Sober Living

Drinking and Your Eyes Alcohol and Vision

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One of the reasons driving under the influence is dangerous is because drivers cannot adapt rapidly to oncoming headlights. Some people experience a visual aura before or during a headache. The aura appears as graying of vision, blind spots, or zig-zag, jagged patterns of ​bright, shimmering lines of https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-art-therapy-can-help-in-addiction-recovery/ light that can spread across the visual field. We think of our patients as family and have been leaders in eye care since 1981. Our modern advanced technology and friendly and supportive staff have led to our being one of the premier eye care and centers for surgery on the western coast of Florida.

When you think of damage from alcohol, perhaps eyesight isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But alcohol can affect your body in many ways, including your vision and eyesight. Even after just one to a few drinks, your vision may become blurred, along with other side effects, such as slurred speech, slowed reactions, and memory loss or change. As with any substance, our bodies can only metabolize a specific amount of alcohol at a time. The best thing you can do to alleviate eye-related symptoms caused by alcohol consumption is to cut back on drinking or eliminate alcohol altogether.

Long-Term Effects

At 0.20% and above, individuals are severely intoxicated and may experience loss of consciousness. In extreme cases, some slip into a coma and even die due to respiratory failure. To understand the effects of alcohol on our vision, you must first understand different blood alcohol levels. A person who experiences vision issues should see an ophthalmologist — a doctor specializing in eye care.

Can drinking alcohol cause blurred vision?

Among its short-term effects are blurred vision and double vision, which can be temporary effects of intoxication, although they typically wear off as the person sobers up or the next day. Alcohol abuse can also contribute to long-term changes to vision such as an increased risk of developing cataracts.

According to Medical Daily, drinking in moderation should not cause any long-term problems to eyesight. Another thing that gets affected by alcohol are the muscles of the iris. These muscles control the movement of our lens, which is essential for focusing on objects in front of us. Since this muscle movement is affected, we take longer to focus on objects. One study also showed that alcohol consumption can affect our ability to distinguish between contrasting images, which also contributes to blurry vision. Alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits contain ethyl alcohol or ethanol.

Examples of eye symptoms to check with a doctor

Fortunately, most short-term signs of alcoholic eyes and eye pain after drinking should improve as the body rebounds from alcohol exposure. Possible short-term problems relating to intoxication include blurry vision, changes in color perception, and light sensitivity. Possible treatments include corrective lenses or glasses to correct blurred or distorted vision and use of eye drops to address bloodshot eyes. Treatments can vary based on how alcohol has affected a person’s eyes and optic nerve. Long-term excessive drinking can lead to potential health issues, including problems with vision. Overconsumption of alcohol can also result in an increased occurrence of dry eye and eyelid twitching.

  • Some Problems From Heavy Drinking
    Double and distorted vision can occur from information that is slowed down between the eye and the brain.
  • A Journal of Ophthalmology study found that night vision gets worse after drinking in both men and women.
  • At this point, the person experiences double vision or blurred vision.
  • Prolonged alcohol abuse will eventually affect your vision through vitamin deficiency.

This reaction raises your blood sugar levels while your body metabolizes the alcohol. These blood sugar spikes cause blurry vision, which becomes more dangerous when you combine the effects with reduced visibility during evening darkness. For some https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/why-is-my-vision-blurry-after-drinking-alcohol/ people who develop AMD, their disease (and vision loss) develops very slowly. In other cases, the loss of vision in one or both eyes occurs quite quickly. It may appear as blank spots or areas that aren’t as bright as they were previously.

The effects of heavy drinking

Drinking just one drink can cause you to get dizzy or have blurry vision. You may see doubles of everything or see spots flash across your eyes. Alcohol affects everyone differently, so you need to be cautious. Optic neuropathy can cause loss of vision (which will most likely be painless), decreased peripheral vision, and problems seeing colors. It is a more serious condition than some of the other effects described above. Studies have shown that too much alcohol consumption can actually change eye movements in young adults; alcohol affects various areas of the central nervous system, including visual functions.