In patients, whether young or old, sometimes poor vision can be caused by a number of factors including anatomical changes or defects in the eye or visual system, eye diseases, side effects due to medication or eye injuries. Many people also experience visual abnormalities resulting from aging or eye stress. Aging and stress can cause changes in your eyesight, which might cause pain and even make it harder to get through everyday activities, like reading the newspaper or using a computer for long periods. Common signs and symptoms of such vision problems include eye strain, headache, blurred vision, squinting and struggling with close and far distances.

Blurred vision is one of the most common signs of a vision problem. If you have blurred vision when you are looking at distant objects or signs, you might very well have myopia, or be nearsighted. If you have blurred vision when you're viewing objects nearby this may be a sign of hyperopia, or farsightedness. It can also mean you have astigmatism which occurs due to a flaw in the shape of the cornea, or sometimes the curvature of the lens inside the eye. No matter the reason you have blurry vision, it is essential to have your eye doctor examine your eyes and decide on the best way to rectify your sight.

Another common sign of a vision problem is the inability to distinguish between different colors or strength of color. This is an indication of a color perception problem, or color blindness. Color vision defects are often unknown to the patient until diagnosed by testing. Color blindness is mainly something that affects males. If present in a female it could indicate ocular disease, and an optometrist needs to be consulted. For people who have difficulty distinguishing objects in minimal light, it could mean the patient suffers from night blindness.

A problem commonly found in older people is cataracts, which have numerous telltale signs including: blurry sight that is worse in bright light, trouble seeing in the dark or reduced light, difficulty seeing small writing or details, the need for brighter light when reading, improvement in near vision but a decline in distance vision, redness of the eye, and a pale look to the usually dark pupil.

Pulsing pain in the eye, headaches, blurred sight, inflammation in the eye, colorful rings around lights, nausea and vomiting are indicators of glaucoma, a serious medical condition, which calls for immediate medical attention.

When it comes to children, it is important to keep an eye out for weak eye movement, or eyes that cross in or out, which may indicate a vision problem known as strabismus. Some things children might do, like rubbing eyes frequently, squinting, head tilting, or needing to close one eye to look at things better, can often indicate this issue.

If you experience any of the symptoms we've mentioned here, visit your eye doctor as soon as possible. While clearly some conditions could be more serious than others, any disruption to good sight can be a burden, and impact your quality of life. A quick visit to your optometrist can save you from unnecessary discomfort, or further eye and vision problems.