How Can Pregnancy Affect Your Eyes?
There are certain changes you expect when pregnant: you feel nauseous in the morning, your ankles swell, and your joints start aching. One thing women don't often talk about is how their eye health changes during pregnancy. Knowing what's normal in this regard will help you avoid panicking and ensure you deal with your symptoms properly. Here's a look at three ways pregnancy can affect your eyes.
Dry Eyes
Changes in your hormone levels may cause your tear production to decrease. You might notice that your eyes feel dry and irritated, especially if you wear contacts or spend a lot of time in front of a computer. Switching to glasses for the remainder of your pregnancy may help if you're a contact wearer. Regardless of whether you wear contacts, you should use artificial tears to help keep your eyes moist. Do not just ignore dry eyes, since they can lead to corneal scratches and infections.
Slightly Blurry Vision
Sometimes blurry vision is related to eye dryness, and once you put moistening drops in your eyes, your vision will go back to normal. Other times, your vision actually becomes blurry because of the additional fluid you're retaining due to your pregnancy. The fluid can change the thickness of your cornea, temporarily distorting your vision. Depending on the severity of your blurriness, your eye doctor may give you a stronger glasses prescription to use until your pregnancy is over—at which time, your vision should return to normal as you shed the excess water weight.
Sudden Loss of Vision or Extreme Blurriness
If your vision suddenly becomes very blurry or you lose it completely, it's time to call your doctor or head to urgent care. These more serious visual symptoms are indications of high blood pressure, which can be dangerous to you and to your baby. Your doctor may prescribe a low-salt diet to keep your blood pressure down. If you're close to your due date, they may even induce you to avoid the possible complications of sustained high blood pressure. Your vision should return to normal once your blood pressure is lowered or you give birth.
If you experience any changes in eye health or vision that are not described on this page, see your eye doctor. Just because you are pregnant does not necessarily mean that your vision problems are due to the pregnancy. Your eye doctor will help you get to the bottom of the issue and obtain the treatment you need.
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