Blurred Vision in Pregnancy

Are you pregnant? Are you suffering from Blurred vision? Some points to keep in mind are as follows:

If you ask a pregnant woman that what she is experiencing in the situation she will probably say morning sickness, swollen ankles and blurriness in the eyes. You might not have heard about this.

There is nothing to be worried about because of the blurry vision. But one must visit a doctor if it happens. As it could be a reason for severe medical conditions associated with pregnancy.

What Is Blurred Vision in the time of pregnancy?

When an expecting mother is in her first trimester, a blurred vision problem can arise. For some pregnant woman, it last till childbirth.

Because of the hormonal changes women experience such vision problems. If a women wear glasses she may need to change her prescription. This is a temporary problem so it doesn’t cause you to permanent blurriness into your eyes. In some rare cases, blurriness becomes permanent

blurred vision during pregnancy

Causes

There are many reasons for blurry vision in pregnancy. Here is a list of some of them.

A pregnant woman tend to release water from her eyes which causes dry and irritated eyes. This happens because of hormonal changes.

Hormones always fluctuate in an expecting mother’s body. This hormone accumulates sometime in the lower part of the body and sometimes in the eyes. When the accumulated fluid creates a pressure onto the eyeball, as a result, blurriness appear in the eyes.

Eye pressure comes after fluid accumulation and other hormonal changes

Proper immune system is needed to stay fit in pregnancy. It causes the immune system. Otherwise, With eyes, all body parts also get affected.

Pituitary glands can affect peripheral vision which causes low vision and blurry eyes

Though temporary, Melasma comes in pregnancy. As a result, your eyes can suffer from irritation.

Though, all the reasons aforesaid are harmless and have very few risks. But if you are pregnant, blurry eyes can indicate other health issues. In this case, you should consult your doctor before any serious thing happen.

Preeclampsia is a dangerous disease. Though, this is treatable. In rare cases, the child can be affected because of preeclampsia as the mother suffers from high blood pressure. Regular treatment is advisable in this situation.

Gestational diabetes is a kind of disease that arrive after pregnancy. In this case, you might visit doctors and take medicine in time. Otherwise, it may cause a lot of eye problems. But it disappears after childbirth.

Symptoms

The symptoms you experience will depend on the cause. For example, hormone fluctuation changes alone will not look like a more serious condition.

Symptoms are depended on the cause. Hormone fluctuations alone can make the situation worse.

Morning sickness, vomiting, and dizziness are some of the symptoms which are seen quite often. Patient with blurry vision experience:

  1. Headaches or migraines
  2. Unclear or double vision
  3. Dryness, itching, or irritation
  4. Eye infections
  5. Irritation in contact lenses, glasses changes
  6. Papilledema or optic disc swelling
  7. Optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve) causes temporary vision loss. This happens because of the disturbance in the immune system.

You might notice these symptoms as early as the 10th week, though many women see them happen later. They usually go away soon after birth, although they may linger for up to six weeks after.

You may notice this problem in the 10th week of your pregnancy. As already mentioned, it doesn’t linger after childbirth.

But if your blurry vision arrives due to this diabetes like preeclampsia or gestational, you must take the doctor’s suggestion:

  1. Persistent double vision
  2. Flashing lights
  3. Light sensitivity
  4. Temporary vision loss
  5. Dimmed vision
  6. Auras
  7. Spots or floaters that linger for more than two hours

If you are experiencing these above-said symptoms, you must seek a doctor’s help.

The proper time to contact a doctor about blurriness in the eyes during pregnancy

You must go for a further check-up if you see the following symptoms along with blurry vision during pregnancy:

  1. Headache 
  2. Swelling of the face or hands
  3. Sudden weight gain
  4. Increasing thirstiness

These symptoms may be a sign of Sometimes this is the hint of preeclampsia or toxaemia or gestational diabetes. So, early treatment is always recommendable.

Risk Factors

Gestational diabetes and high blood pressure are associated with preeclampsia. This is very helpful in increasing a higher risk of experiencing blurred vision during pregnancy.

High blood pressure can also be the cause of eye damage as it increases the eye’s blood vessels. Blood pressure also causes Retinopathy which damages the retina because of the bleeding inside the eye.

When some specific hormones like estrogen, progesterone are imbalanced, they create problems in the eyes. But one thing you must remember, in pregnancy different women experience different difficulties. So it is wrong that everything will be dangerous for you.

Prevention

When you are pregnant, you are going through a lot of hormonal changes. So, you have to face and overcome all of them. There is no certain precaution measure that can keep you aside from them. But if you can't avoid blurriness, you should consult your doctor. Here are some tips which can help you to get relief for some time.

  • you can avoid your contact lenses. Contact lenses irritate your eye. If you are suffering from dry eye problems or blurry vision, you must avoid contact lenses. For those days, wearing glasses are suggested until childbirth.
  • Before taking any external medicine, you can do eye exercise every day. They can keep your eye muscles strong. Your eyes get relief after the exercise. You must contact your doctor before doing so.
  • You must take proper rest. Sleeping at the proper time is always advisable. They can cure some of your other problems too during pregnancy.

Diagnosis

If you are suffering from a blurry eyes problem your doctor may suggest you go through some steps. At first, he will take some physical exams. Then he may suggest you some additional tests to ensure that your blurriness is normal or indicate something else.

Blood or urine tests, a fetal ultrasound, or a nonstress test (NST) are suggested in this case to check for preeclampsia. For gestational diabetes, you might go through a glucose challenge test.

In this test, you have to drink a sweet liquid and then they will take some blood after one hour for testing. If your sugar level is over 140, your doctor might suggest you for an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) where doctors will test your blood multiple times in some time. High blood sugar levels after those tests generally are the indication of gestational diabetes

Treatment

Be Patient, stop panicking

In most cases, blurry eyes problem vanish after giving birth. So you have to be patient. Don’t need to panic, because that can be dangerous for your child. Until the situation is unbearable, try to be compatible with this condition.

Use lubricating Eye drops

If you are suffering from a dry eye problem, you can use some lubricating eye drops. That can help you to get rid of the situation. They are also helpful in case you have any irritation in the eyes. But you must seek doctors advice before applying anything into the body.

Give rest to your eyes

Give your eyes rest frequently. Otherwise, the problem can increase. When you are going outside, try to wear sunglasses if you are sensitive to the sun or UV rays.

Do not change the power of the glasses

If your doctor doesn’t suggest you change the power of the glasses, do not go for it by yourself. Because there is a high chance of getting back your vision after birth. In this case, you will no longer need the prescription during pregnancy. In that situation, that corrective surgery will not benefit you.

Try to avoid contact lenses

Wearing your spectacles,  are always suggested during pregnancy. Because using a contact lens can increase the chance of blurriness at that time. As you are going through hormonal changes the shape of the cornea may also change. If you continue using contact lenses, that will not be beneficial for your eye health. So it will be a wise decision if you switch to your eyeglasses.

Conclusion

In so many ways your body changes during pregnancy because of hormonal changes. Some common effects are seen in pregnant women, are mood swings, weight gain, morning sickness etc. Blurry vision is also on the list. Nowadays this problem is very common in pregnancy. Though there is nothing to be worried about as it is a temporary and treatable disease. To avoid those problems, take proper sleep, get plenty of rest, wear eyeglasses instead of contact lenses, and use artificial tears to increase visual acuity, get healthy foods, maintain a proper lifestyle.