Vision Loss
Blindness is a lack of vision. It may also refer to a loss of vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.
- Partial blindness means you have very limited vision.
- Complete blindness means you cannot see anything and DO NOT see light. (Most people who use the term "blindness" mean complete blindness.).
People with vision that is worse than 20/200 with glasses or contact lenses are considered legally blind in most states in the United States.
Vision loss refers to the partial or complete loss of vision. This vision loss may happen suddenly or over a period of time.
Some types of vision loss never lead to complete blindness.
Blindness has many causes.
Accidents or injuries to the surface of the eye (chemical burns or sports injuries)
- Diabetes
- Glaucoma
- Macular degeneration
The type of partial vision loss may differ, depending on the cause:
- The type of partial vision loss may differ, depending on the cause:
- With cataracts, vision may be cloudy or fuzzy, and bright light may cause glare
- With diabetes, vision may be blurred, there may be shadows or missing areas of vision, and difficulty seeing at night
- With glaucoma, there may be tunnel vision and missing areas of vision
- With macular degeneration, the side vision is normal but the central vision is slowly lost
- Other causes of vision loss include:
Other causes of vision loss include:
- Blocked blood vessels
- Complications of premature birth (retrolental fibroplasia)
- Complications of eye surgery
- Lazy eye
- Optic neuritis
- Stroke
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- Tumors, such as retinoblastoma and optic glioma
