You pull away from your computer and rub your temples. It feels like you’re getting more and more migraines lately. You can get these for a variety of reasons like not eating correctly, stress, or eye strain.
It may be time for you to go to an eye doctor and see if getting fitted for a pair of glasses or contacts would help bring ease to your headaches. Bad migraines aren’t the only reasons that you should get checked out.
To help you find out if you need to go in for an eye checkup, check out these common signs of eye issues.
1. Changes in Your Night Vision
You used to be able to drive at night and see everything on the road from the cars to the signs. Lately, you’re noticing that you’re having issues though. This is one of the first signs that your vision is starting to change.
You’ll need to go to the eye doctor if you can no longer make out telephone poles and other objects near the roadway. This isn’t just for your own safety but also for the safety of others.
2. New Health Condition
The way you take care of yourself could alter the way your eyes function.
For example, they may have to strain a little more if you have bad sleep or nutrition habits. If you go to the doctor and get diagnosed with a condition such as diabetes or a thyroid issue, these can affect your eyes too.
As soon as your health changes and you get a diagnosis, you’ll have to start working overtime to take care of your eyes. This means you should visit an optometrist and talk to them about your diagnosis as soon as you can.
3. Eye Infections
If you’ve ever gotten your eyes examined at all you know that the optometrist isn’t only checking to make sure you can see. They’re looking at your eye health in general. This means that if you’ve been putting off going you may be vulnerable to infections and other issues.
Sometimes these infections aren’t a big deal. They clear up on their own over time. If you’re experiencing persistent redness, itching, and discharge though, you’ll need to make an appointment.
4. Frequent Headaches
If you can’t get through an entire workday at your computer without getting a migraine this is a sign of eye strain. This could mean that you need to take more breaks during the day from the computer or your vision is changing.
You should get an eye exam before the headaches get bad enough to disrupt your workday too much. A pair of eyeglasses could give you the relief that you’ve been searching for in a bottle of Excedrin.
5. Vision Disruptions
When your eyesight is the reason for your migraines you may get little vision disruptions. These will look like floating debris or small bits of light. Most of the time these are pretty harmless.
But, they could be the sign of a worse issue than bad eyesight such as retinal holes or detachment so you’ll need to go get an eye checkup anyway. Keep in mind that it’s normal to get these visual disruptions without headaches too.
6. Eye Fatigue
Migraines aren’t the only thing that you may experience from working behind the computer for long periods of time. You may also become a victim of eye fatigue. Eye fatigue seems to come and go but if it persists you may have some kind of infection going on.
Make an eye appointment if you have continuous discomfort in your eyes or if your eyes hurt when you move them left and right.
7. Sensitivity to Light
There are a lot of reasons why your eyes may have suddenly become sensitive to light. Corneal abrasion, infection, or meningitis are all possible culprits.
It’s important that you’re diagnosed by a professional as soon as possible so you can get the proper diagnosis and treatment.
8. It’s Hard to Focus
The first sign of an eye condition besides changes to your night vision is problems with focusing. This comes in the form of blurriness when you’re trying to look at something that’s in your field of vision.
You may also have trouble focusing in certain levels of heavy light. More often than not you’ll have problems reading small print books or your smartphone. This sudden alter in your eyesight could lead to a serious issue so you’ll want to get it looked at.
9. You Haven’t Had an Eye Exam in Two Years
If you haven’t had an eye exam for two years or more then you should go. As you get older your vision changes more often so you’ll need to keep up with it. This is especially true if you’re 40 or older.
This being said, just because you’re 30 or younger doesn’t mean that you can neglect your eye health until you get old. If you start regular checkups while you’re still young, potential problems can be caught before they escalate.
Depending on your eye health, your doctor may recommend more frequent checkups in order to keep your eyes good and healthy.
Signs You Need an Eye Checkup as Soon as Possible
If being at a computer is starting to give you a bad headache and you haven’t been to the optometrist in a while, you may want to schedule an eye checkup as soon as you can. This is the only way to get the jump on potential health problems. Take care of your eyes.
Ready to check up on your eye health? Book an appointment online with us today.