Vision loss isn’t anything to mess around with. If you are experiencing sudden vision loss in one eye, it’s important to stop what you’re doing, call your eye doctor, and head to the emergency room ASAP. While you’re passing time in the waiting room, you might want to familiarize yourself with some of the common causes behind this eye emergency.
Sudden Vision Loss in One Eye
Stroke
If you are having a stroke, you might experience vision loss in one of your eyes. When an artery becomes blocked or ruptures, it typically causes weakness and loss of use on one side of your body, which includes your eye. Look for the other signs of a stroke by thinking FAST:
- Face: Does one side of your face slouch when you try to smile?
- Arms: When you try to raise both arms, does one drop?
- Speech: Are you slurring your speech?
- Time: Seek medical help as fast as you can if you are experiencing one or more of these symptoms.
If you aren’t showing the symptoms of a typical stroke, you might be having an eye stroke. This occurs when a clogged artery obstructs the flow of blood to your retina. Check for the symptoms of an eye stroke:
- Floaters: Are you seeing gray spots floating around? Floaters are actually blood and other fluids that have clumped in the vitreous of your eye.
- Eye Pressure: Eye strokes are usually painless, but you might notice a feeling of pressure in one of your eyes.
- Blurry Vision or Complete Vision Loss in One Eye: Eye strokes can occur suddenly or gradually. If you are dealing with blurry vision in just one eye, it could be a sign that you’re experiencing the early stages of an eye stroke. This can quickly escalate into complete vision loss in one eye.
Detached Retina
Another common cause of sudden vision loss in one eye is a detached retina. Luckily, surgery can correct most detached retinas, but it is important to receive help quickly. You might not experience any pain from a detached retina, and there is more than one cause of this eye emergency:
- Eye trauma from an injury
- Neovascularization (the development of new blood vessels in your eye)
- Inflammation
- Poorly controlled diabetes
Other Health Issues
Sudden vision loss in one eye can actually be a sign of a greater health issue. If you are experiencing trouble seeing out of one eye, make sure to tell your doctor if you struggle with a related health problem:
- Autoimmune diseases can cause your body to attack your own tissues. If you have one autoimmune disease, you might be at risk for another (source).
- A brain tumor can disrupt the flow of signals in your brain. This nerve damage can cause blindness in one eye.
- Migraines can cause visual auras. If your vision loss is accompanied by a migraine, it might subside when your migraine goes away.
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When it comes to an eye emergency like sudden vision loss in one eye, time is of the essence. Waiting to seek treatment could cost you your vision, so contact your eye care specialist immediately and head to the emergency room.
If you live in southwest Missouri, contact Heffington’s. Since 1975, the Heffington family has been assisting the Springfield community with top-quality eye care and affordable eyeglasses and contacts. One of the unique features of our family-owned business is that we manufacture lenses at our own laboratory, giving us total control over the service and pricing, and we’re happy to pass our savings on to you. To learn more about our products and services, please get in touch with us online, send an email to asktheexperts@heffingtons.com, or give us a call at 417-869-3937 (Optiland location) or 417-882-3937 (House of Vision location). We look forward to hearing from you!