What Your Eyes Say About Your Health

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Vision after Forty

Hello. My name is Lori Frank. I’m fifty-two years old. I had perfect vision until I turned forty-one years of age. It’s funny; you often hear how one's vision starts to change at forty. Well, I can tell you that statement sure has held true for not only me but friends and family too. I never worried about going for yearly eye exams until I noticed that it was getting harder to read road signs when driving. I got my first pair of glasses when I was forty-one, and I’ve been averaging a new prescription at least every other year since. I want to share some of my experiences when it comes to eye exams. I was frightened and wanted to put it off, but there’s really nothing to be afraid of. Moreover, to make things better, eyeglasses are a trend these days!

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What Your Eyes Say About Your Health

7 December 2015
 Categories: , Blog

Who knew that your eyes could be a big indicator of potential major health problems? Just like you visit your doctor for annual physicals, you should be seeing your optometrist annually as well. Continue reading to take a look at what your eyes might be warning you about.

Bloodshot Eyes - What This Means:

Having bloodshot eyes is something that is quiet common, and usually means you have some sort of fungal infection. The most common fungal infection is pink eye. Other symptoms to confirm you might have a fungal infection is the eye will become itchy, and irritated. You will want to schedule a doctors appointment and receive proper treatment for this to avoid long term damage.

The second reason for bloodshot eyes is typically allergies. Taking an antihistamine daily can help relieve this sinus pressure.

The third most common reason for red eyes is autoimmune disease. It's important to see your doctor if your eyes don't improve and clear up.

Blurry Vision - What This Means:

Blurry vision can be the indicator of some serious medical conditions such as stroke, high blood pressure, and hypertension. These are all highly serious conditions and you should get to a doctor immediately should you begin experiencing this. By ignoring this you risk potentially losing your vision for good.

Yellow Like Bumps - What This Means:

Have you noticed yellow bumps on your eyelid or white rings around your eyes? This can be a good indicator that you have high cholesterol. Again, leaving something like this untreated, can lead to serious health problems down the road.

Cloudy Eyes - What This Means:

Cloudy eyes can be an indicator of tumors, diabetes, and cataracts, If you are young this symptom is most likely not cataracts, but something more serious like a tumor. Cataracts can be easily corrected with surgery.

Yellow Eyes - What This Means:

Yellow eyes are trying to tell you that something is wrong with your liver. This can even be an indicator that your liver is shutting down completely. This is extremely serious and you should seek immediate medical attention.

Large, Bulging Eyes - What This Means:

Another term people use is bug eyes. If you are experiencing something like this it could be an indicator of Grave's disease, or an overactive thyroid. Usually other symptoms will present themselves, such as weight loss, irregular heart beats, and vomiting.

Gray Ring Around The Eyes - What This Means:

If you notice a gray ring forming around your eye this could mean high cholesterol, and warning signs of heart attack, or stroke. Again, all serious health hazards. The best thing to do is get into the doctor for blood work to figure out what is going on.

Hopefully you will see the importance to annual eye exams (at clinics like Focus West Optometry) after learning more about what your eyes can reveal.