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- Andrea Feucht, 8 May 2025
Spot Common Eye Problems: Your Guide for Healthy Vision
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Our eye health and our vision can change from year to year. But some eye problems are more important to address than others, for your overall health and your ability to see clearly. But don’t worry. We’ll go over a few of the most common eye health problems and what you can do to help protect your vision.
Eye health is always important, but it is especially important as we age. Your younger eyes might have seemed invincible, but a slowly changing prescription strength, reading glasses, or low-light difficulties are just a few reminders that our eyes change over time. While these changes to our vision are normal, other eye problems are worth noticing because they can indicate more serious conditions.
Talk to your vision professional or doctor if you are experiencing any of the following eye problems:
Eye pain: Eye pain can be a symptom of infection, inflammation, injury, or even glaucoma.
A sudden change in vision: This can be a sign of a serious underlying condition such as retinal detachment, optic nerve damage, or stroke.
Double vision: Double vision can indicate problems with the muscles that control eye movement, neurological disorders, or macular degeneration.
Flashes or floaters: Flashes or floaters can be harmless, but they can also be signs of retinal detachment or other serious eye problems.
Distorted vision: Distorted vision can be a sign of macular degeneration or other problems with the retina.
Blurred vision: Blurred vision can indicate problems with the muscles that control eye movement, neurological disorders, or cataracts.
Halos around lights: Seeing halos around lights can be a sign of various eye conditions, including cataracts, glaucoma, or refractive errors.
Your eye doctor can help you identify potential causes and start the appropriate care to help keep your vision as clear as possible.
The most common vision problems—glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—affect the vision and health of millions of people every year. Even though most have treatment or prevention options, you can use this guide to make sure you can catch the warning signs of these common eye problems early.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disease in which pressure builds up inside your eye until it damages your optic nerve and retina which can cause severe vision problems. While not curable, glaucoma can be easy to detect and manage in the early stages with regular, annual eye exams. Symptoms associated with glaucoma can include:
Eye pain (with or without nausea)
Sudden vision changes
Halos around lights
If you experience any of these symptoms, you should see your vision professional immediately. Pay attention to your eye health, particularly if you have risk factors such as: a family history of glaucoma, diabetes, previous eye surgery or injury, high blood pressure, or very severe nearsightedness.
Cataracts
Cataracts are a condition that clouds the lenses in your eyes. It is the most common cause of vision loss in those over the age of 40, affecting millions every year—affecting more people than glaucoma, AMD, and diabetic retinopathy combined! To help protect your eyes from developing cataracts:
Avoid or minimize exposure to UV light
Avoid cigarette smoke
Eat foods rich in antioxidants
Maintain healthy blood sugar levels—even if you do not have diabetes, this can help reduce cataracts from developing in the first place.
Cataracts cause slow progressing vision changes that can eventually lead to vision loss. Thankfully, if cataracts do develop, we live in a time where they can be treated with outpatient eye surgery. But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy fix. Gradually blurring vision can affect your lifestyle long before surgery would be an option, so prevention is often the best medicine.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a progressive eye condition that affects the macula of your eye. The macula is the small part of the retina directly at the back of your eyes. It is crucial for clear and high detail, central vision. Early AMD symptoms can include:
Dimming of central vision
Distortion of letters
Difficulty seeing contrast
As soon as you notice any of these signs or symptoms of AMD—especially if they occur quickly—see your vision professional.
Treatments for AMD are meant to minimize the effects of the disease, but there is no cure. This is why it is important to get regular eye exams and take care of your overall health. AMD is strongly affected by lifestyle, so how you take care of your body can help prevent AMD from developing in the first place.
Vitamin D deficiency can increase your risk of developing AMD; eating a diet full of lutein/zeaxanthin, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc can help prevent you from developing it in the first place. Family history also plays a role, as well as risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Ask your eye doctor if a genetic test can determine if you have a higher-than-normal risk for AMD.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is another eye problem that affects many people with diabetes as they age. Inflammation and poor blood flow caused by the diabetes can cause blood vessels in your eyes to swell and leak fluid. Over time, this can affect vision and cause blindness.
Diabetic retinopathy is considered a long-term side effect of diabetes and is the most common cause of vision loss in people with diabetes. That means it is crucial that you manage your diabetes properly and keep blood sugar levels low. If you do not have diabetes, manage your overall health to avoid diabetic retinopathy altogether.
Your eye health is something you can support with good daily habits. Just like brushing your teeth daily, there are a few things you can do to keep your vision the best it can be.
If you wear glasses, ask your eye doctor for care recommendations to keep the lenses clean and scratch-free. Contact lens wearers can help protect themselves from illnesses like colds and flu by making sure they wash their hands every time they put in or take out their contacts.
Another healthy daily habit to promote better eye health is to reduce or limit the amount of time you spend looking at a screen, especially in the last few hours before sleep. Late-night screen time has not been shown to damage your vision, but it can lead to digital eye strain. And stopping screen time early can help with a good night’s rest, which is incredibly important for your immune system and body health.
Whole-body health is also connected to better eye health. Maintaining a healthy weight and eating a diet full of antioxidants and vitamins A, C, D, and E are both known for improving your overall health—as well as your eye health.
Whether you need vision correction or not, annual eye exams can help you catch any potential eye problems early. These routine exams are especially important if you have certain risk factors mentioned above, like diabetes. While your eye doctor will check your vision, you can also have other screenings for the conditions we have mentioned, such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Eye problems aren’t always preventable, but with a few of these tips and regular eye exams, you can spot problems early.
Vision insurance benefits can help your eyes stay healthy year-round by providing you with access to annual eye exams and potential preventative care before eye problems become more serious. Vision benefits and allowances vary by plan, so check out which VSP® Individual Vision Insurance plans are available to you in your area.
Information received through VSP Individual Vision Plans’ social media channels is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, medical recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
This blog was reviewed by Dr. Jennifer Chinn. Dr. Chinn is the co-owner of Dr. Chinn’s Vision Care in San Diego, CA. She shares information about eye health on her popular Instagram account @dr.chinnchinn.
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