7 Signs You Need New Glasses (That Have Nothing to Do with Blurry Vision)
Updated: Feb. 10, 2017Keep an eye out for these symptoms (pun intended).
Your eyes are aching
Your eyes work as a lens, adjusting their focus for objects at different distances away, whether it’s the computer a few feet from your face or the road spanning way ahead of you, says Reena Garg, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “If you’re compensating not just for distance but because the glasses lens is wrong, that muscle works a little harder,” she says. With your eyes working overtime, your peepers might feel achy, tired, watery, or dry. Watch out for these other ways you strain your eyes without knowing it.
You’re getting headaches
All that eyestrain can be a headache—literally. While your eyes are working harder than they should, you might start feeling a dull ache right around your eyes, especially after reading a book, staring at a computer, or looking at a blackboard. “When you’re focused on these objects, that muscle is working extra hard, and when your prescription is wrong, it’s working even harder,” says Dr. Garg. Every now and then, take 15 to 30 seconds to focus on something else in the distance to give your eyes a break, she says. Try these stretches for pill-free headache relief.
You keep squinting
Shutting your eyelids a bit lets in less light, which helps you get a clearer picture when your vision isn’t right. Squinting could help compensate for a slightly off prescription, but if you let it go too long as your sight gets worse, you could end up with headaches. “Initially it’s probably more of a subconscious thing, but as the prescription is less right and more wrong and [people are] squinting more, it’s taxing on the eye,” says Dr. Garg. Check out these vision boosters that don’t have to do with carrots.
You never go anywhere without sunglasses
“Bright, harsh lights can be really taxing to the eye, especially if you don’t have the right prescription,” says Dr. Garg. You might find that you need to pull your shades out more than usual or turn down the brightness of your TV to keep your eyes from getting overworked. (Related: These are weird ways the sun affects your body.)
You’ve been adjusting your computer
Messing with your computer so you can see the screen better? The problem might be your eyes, not your setup. “A lot of times patients say they have to sit farther back from the computer screen to see better or put a few books under the computer and things like that,” says Dr. Garg. Take those little adjustments as a sign to head to the eye doc. Do you need reading glasses?
You’re feeling nauseous
Both your eyes create two images, which your brain weaves together to create the seamless picture. But if one eye has fuzzier vision than the other, the wonky image could make you feel sick. “If one eye has a stronger prescription than the other eye, all of a sudden your brain is seeing two separate images,” says Dr. Garg. “It’s hard for the brain to resolve to put those images together.” In response, you could start feeling vertigo, nausea, or double vision, she says.
It’s been more than a year since your last eye exam
“Once a year is about the amount of time to take your prescription to change if it’s going to,” says Dr. Garg. Eventually your prescription will become more stable and you can wait two or three years between checkups, but she recommends most people get an eye exam once a year, unless your doctor asks you to come in sooner. (Related: Avoid these makeup mistakes glasses wearers make.)