Your vision is one of your most essential senses, but how do you know when it’s time for an eye exam? Recognizing the signs of potential vision problems early can save you from more severe issues.
Below, our eye care team at TotalVision Eyecare Center covers the top 10 signs that indicate you may need professional help from an eye care provider.
Signs of Vision Problems
- Double Vision: Seeing double or experiencing ghost images can be alarming. This is often a sign of issues with your eye muscles or the alignment of your eyes. It can potentially also indicate a more serious condition.
- Light Sensitivity: If you find yourself overly sensitive to light or experiencing discomfort in bright environments, it could be due to various conditions, including dry eye or corneal issues. Sudden light sensitivity also warrants a visit to your eye doctor.
- Frequent Eye Rubbing: Eye rubbing can be a sign that your eyes are irritated or dry. However, it can also indicate that you’re trying to compensate for blurry vision or focusing difficulties.
- Halos or Glare Around Lights: Seeing halos or experiencing glare around lights, especially at night, is another common symptom of vision issues. These visual disturbances often have a link to cataracts or other eye conditions.
- Difficulty Reading or Focusing on Text: If you notice yourself holding books or screens farther away to see clearly, or if letters and words appear to jump or blur, this could be a sign of presbyopia or other refractive errors.
- Eye Fatigue: Do your eyes often feel tired after a long day, especially after prolonged screen time or reading? Eye fatigue is another common sign of vision issues, such as digital eye strain, which can result from spending too much time staring at digital devices without breaks.
- Blurry Vision: Blurriness is one of the most noticeable signs that your vision isn’t working as it should. Whether it’s difficulty focusing on objects at a distance or up close, this symptom often points to refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
- Frequent Headaches: Persistent headaches, especially those occurring after reading or working on a computer, can indicate a problem with your vision. Straining to see clearly causes eye muscles to work overtime, leading to tension headaches.
- Squinting: Squinting to read road signs or text on your phone could be a sign that you’re struggling to focus your eyes. Squinting is a natural response to blurry vision, but you shouldn't ignore it.
- Eye Strain and Fatigue: Experiencing eye strain, especially after prolonged periods of focusing on a screen or reading, might indicate that your eyes are working harder than they should be. This could be a sign of uncorrected vision problems or digital eye strain.
- Difficulty Seeing at Night: Night vision problems, such as difficulty seeing while driving in low-light conditions or experiencing glare from oncoming headlights, may suggest underlying issues like cataracts or other visual impairments.
Why It’s Crucial to Detect Vision Issues Early
Recognizing these signs early and seeking timely intervention can make all the difference in preserving your vision. If caught early, we can manage and even correct many eye conditions with proper treatment.
At TotalVision Eyecare Center, we emphasize the importance of regular eye exams to monitor your eye health and detect issues before they escalate.
Our comprehensive exams can identify common vision problems and more serious eye diseases, such as glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration.
When to Request an Eye Exam
Don’t wait until your vision problems worsen. Early detection and treatment are key to maintaining good eye health. If you’re experiencing any of the signs mentioned above, request an appointment with TotalVision Eyecare Center for a thorough evaluation and personalized treatment plan.
