Can Alcoholism Affect Your Eyesight? Long-Term Symptoms You’ll Want To Prevent

You were invited to have dinner and drinks with friends after a long work week. The evening is extended as most people are enjoying themselves — with some indulging a bit more than others with cocktails.

You have a conversation with one of your friends who has become quite tipsy, but notice when talking to her that her eyes appear unfocused and glassy. That’s just a temporary change, right? Or does the appearance of her eyes reveal how alcohol can impact our bodies — particularly our eyesight?

Our eyes can be greatly impacted by frequent alcohol consumption, sometimes leading to long-term and irreversible symptoms if not addressed. Read further to understand how alcohol can impact our eyes, how to prevent eye damage from alcohol, and how to receive treatment for alcohol use disorders and abuse.

Table of Contents

• Can Alcoholism Affect Eyesight?
• Short-Term Effects of Alcoholism on Eyesight
• Long-Term Effects of Alcoholism on Eyesight
• Can Eye Damage From Alcohol Be Reversed?
• Get Treatment at Dove Recovery To Minimize or Prevent Eyesight Damage From Alcohol

Can alcoholism truly affect eyesight? The short answer is yes.

Visual changes like blurred vision or headaches are common short-term impairments following moderate alcohol consumption and will generally be reversed without issues. Moderate drinking for men is considered two drinks or less per day and one drink per day for women according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Consuming an occasional drink or two in social settings is not linked to long-term eye concerns.

However, studies reveal heavy or chronic alcohol consumption has been associated with increased risk of macular degeneration, cataracts, optic neuropathy, and other eye disorders.

Heavy drinking is defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as four or more drinks in one day (or 14 per week) for males and three or more drinks per day (or seven per week) for women.

If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol use disorder and are seeking assistance, Dove Recovery offers empathetic alcohol addiction treatment in Columbus, Ohio. Contact our admissions team for more information.

In the short term, overconsumption of alcohol can result in blurry or double vision.

It can cut down on your peripheral vision as well, resulting in tunnel vision. Along with significantly slower reaction times caused by the suppressive effect of alcohol, this blurry tunnel vision is another reason why you should never drive while under the influence of alcohol for any reason.

Alcohol also makes it difficult for you to perceive the differences in brightness between two objects, known as contrast. This can make it harder to judge the distance between objects closer to you and those that are further away.

Studies showed that even at blood-alcohol levels as low as 0.05%, a person’s perception of contrast is reduced by as much as 30%.

How Does Alcohol Cause Short-Term Vision Problems?

As alcohol is consumed, it enters our bloodstream and our central nervous system and begins to affect many bodily functions, including eyesight.

Alcohol may affect some people more easily than others. Some factors to consider include:

• Gender
• Height and weight
• Level of hydration
• Amount of alcohol consumed
• Rate of alcohol consumption
• Tolerance level
• Medications present in your body
• Amount of food in the stomach
• Mood or stress level

A person can become intoxicated even with moderate drinking and may experience temporary disturbances to their vision.

While it seems to be general knowledge that excessive drinking can impact your liver and kidneys, many do not realize that prolonged and excessive alcohol use can have significant impacts on other parts of our bodies — particularly our eyes.

Ways excessive alcohol use may impact your eyes and eyesight include:

• Delayed reactions between the eyes and brain that may cause double vision
• Decreased ability of pupils to dilate in response to light and color
• Blood vessels in the eyes that become dilated and visible, or “bloodshot”
• Migraine headaches
• Vision loss due to toxic amblyopia or nutritional optic neuropathy
• Early onset age-related macular degeneration that can lead to vision loss or blindness
• Dry eyes

Let’s look at some specific ways alcoholism can affect eyesight.

Ocular Surface Disease 

Ocular surface disease indicates that damage has occurred to the surface layers of the eye, namely the cornea and conjunctiva.

There are many causes of ocular surface disease, but the two most common ones are dry eye syndrome and blepharitis — and dry eye syndrome can be caused by excessive alcohol consumption.

Sight-Threatening Conditions

Some eye irritations from alcohol can be short-term concerns, but continual or chronic alcohol abuse can lead to significant and sight-threatening disorders.

• Optic nerve damage and blindness
  
  • Similar to your brain, the optic nerve consists of neurological transmitters, and continued alcohol use can damage the transmitters, which in turn threaten your vision.
• Decreased vision from vitamin deficiency
  
  • Excessive drinking may result in Vitamin A deficiency producing dry eyes and potential night blindness, retinal damage, or corneal perforation.
  • Vitamin B-1 deficiency from alcohol use can result in weakened or paralyzed eye muscles.
• Cataracts
  
  • When a cloudy area develops on the lens, it is called a cataract. This condition leads to a decrease in the field of vision.
  • Cataracts usually occur in people over the age of 55, but excessive drinking can cause them to develop earlier.
  • Blurred vision, increased sensitivity to light, difficulty seeing at night, and lack of intensity when seeing color are common signs of a cataract.
• Loss of Vision from age-related macular degeneration (ARMD)
  
  • Age-related macular degeneration associated with alcohol use can lead to blindness.
  • In the early stage of macular degeneration, shapes are fuzzy and colors are less vibrant. As the retina continues to deteriorate, the individual may have difficulty recognizing people’s faces and, over time, can no longer focus on their central field of vision.

How Does Alcohol Cause Long-Term Vision Problems?

Chronic, excessive drinking can result in interference between the brain and the eyes, along with accelerating the aging of various structures inside the eye, such as the lens, retina, and optic nerve.

Short-term effects from alcohol use such as blurry vision, sensitivity to light, or headaches may be temporary and reversible. However, long-term and severe damage to structures such as the optic nerve or retina may not be treatable or reversed.

Avoiding or reducing alcohol use may also prevent further damage, but may not restore the damage done by systemic and overall health impairments.

Detecting Eye Damage From Alcoholism

Clinicians may use various examination and imaging methods to detect damage to the optic nerve that can result from excessive alcohol use.

Patients may be experiencing:

• Decreased visual acuity
• Loss of color vision
• Pale appearance of the optic nerve
• Decreased nerve fiber layer thickness

If alcohol use disorder is suspected, alcohol-specific screening tools such as the CAGE Questionnaire can be used to create an index of suspicion.

Treating Eye Damage From Alcoholism

If you are concerned about potential eye damage from alcohol use for yourself or a loved one, visiting an ophthalmologist is essential for diagnosis and treatment.

Ophthalmologists can perform a general eye exam to catch the beginnings of eye diseases alcoholism may be causing along with prescribing corrective lenses, medications, or more specialized treatments. However, keep in mind that the longer a substance is utilized that negatively impacts your health, the longer it may take your body to recover or heal after stopping use — it will not be an overnight cure.

Remember, you do not have to be alone in your journey. Dove Recovery offers a detox program designed to help manage withdrawal symptoms, decrease cravings, and support clients in a successful recovery process.

Contact us today for more information about our Columbus, Ohio alcohol rehab program and how we can help ease your transition from substance dependence to recovery!

Take steps to care for your health and your precious eyesight by recovering from your dependence on alcohol.

Whether you are looking for short-term or long-term alcohol rehabilitation programs in Columbus, Ohio, we can help you or a loved one get started on the path to recovery. At Dove Recovery, we understand that everyone has different goals for their recovery journey. Our experienced counselors work closely with each patient to create their customized plan.

A treatment journey may include the following:

• Individual Counseling sessions
• Group Therapy
• Family Therapy
• 12-Step Recovery program
• Holistic Therapy
• Motivational Interviewing

Contact Dove Recovery today if you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol addiction — we are here to help.