Visual Disturbances – How they happen?
Visual Disturbances refer to any problems that interferes with your normal vision. This can affect one eye or both eyes. Some types of visual disturbances come and go without treatment and do not cause a permanent problem. Other visual disturbances may be a sign of a medical emergency.
Visual disturbances include:
- Blurred vision.
- Being unable to see certain colors.
- Being sensitive to light.
- Double vision.
- Partial vision loss (visual field deficit).
- Being unaware of objects on one side of the body (visual spatial inattention).
- Rhythmic eye movements that you cannot control (nystagmus).
- Short-term or long-term blindness.
- Seeing:
- Floating spots or lines (floaters).
- Flashing or shimmering lights.
- Zigzagging lines or stars.
- The floor as tilted (visual midline shift).
- Things that are not really there (hallucinations).
Causes of visual disturbances include:
- Eye infection.
- The thin membrane at the back of the eye separating from the eyeball (retinal detachment).
- High blood pressure.
- Migraine.
- Glaucoma.
- Ischemic stroke.
- Cerebral aneurysm.
It is important to get your eyes checked by a health care provider or eye specialist (ophthalmologist or optometrist) as soon as possible to determine the cause of your visual disturbance.
Follow these instructions at home:
- Take over-the-counter and prescription medicines only as told by your health care provider.
- Do not use any products that contain nicotine or tobacco, such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes. If you need help quitting, ask your health care provider.
- To lower your risk of the problems that can lead to visual
disturbances:
- Eat a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, and low-fat dairy.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Work with your health care provider to lose weight if you need to.
- Exercise regularly. Ask your health care provider what activities are safe for you.
- Do not drive if you have trouble seeing. Ask your health care provider for guidance about when it is and is not safe for you to drive.
- Keep all follow-up visits as told by your health care provider. This is important.
Contact a health care provider if:
- Your visual disturbance changes or becomes worse.
Get help right away if you:
- Have new visual disturbances.
- Suddenly see flashing lights or floaters.
- Suddenly have a dark area in your field of vision, especially in the lower part. This can lead to a loss of central vision.
- Lose vision in one or both eyes.
- Have any symptoms of a stroke. “BE FAST”
is an easy way to remember the main warning signs of a stroke:
- B – Balance. Signs are dizziness, sudden trouble walking, or loss of balance.
- E – Eyes. Signs are trouble seeing or a sudden change in vision.
- F – Face. Signs are sudden weakness or numbness of the face, or the face or eyelid drooping on one side.
- A – Arms. Signs are weakness or numbness in an arm. This happens suddenly and usually on one side of the body.
- S – Speech. Signs are sudden trouble speaking, slurred speech, or trouble understanding what people say.
- T – Time. Time to call emergency services. Write down what time symptoms started.
- Have other signs of a stroke, such as:
- A sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Seizure.
These symptoms may represent a serious problem that is an emergency. Do not wait to see if the symptoms will go away. Get medical help right away. Call your local emergency services (911 in the U.S.). Do not drive yourself to the hospital.
Summary
- A visual disturbance is any problem that interferes with your normal vision.
- Some visual disturbances may be a sign of a medical emergency.
- It is important to get your eyes checked by a health care provider or eye specialist to determine what kind of visual disturbance you have.
