Blurry Vision & Bloodshot Eyes - Things You Must Know About It!

Do you wake up to see red shot eyes every morning? Along with this, if you are experiencing trouble, you might want to know if it is necessary to visit an ophthalmologist. Known as blurred vision and bloodshot eyes, these are two of the most common symptoms of many health conditions. From eye infection to eye injury, allergies, or any other physical condition can be the root cause behind them.

Read on further to understand how to proceed in such case:

What is redness of eyes?
The redness of eyes refers to a condition where the blood vessels, which are there right at the surface of the eyes, expand excessively and becomes congested with blood, turning the white areas of the eyes look reddish. It can be a physical condition or the presence of some irritants or infection causing the outer membrane of the eyeball to swell. Usually painless, in the majority of the cases it doesn't require medical attention.

What is blurry vision?
The term blurry vision usually refers to the loss of clarity in one’s eyesight. When someone's vision gets blurry, he or she fails to see the objects clearly, as they appear hazy and out of focus. One can have a dim or clouded vision in either any one of his eyes or in both of them. When left untreated for long, blurry vision can affect part or whole of vision.

What are the causes?
There are a number of factors that can cause redness of eyes that include allergies, inflammation affecting the eyelids, use of certain eye drops, foreign objects getting in the eye, decreased tear production or dry eyes, various corneal condition, any kind of injury to the eyes, conjunctivitis, inflammation of the eye’s middle layer, any condition damaging the optic nerve and others.

Just like the bloodshot eyes, there can be various reasons behind blurred vision as well. Some of the most common causes are cataracts, injury or trauma to the eyes, optic neuritis, corneal scarring, corneal abrasions, retinopathy, migraine headaches, significantly fluctuating blood sugar levels and more.

What are the complications of eye redness?
Most causes of eye redness will not result in serious complications. If you have an infection that causes vision changes, this may affect your ability to perform basic tasks such as cooking or driving. Vision impairments in these areas can result in accidental injury. Infections that are not treated may also result in permanent damage to the eye. For example:

1. Infection could spread to other parts of eye and body
2. Loss of vision may occur, possibly leading to blindness
3. Scarring of the eye
4. Loss of the eye
5. Passing the condition on to others (such as in cases of conjunctivitis)

If eye redness does not resolve in two days, you should call your doctor.

What is the treatment?
While it might be just the rough handling of eyes that cause these symptoms, they may also be due to a condition that needs medical attention. When the blurred vision and the redness of the eyes are indeed due to some underlying medical condition, such as a migraine, or stroke, or blood sugar, etc., first treating those conditions is important.

Apart from the medical treatment, incorporating few practices such as avoiding rubbing the eyes, ensure the environment is allergen-free, or rinsing the eyes with cool water can help in preventing the condition from deteriorating further.

Remember, while some of the health conditions causing bloodshot eyes and blurry vision can be benign, others can be severe and may need immediate medical attention. Therefore, whenever experiencing any of these two conditions, don’t hesitate in consulting with an ophthalmologist right away. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!