks.
Optical neuropathy. The nature of the lesion is ischemic. Suddenly there is a fall - usually one-sided - of vision, pain is absent. Examination reveals false edema of the optic nerve, pallor of the retina.
Retinal migraine is characterized by a monocular scotoma (blind spot in the visual field). Its appearance is associated with discirculation in the central artery of the retina. It can alternate with another type of migraine - ophthalmic, in which attacks of a sharp headache are associated with visual dysfunction (sparks before the eyes, flashing, scotomas).

All of these pathological conditions are acute. If your vision deteriorates sharply, you should immediately consult a doctor. Timely assistance in most cases helps to restore vision, stop its fall, 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 fullness, suffering from a cycle disorder. Various pathologies of the endocrine system, pregnancy, iron deficiency anemia predispose to the disease.

Accompanied by severe pain in the back of the head, which can also be asymmetric, generalized. Another characteristic symptom is a sharp visual dysfunction (reduced visibility). A special study indicates swelling of the optic nerve, congestion, hemorrhage.

Temporal arteritis

Inflammatory lesion of arterial vessels: vessels of the head, eyes. This is accompanied by visual impairment. The causes of this pathology have not been finally established. The disease quite often provokes complete one-sided blindness. The disease mainly affects the elderly representatives of the female half of the population.

In addition to eye symptoms, there is a headache, tension and soreness of the temporal artery. Indicators of laboratory tests are changing, which indicate the presence of an inflammatory process.

Amavrosis fugax

Amavrosis fugax - sudden blindness. Stenosis of the internal carotid artery is observed in age-related patients. As a result of this pathology, vision suddenly disappears in a person. The reason is a transient fluctuation in the level of blood flow in the area of the retina. 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 quite unexpectedly, over several minutes or hours. The violation continues - the loss of the visual ability of the eye - for several hours.

Amavrosis fugax may result from retinal embolism. The cause of the pathology is damage to the carotid artery (internal). With the blood flow, the embolic formation penetrates into the vessels of the retina of the eye, provoking ischemia. The nature provides for a special function in the body - the dissolution of blood clots, therefore blindness is often transient. In the acute phase, the retinal artery is soldered, and a thrombus is determined in it with the help of additional research methods (angiography).

Other causative factors

Among the other reasons, due to which vision falls, we can distinguish the following:

A person's vision gradually decreases due to vascular damage in diabetes mellitus (diabetic retinopathy), the formation of a walleye, cataracts. Vision worsens such pathologies of the visual organs as farsightedness, myopia. The progression of these diseases leads to the loss of the ability to see well. The natural wear and tear of eye tissues, the presence of many concomitant diseases are the causes of vision loss in old age.

On the basis of acute stress, visual dysfunction can occur - “psychogenic blindness”. It threatens more often the representatives of the beautiful half of humanity.

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

Inattention to eye symptoms can lead to an absolute loss of visual perception. Treatment depends on the cause of the disorder, the severity of the pathological disorder. In any case, contacting a specialist is an urgent need. Take care of your eyes, take care of their health!

Thanks to the eyes, a person receives over 80 percent of the information from his environment. Therefore, changes associated with visual acuity cannot be ignored. With a sudden deterioration in visual functions, it is worth visiting an ophthalmologist as soon as possible.

Causes of sudden visual impairment

A sharp decrease in visual functions can change the quality of human life for the worse. Gradual deterioration of vision, as a rule, does not cause much concern. But sometimes the process happens suddenly. Consider what to do if your eyes suddenly become worse to see, and why this happens.
Decreased visual acuity can be both temporary and permanent. Contrary to common 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 the difficulty in focusing the gaze. This may be manifested by the inability to see the contours of objects due to their blurriness and fuzziness. The picture is often blurred, 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 the health of the eyes.

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

One-sided - 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 refers to a neurogenic disorder).

The causes of visual impairment are also divided into two types. They are classified as ophthalmic (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 sharp drop in vision can be the result of overwork, when a person does not observe occupational hygiene, does not alternate stress with rest. A similar situation may arise against the background of lack of sleep, prolonged pastime at a personal computer or laptop, in front of the TV (especially if employment is directly related to the regular use of technology).

Spontaneous refractive errors may be the result of such ophthalmic pathologies as:

Chemical or mechanical damage to the eyes. In this case, bruises of the organs of vision, including the eyeball, as well as thermal burns, ingress of foreign objects, can be cited as an example.
Hemorrhages localized in the retina. The reasons for their appearance vary: excessive physical activity, insufficiently high elasticity of the vascular walls, prolonged labor, intraocular hypertension, etc.
Eye infections, which are especially dangerous during the acute period of the course. These can be fungal or viral lesions, as well as diseases provoked by the development of bacteria. It is logical to include ulcers of the membranes of the eyes, conjunctivitis, blennorrhea, keratitis to this point.
Partial or complete retinal detachment, which requires immediate medical attention.
Migraine.

These 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;
Injuries or fractures of 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. Hyperopia and myopia can also cause a sharp decrease in visual functions, especially in neglected conditions.
Considering the causes of refractive errors, it is impossible to ignore the natural age-related changes.

Visual impairment: what symptoms should alert?

In order to timely determine the presence of problems with the visual apparatus, it is necessary to understand what symptoms indicate the onset of 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 earlier 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 blurry.
Partial visual impairment is defined when a person sees well enough, for example, by focusing straight ahead, but the clarity disappears when he looks to the side. The situation will be similar when changing lighting.

Another significant reason to visit an ophthalmologist is eye pain, which can occur unexpectedly in bright light.

What to do if the vision began to deteriorate sharply?

At the first sign of a fall in vision, the reaction should be immediate. It is necessary to apply the most effective measures to stop the loss of visual functions and prevent complete blindness. In most cases, a complex of therapeutic actions, which is selected individually by the doctor, after the cause of the change in refraction has been established, will help slow down the process or completely stop it.
An appeal to a specialist should be the first reaction to the visual impairment that has occurred. But before a visit to the optometrist, it is necessary to take measures to allow the eyes to rest. It is advisable to exclude any load 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 corresponding causes.
In order for the eyes to recover and not overstrain, it is advisable to reduce pastime near the monitor and TV. It is recommended to replace technical gadgets in the acute period with walks in the fresh air and healthy sleep.

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

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

Switching vision. To do this, move the focus from near to far. For example, you can take an ordinary pencil or pen, go to the window during daylight hours. Holding the object in front of you, you should alternate between moving your gaze from it to distant street objects.
"Pendulum" is another effective tool for toning the muscles of the eyes. For execution, you will need the same pen or a similar oblong object (for example, a pointer, etc.). First, it must be fixed in a position directly in front of you, then - take it to the side, focus your eyes, then - return it back to the center, later - move it in the opposite direction (to the left).

The exercise time varies between 5-7 minutes.

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

Quality healthy sleep also favorably affects the healing process if vision begins to deteriorate. This state allows the eyes to relax, get rid of tension, restore the resource.

As a conclusion, we note: in order to stop the deterioration of vision, it is necessary to do exercises for the eyes, use special protective equipment when working at a computer, get enough sleep, adjust the schedule so that it has 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 pharmacy vitamin-containing products to prevent possible problems with the visual apparatus.

Refusal of bad habits will favorably affect the process of blood flow, exclude oxygen starvation of the cells and tissues of the eyes. Periodic consultation with a doctor, which should be held at least once every one and a half to two years, guarantees the timely detection of problems (the success of the therapy often depends on early diagnosis).

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