The Real Reason Your Vision Is Blurry When You Wake Up
Waking up in the morning thinking about so many things and ... everything looks blurry. Have you ever wondered why that is the case? There are several reasons why you might be waking up with blurry vision and many of them are not to worry about.
One of the most simple explanations is that your eyes are dry when you wake up. This can happen if you had slept with the fan on or a source of wind is coming straight at your face (via AllAboutVision.com). What happens is that when lots of air hits your eyes, it dries up your tears which naturally lubricate your eye allowing you to see clearly.
Another cause of dryness can be sleeping with your face crushed on your pillow (via Men's Health). To get rid of the blurry vision caused by dry eyes, blink a few times to produce more tears and remoisten your corneas.
Blurry vision might be a symptom of an illness
According to Healthline, consuming different types of medications before sleeping, including allergy medicine, cold pills, or sleeping aids, can alter your tear production and lead to blurry vision in the morning. Alcohol consumption or allergies that impact your eyes can also reduce your tear supply.
If you are a contact lens user, you have to be especially careful about your eye hygiene. If you fall asleep with your contacts, they will accumulate proteins that will blur your vision. "It would be like if you smeared little blobs of gel over your window. That's why vision goes down," ophthalmologist Rebecca Taylor told Men's Health.
However, blurry vision can also be a symptom of a serious illness such as diabetes. Having high blood sugar levels — a possible indicator of diabetes — causes eye swelling which may affect the eye's ability to focus (via Health). Another possibility is that you may have high blood pressure, which can cause a blockage in the eye veins, stopping the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the eyes and therefore causing blurry vision (via Men's Health).
In any case, if you're worried about your blurry vision, consult your eye doctor as they will have the best resources to determine the reasons for this.