Is Your Eyesight Worsening?

As you age, it’s natural for your vision to change. If you’ve been thinking your eyesight is getting worse, don’t despair. In this post we will explain how to know if your eyesight is getting worse, some of the reasons behind this and the treatments available to make things better.

What symptoms mean my eyesight is getting worse?

• As you approach middle age, it’s extremely common to experience difficulty when reading up close. The text may appear blurred or hard to focus on, and you may instinctively hold your reading material at arm’s length to see it better. This is called presbyopia, and it happens to just about everyone from their mid-forties onwards.
• You may see a halo combined with glare when looking at bright lights. This could be due to a refractive error, which can be easily corrected with a right pair of glasses. But it could also indicate a serious condition like glaucoma, which is caused when pressure builds up in your eye or cataracts, where the lens of your eye becomes cloudy.
• Maybe you have become aware of shapes floating around in your visual field. These are called floaters, appearing as a result of shadows from clumps of collagen fibres that form in your vitreous humour, the jelly-like fluid found in between the lens and retina. They are usually nothing to be worried about, but if you suddenly experience a lot of them, accompanied by flashes of lights , there may be a problem with your retina. This should be attended to immediately.
• One of the most serious changes you might notice is a blank or blurred area in the centre of your vision. Text may appear wavy/distorted or you may notice that you miss words when reading text.  This may be caused by age-related macular degeneration or it could indicate that you have a problem with your circulation, such as diabetes. This could lead to a rapid deterioration of your eye sight.
• Sudden blurred vision may be caused by a detached retina. This is when your retina comes away from the back of the eye, severing its nerve and blood supply. In this case, you might also see flashing lights, black spots or a curtain effect over your vision.
• Wet macular degeneration is another cause of sudden blurred vision. This is when abnormal blood vessels grow and as a result fluids leaks into the macula, the centre of your retina responsible for your central eyesight. This condition can progress rapidly, so you must seek urgent help if you notice this symptom.

In all the cases described above, you should consult your eye specialist for advice. You should do this immediately if you notice a halo, flashes of light or sudden blurred vision.

Why is my eyesight getting worse so fast?

If you have noticed a rapid deterioration in your vision, you must consult an eye specialist urgently.

It could be due to a number of reasons as mentioned above and a thorough eye examination will allow your doctor  to determine the cause and attend to the issue promptly.

What can I do to improve my eyesight?

There are many effective treatments available to help improve your eyesight.

Lasik eye surgery can be performed to correct refractive errors where lasers are used in a quick, painless procedure to treat short-sightedness (myopia), long-sightedness (hypermetropia) and astigmatism (an imperfection in the curve of the eye, causing blurred vision). Another way to improve short-sightedness and long-sightedness is contact lens implantation, where a lens is placed in your eye that doesn’t need to be removed is placed in your eye.

Laser can also be used to help treat cataracts and floaters, helping  you to see clearer. 

Maintaining a healthy diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, lutein , zinc, and vitamins C and E can help ward off age-related visual problems like macular degeneration. 

Giving your vision a new lease of life

If you would like to find out more about any of the treatments mentioned here, or to book in for a regular eye exam, reach out to us at the George St Eye Centre in Sydney.

Our team of professionally qualified eye specialists is led by Dr Con Moshegov, an expert in his field. We specialise in Lasik eye surgery and treatments for cataracts, floaters, presbyopia (age-related long-sightedness), myopia, astigmatism and hypermetropia.

We have a solution for every eye problem and pride ourselves on delivering premium care to give your vision a new lease of life.