Do you take your eye health seriously? If you haven’t been to the eye doctor in over a year, it’s time to reassess your priorities. Routine eye exams are important for everyone at every age, even for people with healthy eyes. So if you start noticing eye problems, it’s absolutely critical to set an appointment as soon as possible. Here are 11 symptoms that could have potentially dangerous consequences if left untreated.

1. Double vision: The inability to focus properly could mean your eye muscles are weak or your cornea is damaged. Double vision is also a symptom of several neurological and autoimmune disorders.
2. Blurry vision: If you can’t see clearly, visit an optometrist to discuss vision correction options. When your eyesight seems not only blurry but cloudy, this could be a sign of cataracts, which can only be corrected with eye surgery.
3. Excessive floaters or bright flashes of light: A few floaters are normal, but you should set an eye appointment if they impair your vision. Floaters accompanied by flashing lights could be a sign of retinal detachment, an emergency requiring prompt medical treatment.
4. Stinging, burning, scratchy, or gritty sensation: These symptoms could indicate a foreign object in your eye. If that’s not the case, you might have dry eye.
5. Glare and rainbow-colored halos around lights: You might find it difficult to see at night if headlights, streetlamps, and other light sources cause glare and halos. These eye problems could be symptoms of glaucoma.
6. Red, watery eyes: It might just be allergies or a cold. However, if you develop red, watery eyes without respiratory symptoms, you could have an eye infection. Bacterial conjunctivitis (pink eye), keratitis, and scleritis are a few possibilities.
7. Uneven pupil sizes: Call your eye doctor immediately if someone notices that your pupils are two different sizes. You could be having an aneurysm or other medical emergency.
8. Eye pain or pressure: Many conditions may cause these symptoms. If the pain or pressure persists, contact your eye doctor to test for glaucoma, optic neuritis, iritis, and other conditions.
9. Light sensitivity: You may become overly sensitive to light if you have an eye infection, scratched or injured eye, torn retina, chronic dry eye, or migraines.
10. Loss of peripheral vision: Difficulty seeing things on the edges of your vision could point to glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve atrophy, or other health conditions.
11. Loss of central vision: When dark spots form in the center of your vision, this means you could have macular degeneration.

While you shouldn’t expect the worst if you develop these eye problems, you certainly shouldn’t ignore them! The vision specialists at Snead Eye Group can diagnose your condition and help you seek the proper treatment to restore your vision and quality of life. Call us at (239) 936-8686 or schedule your eye appointment online. We have four convenient locations in Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, and Cape Coral, FL, to better serve you.