How Smoking Affects Your Eye Health

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. But have you thought about what it does to your eye health? If not, it is time to address the subject. At Richardson Eye Associates, we have years of experience providing Richardson, TX residents with treatment for smoking-related eye conditions.

Conditions Caused by Smoking

Eye conditions that can be caused by smoking include cataracts, dry eye, Graves' disease, Diabetic retinopathy, and Macular Degeneration. If you develop cataracts, your vision will be blurry. Dry eye is caused when cigarette smoke removes the moisture from your eyes and negatively affects your tear production.

Graves' disease can cause your eyes to bulge out of your head. Over time your eyesight will get worse, and you may even lose it completely. It is considered a thyroid gland disease. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the eye’s blood vessels. Smoking aggravates both of these conditions. Without surgery or medication, you may experience vision that is distorted or blurry. Macular degeneration occurs when you experience damage to your retina. Smoking makes you more likely to develop this condition, which there is no cure for. Left untreated, it can cause your central vision to deteriorate, leaving you with only normal peripheral vision.

A less common condition caused by smoking is Uveitis. The uvea is the middle part of your eye, which can become inflamed by exposure to cigarette smoke. If you have Uveitis, you will experience pain and red-eye, along with problems with your vision. Uveitis encompasses many inflammatory diseases. It can cause damage to numerous parts of your eyes, including the vitreous, optic nerve, lenses, and retina. If it isn't corrected, Uveitis can cause glaucoma and leave you blind. Signs of this condition include red eyes, sensitivity to light, blurry vision, pain, and dark spots in your line of vision.

Retinal detachment is another problem among smokers. Swollen blood vessels in your eyes can easily be broken. If they do break, fluid will leak into your retina, causing the resulting detachment. It is much more common for smokers to suffer from this than non-smokers.

Eye Health Experts in Richardson, TX

If you are a smoker experiencing any type of pain in your eyes or problems with your vision, you owe it to yourself to book an appointment with Richardson Eye Associates. We treat patients throughout TX for numerous eye conditions. Our doctors will give you a full examination, help you understand the effects smoking has had on your eyes, and recommend necessary treatments. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call us at (972) 231-3439.