When consuming alcohol in moderation, the body can metabolize it and excrete it through the liver and kidneys. In contrast, when consumption is excessive, that often leads to a buildup of toxins causing alcohol eyesight damage and eye problems. Oftentimes even small amounts of liquor or spirits could cause puffy and bloodshot ‘alcohol eyes’. Alcohol use is connected with various vision problems, including blurry sight, dry eyes, and even blindness. These side effects can be both temporary and long term, and they range in severity. Additionally, drinking alcohol can change the way that your eyes respond to natural light and other stimuli.
- Excessive alcohol consumption can negatively affect the eyes, leading to rapid eye movement, double vision, and potential blindness.
- There are also dotted lines that indicate the pathway to guide the eye movements and to reduce participant anxiety.
- Early intervention can make a significant difference in preventing further damage and improving your overall eye health.
- Formerly, Tyler studied Aeronautics (just like his brother) with the dream of becoming an airline pilot, however, after 9/11 his career path changed.
How may alcohol affect the eyes?
This can lead to a variety of visual disturbances that may not only impair your ability to see clearly but also affect your coordination and reaction times. As you explore the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol on vision, you will gain insight into how your drinking habits can shape your visual health and what steps you can take to mitigate potential risks. The Visual Maze Test was used to evaluate eye movements during the search of the maze exit.
Long-Term Effects of Alcohol on Vision
From this perspective, the need for a greater number of fixations may indicate a lower efficiency of the information cognitive processing during a visual search 33. Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing cataracts. That’s a common eye condition where the eye’s lens becomes cloudy and obscures vision. Cataracts are relatively more common in heavy drinkers than in moderate or non-drinkers. During your treatment process, you will learn the ins and outs of addiction as you recover in order for you to take this knowledge and the skills you’ll practice with you once you begin your new sober life.
Optic Nerve
Regarding the study of Abroms et al. 17, for example, our study differs in relation also to the task and the dosage administered. The authors manage the alcoholic dosage containing a part of alcohol and three parts of mixing carbonated. Despite of these differences, our findings confirm the results found in the literature, indicating that an alcoholic beverage is able to change the eye movements and cognition aspects 4, 16, 18. It should be emphasized that the studies reported 5, 17 provided methodological support for this work, and the methodological improvements made sought to control the largest possible number of variables involved, providing greater robustness to the results. The statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), version 20. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed that the data complied with the assumption of normality; therefore, parametric tests were applied.
From there, alcohol can cause the blood vessels in your eyes to swell, which leads to bloodshot eyes. Moreover, bloodshot eyes can alcoholism and vision be a sign of more serious complications such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and addiction. Learn about how anti-anxiety drugs, such as Xanax, Paxil and Valium, can cause eye-related side effects such as dry eye and blurry vision.
- Whether you’re looking for counseling, support groups, or treatment facilities, AlcoholAwareness.org can guide you towards the help you need to break free from alcohol dependence.
- Regarding alcohol drinking habits, the majority had been drinking for 10 (30%) and five (20%) years, and beer was their beverage of choice (40%).
- Thus, findings of this study add a significant step in understanding the diffuse transitory impairments caused by alcohol in perceptual and cognitive processes analyzed from deficits in the pattern of eye movements.
Related Conditions
Therefore, researcher #1 prepared the alcoholic beverages and measured the BAC, whereas researcher #2 administered the tests and supervised the session. If the BAC was 0 (which it invariably was), the participant received from researcher #1 his/her first glass of the drink. Two minutes after drinking the first glass, the participant received the second glass. Methanol ingestion most often occurs due to accidental consumption, and may induce a severe irreversible bliateral toxic optic neuropathy.
He worked for many years in mental health and substance abuse facilities in Florida, as well as in home health (medical and psychiatric), and took care of people with medical and addictions problems at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He has a nursing and business/technology degrees from The Johns Hopkins University. Possible short-term problems relating to intoxication include blurry vision, changes in color perception, and light sensitivity. No reliable sourcing indicates how many people experience vision issues due to alcohol. The contents of this post and of all Zenni blogs are for informational and marketing purposes only.
If you’re concerned about drinking and your eye health, consider speaking with a doctor about ways you may be able to limit your intake. The same study also noted alcohol’s possible link with geographic atrophy. This refers to an irreversible deterioration of the delicate tissues beneath the retina in the eye that’s part of late stage AMD that leads to permanent vision loss. Your muscles might not move as effectively while you are under the influence of alcohol.