What causes blurred vision?

Blurry vision is the most common vision problem people experience. This is also called Error of Refraction (EOR) and means that the shape of your eye does not bend light correctly, resulting in a blurred image.

A child can get blurry vision either from inheriting it from their parents or due to their lifestyle. Reading a lot and frequent gadget use can cause nearsightedness in some people.

If your vision is blurry, you may have one of the following:

1. Myopia

Often called nearsightedness or shortsightedness, myopia is the error of refraction where far objects appear blurry. It often begins in childhood then stabilizes during adulthood.

If you have -3.00 Diopters (you’ll see these in your prescription) or lower, you have low degree myopia. You have moderate myopia if you have -3.00 Diopters to -6.00 Diopters, and high myopia at -6.00 Diopters and higher.

You may have myopia if:

• Distant objects appear blurry

• Blurry vision when your surroundings are dark

People with high myopia degrees should be careful when playing dynamic sports like basketball, football, and boxing as concussions may cause severe eye injury.

Myopia can be treated with minus powered eyeglasses and contact lenses, LASIK surgery, and Ortho-K.

2. Hyperobia

This is also called farsightedness or long-sightedness. It is the condition where a person younger than 40 years old cannot see near things clearly. In advanced cases, a person’s vision may be unclear at both near and far distances.

One can wear plus powered eyeglasses and contact lenses to improve vision caused by this condition.

• You may have hyperopia if:

• Near objects appear blurry.

• You experience headaches and eyestrain when looking at close objects for too long.

3. Astigmatism

Astigmatism causes vision to become blurred or distorted at far distances—in rare cases, also near distances. It is caused by an irregularity in the curvature of the lens or the cornea.

It can be corrected by wearing the right eyeglasses or Toric contact lenses, undergoing LASIK surgery, and through Ortho-K.

• You may have astigmatism if:

• You cannot see far objects clearly.

• You see letters with a shadow.

• You see double.

• You experience eyestrain.

4. Presbyopia

Presbyopia is a condition where people older than 37 years old experience blurry vision at near distances because their eyes can no longer focus properly. It can be corrected by wearing multifocals, progressive addition lenses, bifocals, or multifocal contact lenses.

You may have presbyopia if:

• You are around 37 years old

• Your eyes hurt

• You cannot see clearly at near and far distances