How Is Your Health?

Being the most common type of eye and vision specialists, optometrists, ophthalmic opticians, or simply eye doctors, should be the first person you call if you have a problem with your eyes. However, with some eye and vision problems only showing symptoms seemingly unrelated to your vision, it can sometimes be hard to know when exactly you should pester your local optometrist for a quick unscheduled visit. So, what are some signs that you should be concerned, and maybe stop procrastination you next eye check?

Eye Swelling, Sensitivity or Secretions

If one or both of your eyes are particularly red, itchy, crusty feeling or looking, or secreting discharge, you may have an eye infection. In addition, if you are experiencing sensitivity to light, particularly if it seems to have come out of nowhere, then you may have an optical abrasion, infection, or perhaps even have a more serious problem, like meningitis. Though, because you're eyes are so delicate and valuable, the potential of an eye infection should be reason enough to quickly schedule a visit with an eye doctor.

Frequent, Unexplained Migraines or Headaches

There are many different potential causes for migraines and headaches, such as dehydration, illness, or eating too much of some artificial food additive. However, sometimes your cranial discomfort could be due to something a bit more serious than some bad dietary habit. For example, frequent migraines or headaches can be a sign of chronically dry eyes, various optic nerve conditions, or even angle closure glaucoma. So if you are having some problems with headaches or migraines, you should probably book an appointment with your local optometrist.

Blurry or Double Vision

Having blurry vision when you are looking at something close to you is called farsightedness or hyperopia, and having blurry vision when looking at something far away is usually caused by nearsightedness or myopia. In all but some unusual cases, both of these conditions can be treated extremely well with glasses, but can also potentially be signs of more serious underlying issues, and should be seen to by an optometrist even if you don't want glasses.

Diplopia is a word used to describe the condition of patients who have double vision, particularly when images appear on top of each other. Being a symptom of serious conditions such as the autoimmune illness Graves' disease, or maybe even an unnoticed stroke, diplopia is definitly a reason to visit your optometrist.