What Causes Sudden Blurred Vision?

Blurry vision is a common condition occurring due to the problem with any of the components of the eye such as cornea, retina, or the optic nerve. A slowly progressive blurry vision is usually caused due to a chronic condition while a sudden blurring has a single event as a cause.

Sudden Blurred Vision Causes:

Eye strain occurs when you focus or look at a thing such as any electronic device like a phone, computer or a video monitor or read or drive especially at night, for a long period of time without taking a break.

The strain suddenly blurs the vision for a short interval of time.

Also known as pink eye, conjunctivitis is an infection of the outer lining of the eye. It is mostly caused by a virus but can also be due to bacterial infection.

Blurred vision is a symptom of this infection.

Due to high blood sugar, the lens of the eye swells up resulting in a blurred vision. It happens as the damaged blood vessels leak or extra blood vessels grow at the back of the eye and start bleeding.

Those suffering from diabetes should get their blood sugar level monitored regularly, as controlling it can prevent diabetic retinopathy.

High blood pressure is known to cause stroke and other heart diseases. It is also a cause of a mini-stroke of the eye called vein occlusion.

The patient does not experience any pain but the vision becomes blurry.

If you are 50 years and suffering from high blood pressure, it is important to get a regular eye examination done.

Hyphema is pooling in of the dark red blood in front of the eye. It occurs due to the pooling of the blood that occurs after a sustained trauma to the eye. The patient experiences blurred vision in this condition.

If the pressure inside the eye increases, it becomes very painful.

Iritis is an inflammation caused due to an autoimmune reaction, causing the iris (colored part of the eye) to become inflamed.

It can be caused by infections like herpes and can be very painful. It can also occur as a part of autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or sarcoidosis.

A detached retina is a condition in which the retina tears away from the back of the eye and loses its blood and nerve supply.

A person sees black flecks followed by blurry or absent vision when it happens.

It is an emergency condition, which if not treated can lead to loss of vision.

If the stroke affects the part of the brain that controls the vision, the patient experiences blurry or lost vision. It is mostly accompanied by other symptoms of stroke such as weakness in one side of the body with an inability to speak.

A stroke that lasts for less than 24 hours is called a transient ischemic attack (TIA). This condition can lead to the blurred vision of one or both the eyes.

When the blood and other liquid leak into the macula (the center of the retina), it is known as wet macular degeneration.

It leads to blurring or vision loss. The condition begins suddenly and gradually progresses.

Inflammation of the cornea is known as keratitis.

It is an infection caused due to the use of a pair of contacts for a long period of time, or if using dirty contact lenses.

Migraine with aura can lead to blurred vision.

Along with blurred vision, the patient sees wavy lines or flashing light or other sensory disturbances.

Temporal arteritis is the inflammation of arteries around the temples. There is throbbing pain in the forehead and can cause vision to be blurred and eventually lost.

Uveitis is an autoimmune reaction that leads to inflammation of the uvea, area in the middle of the eye which contains iris.

In most cases, the blurry vision does not lead to loss of eyesight. There are times when it really gets important to consult a doctor, such as:

• If there is a sudden blurry vision that doesn’t get better after a few seconds.
• If there is a pain in the eye along with blurred vision
• If there is a vision loss in a specific area.

Also Read:

• What Causes Blurred Vision in One Eye & How is it Treated
• How Can I Treat Blurred Vision Naturally?