Does pregnancy affect your vision?
Pragati is 3 months pregnant and is taking good care of herself and the baby. It’s all a happy and joyous occasion for the entire family and everyone is doing their bit to help. One fine day, she takes up the newspaper to read about happenings but finds herself having issues while reading.
Initially, she doesn’t t have any trouble while reading, but suddenly her vision starts blurring. She thinks it is due to sleep deprivation and tiredness, so she washes your eyes and continues to read. Yet she finds there is trouble reading. Now after reading this, the majority of you may think that the lady may have spectacles and forgot to wear them.
After all, that is the most plausible explanation for anyone with blurred vision. But here is the catch! Pragati doesn’t have any ocular issues and doesn’t have spectacles recommended. What just happened here? Well, what happened to Pragati was blurred vision induced during pregnancy. Don’t be surprised, this condition is not so uncommon; about 14% of expecting females suffer from blurred vision!
Why and when does this occur? And what changes are expected?
While the exact cause of blurred vision during pregnancy is not known, due to a myriad of changes occurring in the mother’s body, the most plausible and accepted reason is due to hormonal changes. The majority of affected women experience the changes during the second and third trimesters, but first-trimester occurrences are also known to occur.
Blurred vision is not just one symptom but can occur due to several underlying conditions, many of which become detectable during pregnancy. Now, not all women experience this and the ones who do, may or may not suffer from one or more of these conditions:
- Dry eyes– occur due to a decrease in natural tear production during pregnancy.
- Fluid retention– the exact opposite of dry eyes, when excess fluid gets retained in the eyes, leading to ocular changes.
- Preeclampsia– occurs due to a temporary spike in blood pressure.
So, do I need to worry about my blurred vision?
As an expecting mother, pregnancy-related changes will occur in your body. Now blurred vision may or may not happen with you. But, if it does happen, be assured, in 90% of cases these conditions reverse after your delivery within a few months, as your hormone levels start going back to normal. For the 10% of cases, it is not so easy, while the conditions mentioned above are treatable during pregnancy, or may resolve on their own; two conditions are there, which do prove dangerous. Those two conditions are:
- Eclampsia– a serious condition where due to high blood pressure, convulsions may occur in the expectant mother and may lead to coma, threatening the health of both mother and baby.
- Gestational Diabetes– this is a condition that occurs when blood sugar levels temporarily increase and this increased blood sugar is known to affect the optic nerves. While this condition also reverses after birth, it can lead to increased susceptibility to Type-2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.
What should I do to prevent blurred vision?
Since this is a pregnancy-related change, there is no way to pre-determine whether this will occur to you. But if it does, do consult your ophthalmologist. They are medically trained to determine the cause of your blurred vision and will provide the best line of treatment you need to take care of your eyes.
Neytra eye care centre in Saket is one of the best eye centre for all your eye related issues. Dr. Priyanka is an extremely competent ophthalmologist with years of expertise in the field. Consult with us for any eye issue.
Contact us at:
129, D Block, Saket, Near PVR Anupam, New Delhi -110017