Common causes and symptoms of visual impairment include:
- Cataract – a clouding of the lens of the eye causing light to scatter and vision to blur
- Diabetic Retinopathy – a complication of diabetes where the blood vessels at the back of the eye leak and rupture with loss of vision
- Glaucoma – where the pressure within the eye ball increases and there is a loss of side vision leading to tunnel vision
- Macular Degeneration – sometimes known as Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) where the rear central (and most sensitive) part of the eye begins to degenerate leaving a ‘dark or blank hole’ in your vision
- Detached retina – where the inside layer (retina) of the eye detaches and, although symptoms can vary, commonly a dark shadow affects vision
- Retinitis Pigmentosa – a hereditary condition affecting the retina resulting in poor vision in poor light and restriction of visual field and tunnel vision
- Nystagmus – this is characterised by uncontrollable movements of the eyes either from side to side or up and down. The constantly moving image causes blurring
