How to fix blurry vision after waking up

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Home Conditions Blurry Vision » Morning blurry vision

Waking up with blurry vision in the morning is a common occurrence, though if it’s consistent, it may have you curious as to the cause. Rest assured, temporary blurry vision in the morning is usually harmless and can be attributed to the environment and several ordinary habits.

While it doesn’t usually take long for your vision to adjust back to normal, morning blurriness can be caused by eye allergies, sleeping in contact lenses or even certain medications.

Why you may be waking up with blurry vision

If you’ve woken up with blurry vision in one or both eyes, chances are one of the following sources is to blame. Fortunately, each one is fairly simple to avoid or manage.

Eye allergies

Eyes typically react to allergens by watering, itching, swelling or drying out. Dry eyes can cause blurred vision, especially when it’s first thing in the morning. 

If you only experience eye allergy symptoms in the morning, the allergens may be in your room. Common household allergens include dust mites, pet dander and certain laundry detergents.

Sleeping with a fan on

Whether it’s the fan on your bedside stand or the one on the ceiling, sleeping with it on throughout the night can wreak havoc on your eyes and skin. 

Though your eyes are closed when you sleep, fans can make them dry, irritated and itchy, leading to blurred vision in the morning.

Specific medications

Many people take specific medications at bedtime, which can lead to lower tear production throughout the night. The most common medications with this side effect include cold medicine, blood pressure medicine, sleep aids and antihistamines (the active ingredient in many over-the-counter sleep aids in an antihistamine).

Unless specifically suggested otherwise by your doctor, try taking these medications at a different time of day, when you’re able to fend off dry eye symptoms with artificial tears.

Tears that have dried overnight

Your eyes are constantly producing tears — even when you’re sleeping — to keep the eyes moist, nourished and clean. 

If you wake up with blurry vision, it’s possible that tears dried on the surface of your eyes while you slept. Don’t worry, blinking a few times once you’re awake should break up the buildup on your corneas and restore clear vision. 

Sleeping in contact lenses

Unless you’ve been prescribed extended-wear contacts by your eye doctor, sleeping in your contact lenses is not recommended. 

Wearing contacts overnight raises your risk of various eye infections and reduces the level of oxygen supplied to your eyes. The lack of oxygen dries out the eyes, resulting in blurry vision when you wake. 

SEE RELATED: How long can I wear contacts each day?   

Fuchs’ corneal dystrophy

Seen most commonly in women over age 50, Fuchs’ corneal dystrophy causes swelling of the corneas (the clear outer layer of the eye) during sleep. This swelling effect creates blurred vision in the morning, though it usually improves during the course of the day.

SEE RELATED: Blurry peripheral vision

Diabetes

Blood sugar levels associated with diabetes can cause vision fluctuations. It’s common for diabetics to wake up with blurry vision if their blood sugar is too high or too low. Blurry vision related to diabetes may be accompanied by other symptoms, including weakness or dizziness.

Sleeping on your face

Sleeping face down is not only bad for your neck and skin, it can affect your eyes as well. This sleeping position can cause floppy eyelid syndrome — a condition that diminishes the elasticity in the upper eyelid. 

Floppy eyelid syndrome can result in burning eyes, tearing up and blurred vision in the mornings. Though the condition is most common among men who are overweight, it can affect anyone.

Problems with your oil glands

Meibomian glands, which are tiny oil glands around the inside of your eyelids, produce oil and water-based tears to keep the eyes moist. If the glands produce too little oil, it could result in dry eyes, not just while you sleep, but also during the day.

Dry eye testing called the Schirmer's test is available to determine whether the glands are producing enough lubrication for the eyes.

Alcohol consumption near bedtime 

You may notice blurred vision the morning after a night out. In this case, blurry vision is likely caused by dry eyes, a result of being dehydrated. 

Alcohol is a known dehydrator. So, even enjoying a glass of wine before bed can dry out your eyes, leading to blurry vision in the morning.

When to see an eye doctor

Blurry vision is usually temporary and does not require medical attention. However, if your blurred vision persists or has additional symptoms with it, it’s wise to see an eye doctor.

Suffering a head injury near bedtime — especially one severe enough to cause a concussion — can cause blurry vision in the morning. In this case, blurry vision may also be accompanied by other symptoms, including:

• Dizziness

• Nausea

• Headache

• Ringing in the ears

• Lack of coordination

Waking up with blurred vision can also be a sign of stroke, a life-threatening event involving a blood clot in the brain. If any of the following symptoms are detected, it’s critical that you seek medical attention immediately.

• Numbness or tingling, especially on one side of your body

• Difficulty speaking

• Headache

• Dizziness

READ NEXT: Why would someone's vision only get blurry at night?

Page published on Monday, January 4, 2021

Page updated on Friday, April 22, 2022

Waking up with a sudden blurry vision in the morning is a commonly occurred problems, some people may experience blurry vision in one eyes only and some feel in both eyes. Usually, in many cases it is temporary conditions, your vision will be clear after few times if you do blinking frequent times and these are usually harmless, while in rare condition there may be some serious issues so that you have blurred vision. Let’s talk in details here.

Common Reasons

1. Dry Eye

The tear film protects our cornea from being dry when you’re sleeping eye is continuously producing tear to protect the cornea from dryness, Tear also provide nutrient to the cornea and also help it to make clean and clear, sometimes due to heat, not properly closed eye during sleep and many other reasons our tear may evaporate at night time, so the cornea became dry and you fell blurry vision at the morning. Certain medicine like antihypertensive, anti-allergic, sleeping aid also reduces the team production level so it may also cause dry eye in the morning.

Sometimes if you turn on the ceiling fan during the night, the air from the fans can make our skin, eyes dry, irritated and itchy this may also cause blurred vision in the morning.

To get rid of this you can blink your eyes frequently in the morning after wake up and you can also use Artificial tears which helps to protect your cornea from became dryness.

Read more about Dry Eyes and Artificial tears

2. Allergies in Eye

Another common cause of this problem is due to ocular allergies, or allergic conjunctivitis. In this eye condition, you experience itching, burning sensation, watering, and a mild redness of the eyes and these symptoms are often worse when getting up in the morning from bed, especially when there are dust, mould, or mites in the blanket, mattress or in the pillows you may experience allergic symptoms in the morning after wake up.

If you experience these symptoms you have to visit the nearest eye care centres for getting treatment of Allergic conditions.

Also, Read Allergic Conjunctivitis: Symptoms, Cause and Home Remedies

3. Sleeping in a Contact lens

Wearing contact lenses overnight raises the risk of various eye infections and reduces the level of oxygen supply to your eyes. The lack of oxygen dries out the cornea which results in blurry vision when you wake.

Don’t wear contact lenses at night if your doctors haven’t advice you to wear it. Sleeping in your contact lenses is not recommended.

4. Drinking alcohol before bedtime

Alcohol causes dehydration, which can also make dry eyes and blurriness in the morning.

5. Diabetes / Blood sugar problems

Blood sugar that’s too high or too low can also be the underlying cause of morning blurriness. In this case, however, you’ll have other symptoms such as dizziness and weakness. If you have diabetes don’t forget to get a comprehensive dilated eye examination twice a year.

What is diabetes and how does it affect your eyes?

6. Corneal Infections and Diseases

In the majority of corneal infections and disease, it causes cornea swelling while asleep, resulting in cloudy vision in the mornings. Your cornea needs to be transparent, if you noticed any opacity or patches in the cornea you have to visit eye doctors as soon as possible.

When do you need to see your doctor?

Usually, in many cases, it is temporary problems, You can blink your eyes frequently or use artificial tear eye drops. If the vision did not become clear and still you feel blurring in the vision then you have to consult with your eye doctors to find out the reason for the blurred vision. Waking up with blurred vision can also be a sign of stroke, a life-threatening event involving a blood clot in the brain. If any of the following symptoms are detected, it’s critical that you seek medical attention immediately.- Numbness or tingling, especially on one side of your body- Difficulty speaking- Headache or Dizziness. Sudden Blurred Vision In One Eye sometimes needs immediate consultation with eye doctors.

How to get rid of blurry eyes in the morning? What to do when you wake up with blurry vision?

First of all, blink your eyes frequently and use Artificial eye drops to get immediate relief from the blurry vision in the morning, and here are some tips which help you to prevent the blurry vision in the morning from occurring  again

• Keep hydrated, drink plenty of water.
• Don’t drink alcohol before bed.
• Make your bedroom neat and clean to avoid allergens.
• Don’t wear contact lenses while sleeping.
• Don’t sleep with a fan on, or pointed directly at your face.
• Sleep at least 7-8 hours a night. Poor sleep quality may also cause blurry vision.