Our eyes undergo many changes throughout our lives, much of which occurs when we’re very young. Over time, vision changes as we get older.
Many of the things we take for granted with our vision change naturally as we reach middle age and our senior years, including how clearly we see things, adjusting to different light levels, and observing colors. Not every change is simply a matter of getting older, however, and some symptoms, including blurry vision, can also indicate problems like cataracts.
For vision problems due to age or eye conditions, residents of the Pelham Gardens area of the Bronx, New York, can get help from the doctors and medical staff at Bronx Eye Associates.
Around 40 years old, certain changes are normal for your vision, which include issues like:
Over time, the natural crystalline lens in your eyes becomes less flexible, making it harder to see things when reading, causing you to hold things at arm’s length.
The inability to see when light is either dim or bright can come from a few different factors, such as the retina’s ability to adapt to different lights diminishing, the crystalline lens issues that also happen in presbyopia, or your pupils shrinking and having a harder time adjusting.
The risk of experiencing dry eyes increases with age, leading to blurriness that improves with blinking, discomfort in dry or windy conditions, scratching, tearing up, a stinging sensation, and redness.
The vibrance of colors can diminish, making it harder to tell them apart. This often leads to issues telling the difference between blue and black, or green and blue.
Changes in the vitreous humor (the whitish fluid that maintains the shape of your eyes) can cause you to see squiggly lines, cobweb-like shapes, and other tiny objects in the field of vision.
Cataracts become more common as you get older, but it’s not considered a natural part of the aging process.
While cataracts and some conditions linked to aging can cause blurriness, other problems can cause it to happen as well:
Other symptoms that may come with these conditions include redness, pain, photophobia, double vision, headache, nausea, and eye discharge.
Since cataracts are defined by clouding of the lens of your eyes, blurriness is common as this condition often develops over time. When you develop cataracts, your lenses, which normally become more rigid, thicken, and the proteins and fibers in this area clump together to start the clouding that makes it harder for you to see.
Over time, the cataracts become bad enough that light can barely penetrate the clouded lenses. They often happen in both eyes, but not always simultaneously. Because of the difference in vision between eyes, cataracts can also be worse in one eye than the other.
Blurriness is common in cataracts, but it's only a single symptom, and it can happen for a variety of reasons. If you’re experiencing blurriness and dealing with other symptoms that concern you, make an appointment with the team at Bronx Eye Associates today to get some answers.
