Just as it can be hard to tell when you need glasses in the first place, subtle changes over time to your vision may make it difficult to tell when your prescription needs an update.
There are a few small yet telling signs about the symptoms you may experience. The next time you have vision-related symptoms, you will have a better idea if it’s your old prescription that’s outdated or your new one that’s wrong. This post will discuss the top four signs your eyeglasses prescription is out of date.
Headaches
Headaches are common when vision changes in our eyes. Many times when headaches occur, we don’t immediately associate the headache with anything other than a stressful event, allergies, or an illness. However, our brains have to compensate for any change in our vision, and the extra effort can cause tension headaches as well as headaches from eyestrain. Similarly, nearsighted people typically have front or eyebrow headaches, while farsighted people normally complain of a headache after focusing on something up close for an extended period. If you have headaches that aren’t present or are minor in the morning, then get worse as the day progresses, it’s like related to your vision and you should see an eye doctor.
Eye strain
Eye strain in particular is a symptom of both an outdated prescription or a wrong prescription that’s causing difficulties in focusing, dizziness, and headaches. When the natural lens in your eye is unable to focus properly on the things you’re trying to see, the muscles of the eye have to strain to try and create the correct focal point. If they are unable to create that proper focal point, they will continue to strain themselves in vain until you stop looking. While this can also happen with long periods of intense focus, such as from reading in the dark or long periods of screen use, excessive eyestrain may indicate that your prescription is old and your eyes are being made to work harder than they should.
Eye Fatigue
As opposed to eye strain in particular, eye fatigue may be noticeable as the eyes just don’t want to focus on anything for an extended period of time or have trouble staying open. Several factors cause eye fatigue, and a big one is lack of sleep. Allergies play a role, too, and the symptoms should ease up in a day or two. However, chronic eye fatigue is often an indication that your eyes are tired of trying to see things that just aren’t lining up to their proper focal point and you need an updated prescription to help them.
Blurred Vision
Hand in hand with eye fatigue comes blurred vision. While it may seem obvious that your prescription is old when you have blurred vision, many people don’t realize how bad their vision gets because their brain works hard to hide it from them. Your brain fills in missing information, accurately or not, and many people won’t notice that their vision is blurred unless they directly look for signs of it. Do a small check on yourself by trying to read things far and close to you, and allow a friend to do the same with you for reference. If you seem to struggle more to get the right information from what you’re reading, your vision is probably more blurred than you thought.
Vision changes are common from year to year, especially for those who are experiencing periods of growth. Children, teens, and pregnant women are most susceptible to drastic changes in their vision and often require yearly eye checkups. Fortunately, wearing glasses with an old prescription won’t damage your eyes, but the symptoms of headaches, eye strain, fatigue, and poor reading comprehension will remain. For this reason, it’s best to see your eye doctor yearly and if your vision has changed you will need to invest in high quality replacement lenses.
Choosing New Glasses
Once you have your updated prescription, browse through all of the prescription eyeglasses that are offered at DIFF Eyewear. They have an unbelievable selection of beautifully crafted frames for men and women. In addition, the cost of frames with lenses far beat the eye doctor’s office prices. Plus DIFF Eyewear is a charitable eyewear company. Every pair of DIFFs sold helps to provide someone in need the gift of sight by providing eye exams, surgeries, glasses, and medicine.
