This can make it difficult for people to perform daily tasks, such as driving and reading. A 2021 study involving over 16,000 people with AMD found that higher alcohol consumption could be a causal risk factor for geographic atrophy (GA). GA is a feature of advanced AMD, resulting in blind spots in a person’s vision. Treatments can vary based on how alcohol has affected a person’s eyes and optic nerve. Your muscles might not move as effectively while you are under the influence of alcohol. When this happens, you may have blurred vision or double vision due to weakened eye-muscle coordination.
Preventing Alcohol-Related Vision Problems
Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) helps individuals modify doubts and build their motivation to stop drinking and commit to recovery. By taking these preventive measures, you can safeguard your eyesight while still enjoying social occasions responsibly. Heavy drinkers who smoke and have poor dietary lifestyles are also likely to develop alcoholic amblyopia, a rare case of bilateral vision loss. Toxic amblyopia was very common before World War II due to excessive drinking and tobacco use. Now the disease has become rarer and is often only seen in people suffering from alcoholism.
Eyes and Alcohol: The Effects of Drinking
One significant concern is the development of cataracts, a condition characterized by clouding of the eye’s lens that can lead to decreased vision over time. Drinking a lot of alcohol over a long period of time can cause damage to the brain that may impair your eyesight. In fact, it is not unheard of for heavy drinkers to develop permanently blurred or double vision. Alcohol can also decrease your ability to see contrast in colors and alter your peripheral vision. Migraines are also common for heavy drinkers and may be accompanied by severe sensitivity to light and other vision-related problems.
Are there any ways to prevent alcohol-related vision damage?
Research indicates that individuals who consume excessive amounts of alcohol are at a higher risk for developing conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and uveitis. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the blood vessels in the retina, leading to vision problems. If an individual experiences vision changes or eye problems as a result of excessive alcohol consumption, it is important to seek medical attention promptly.
- It has been suggested that men drink no more than 4 units per day and women drink no more than 3 units per day.
- These effects may be more permanent and can include reduced vision, migraine headaches, sensitivity to light, and even blindness.
- Law enforcement officers assess several alcohol-induced changes to the eyes when performing a field sobriety test on a suspected impaired driver.
- However, if you consume large quantities of alcohol often, then that is a completely different story.
Impact of Alcohol on Eye Health
A person should talk with a doctor about treatment options that will work for them. Possible treatments include corrective lenses or glasses to correct blurred or distorted vision and use of eye drops to address bloodshot eyes. This article reviews how alcohol can affect vision, the possible short- and long-term effects, treatments, and more. This lack of depth perception can also affect activities like driving or operating machinery, where accurate distance judgment is essential for safety. Understanding how alcohol impacts depth perception can help you recognize when it’s best to avoid certain activities after drinking.
Decreased Peripheral Vision
- Find out why Florida Eye Specialists & Cataract Institute is the name more Tampa Bay residents have trusted with their eye care since 1981.
- While not everyone who binge drinks has an AUD, it can be a very significant risk factor for the development of an AUD.
- You might develop a painless loss of vision, decreased peripheral vision, or reduced color vision.
- For instance, vitamin A plays a crucial role in maintaining good vision and overall eye health; however, excessive alcohol intake can hinder its absorption in the body.
- From blurred vision to impaired depth perception, the effects can be both subtle and severe.
- Evidence supports the association between chronic alcohol use and the increased risk of developing cataracts, which is when there’s a cloudy area in the eye lens that impairs someone’s vision.
- However, some alcohol-related vision damage may be irreversible, so it’s important to seek medical advice for individual cases.
While not everyone who binge drinks has an AUD, blurry vision hangover it can be a very significant risk factor for the development of an AUD. This condition can cause a loss of central vision and may lead to permanent vision impairment if not managed effectively. Low to moderate alcohol consumption may prevent some eye diseases such as central retinal vein occlusion (RVO), the blockage of eye veins.
