10 Signs That You May be Developing Cataracts

Cataracts are not painful or sudden. They start out as just a tiny spot of cloudiness that the brain can compensate for and most people don’t notice until it has grown large enough to truly impair vision. Early detection of the signs gives you a chance to make diet and lifestyle changes which will protect your eyes and slow or halt the growth of cataracts, delaying or preventing blindness and the need for cataract surgery.

You need brighter light than you used to for reading and other fine work. As your lens becomes clouded it blocks out some of the light to your retina, making it harder to see. As far as your eye is concerned the lighting is lower than it used to be.
Driving at night becomes more stressful and tiring. Headlights of oncoming cars appear too bright and create halos or glare, making it difficult to see the road and read road signs. You are constantly squinting and straining to see clearly.

When you step outside during the day the sun is blinding. Cataracts make it more difficult to adjust from dim to bright light. They cause the light to scatter throughout your eye, so you can’t see clearly.
Indoor lighting which you used to find comfortable is just too bright. Because the light is scattered by the clouding of your lens, too much light is all over the place inside your eye, instead of being focused properly on your retina.

The world is not as colorful and vivid as it used to be. You’re not just getting old and jaded. Cataracts create a yellow tinged haziness in the lens of your eyes obscuring colors.
You have double vision even when you close one eye. This is different to double vision with both eyes open. Each eye or just one eye has double vision with the other eye closed, again due to light scatter. Astigmatism can have a similar effect.
You often wonder if there is a slight haze in the air when you look directly at a light. Halos and glare noticeable around lights, but not objects can mimic the visual disturbance you have grown accustomed to when there is a slight fog or haze in the air.

You blink often to try and clear your vision. You may experience a vague blurriness, much like having a slight film over your eyes. Your natural instinct is to blink and try to clear them.
Your eyes feel tired and strained easily. When your vision is just slightly obscured by the cloudiness of your lens or your retina isn’t getting quite enough light, your eyes work harder, and you are probably squinting and straining more than you realize making your eyes feel tired and strained.

You contact or eyeglass prescription just doesn’t work for you for very long. As cataracts progress they continually change you vision. Eyeglass and contact prescriptions must be very precise to work properly. Your vision is changing more quickly than normal because your lens is becoming more clouded, changing the way that light passes into your eye.

If you are experiencing these symptoms, talk to your ophthalmologist today. You may be developing cataracts, or you could be experiencing the beginning of a more serious vision problem.