Short-term or intermittent blurring is one of the symptoms of dry eyes (along with redness, discomfort, a gritty or tired sensation, burning or stinging). But it’s important to note that dry eye related blurring is normally short-term only, it should get better when you blink (as your eyes naturally replenish your tears) or with dry eye treatment.
The reason for the blurring in Dry Eye patients, is that the tear film is not stable on your eye. Healthy tears will form a uniform layer across the whole eye surface for a solid 7 – 10 seconds before replenishing at the next blink. However a Dry Eye sufferer will have an unstable tear film – during this time the vision will fluctuate causing short-term ‘blurring’.
As with all dry eye symptoms, the dry eye related blurring is more likely to affect both eyes at the same time, but sometimes one eye can be affected worse than the other.
In very rare cases of severe dry eyes, the ocular surface (which is the front ‘window’ of your eye) can become damaged from being dried out – in this instance, the blurriness can become permanent.
If you have noticed that your vision feels more blurred recently it is absolutely worthwhile booking an appointment with your regular Eye Doctor as blurring can often be a symptom of other eye issues. It is also worthwhile starting an at-home dry eye routine, ensuring that your eyes are cleansed, warmed and lubricated regularly. This will alleviate dry eye symptoms and support less blurriness over time. Our award-winning Dry Eye Savior System is an easy way to start this routine.
Sources:
https://www.rcophth.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017_Understanding-Dry-eye.pdf
https://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/article/reclaiming-vision-in-dry-eye-syndrome
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