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What You Need to Know About Blindness



Blindness is the inability to see anything, including light.
If you’re partially blind, you have limited vision. For example, you may have blurry vision or the inability to distinguish the shapes of objects. Complete blindness means you can’t see at all.

Legal blindness refers to vision that’s highly compromised. What a person with regular vision can see from 200 feet away, a legally blind person can see from only 20 feet away.
Seek medical attention right away if you suddenly lose the ability to see. Have someone bring you to the emergency room for treatment. Don’t wait for your vision to return.

Depending on the cause of your blindness, immediate treatment may increase your chances for restoring your vision. Treatment may involve surgery or medication.

If you’re completely blind, you see nothing. If you’re partially blind, you might experience the following symptoms:

  • cloudy vision
  • an inability to see shapes
  • seeing only shadows
  • poor night vision
  • tunnel vision

Symptoms of blindness in infants

Your child’s visual system begins to develop in the womb. It doesn’t fully form until about 2 years of age.

By 6 to 8 weeks of age, your baby should be able to fix their gaze on an object and follow its movement. By 4 months of age, their eyes should be properly aligned and not turned inward or outward.

The symptoms of visual impairment in young children can include:
  • constant eye rubbing
  • an extreme sensitivity to light
  • poor focusing
  • chronic eye redness
  • chronic tearing from their eyes
  • a white instead of black pupil
  • poor visual tracking, or trouble following an object with their eyes

The following eye diseases and conditions can cause blindness:
  • Glaucoma refers to different eye conditions that can damage your optic nerve, which carries visual information from your eyes to your brain.
  • Macular degeneration destroys the part of your eye that enables you to see details. It usually affects older adults.
  • Cataracts cause cloudy vision

  • A lazy eye can make it difficult to see details. It may lead to vision loss.
  • Optic neuritis is inflammation that can cause temporary or permanent vision loss.
  • Retinitis pigmentosa refers to damage of the retina. It leads to blindness only in rare cases.
  • Tumors that affect the retina or optic nerve can also cause blindness.
Blindness is a potential complication if you have diabetes or have a stroke. Other common causes of blindness include:
  • birth defects
  • eye injuries
  • complications from eye surgery

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