Sudden Vision Changes

Having vision changes across your lifetime or blurry vision from nearsightedness or farsightedness is normal. When vision change is a sudden onset symptom, it can be a sign of a serious medical condition.

Don’t hesitate to seek medical help if you have sudden vision changes. Goshen Hospital Emergency Department has a team of experts who work together to provide leading-edge care.

Symptoms related to vision changes

Let your doctor know what other symptoms occur with your vision changes. This can help them make a diagnosis. You may experience these symptoms with blurred vision and other vision changes:

• Double vision
• Red eyes
• Dilated pupil
• Headache, which could be severe
• Stiff neck
• Nausea and vomiting
• Weakness on one side of the face or body
• Sensitivity to light or seeing halos around light
• Droopy eyelid
• Trouble speaking or understanding speech
• Pulsations that you can hear or feel
• Feeling that you have a foreign body in the eye

What conditions cause sudden blurred vision?

Sudden vision changes, including blurred vision, can be caused by serious medical conditions, including:

• Brain hemorrhage (bleeding)
• Stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• Severe high blood pressure
• Acute angle-closure glaucoma, which can quickly lead to permanent vision loss Injury to the eye or surrounding area
• Chemical injury
• Optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve
• Encephalitis, or inflammation in the brain often caused by infection
• Temporal arteritis, or inflammation of the blood vessel around the temple
• Hydrocephaly, or elevated spinal fluid pressure
• Brain, orbit or optic nerve tumor

Our emergency physicians and nurses can quickly diagnose your condition and provide the right treatment.