Blurry Vision After 50: Common Causes and What Helps

Blurry up close: presbyopia

If small print has started to blur and you find yourself holding your phone or a menu farther away, the likely cause is presbyopia. The National Eye Institute (NEI) says everyone gets it as they get older, usually after age 45. The eye’s lens gradually loses its ability to focus up close. Eye strain and headaches after reading are common too.

The fix is simple: reading glasses, or prescription glasses or contacts as it progresses. No supplement or eye exercise has been shown to reverse it.

Cloudy or dim vision: cataracts

A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens. According to the NEI, more than half of all Americans age 80 or older either have cataracts or have had surgery to remove them. Typical signs:

• Cloudy or blurry vision
• Colors that look faded
• Trouble seeing at night
• Lamps, headlights or sunlight that seem too bright

Early on, new glasses can help. Surgery, which replaces the cloudy lens with an artificial one, is the only way to remove a cataract. Supplements don’t treat cataracts.

Blur that comes and goes: dry eye

Dry eye is more common after 50, and in women. It can also be brought on by long hours looking at a computer, tablet or phone. Alongside a scratchy, burning or red feeling, it can also blur your vision.

Over-the-counter artificial tears are the usual first step. For more stubborn cases, doctors can prescribe drops such as cyclosporine or lifitegrast, or recommend tear duct plugs.

Blurry central vision: macular degeneration (AMD)

Age-related macular degeneration damages the macula, the part of the eye responsible for sharp, straight-ahead vision. It’s the cause on this list you most want to catch early, because it often has no symptoms at first:

• Early AMD: usually no symptoms.
• Intermediate AMD: sometimes mild blurriness in the center of your vision or trouble seeing in low light.
• Late AMD: straight lines start to look wavy or crooked, with blurry or blank spots in the center (see what wavy lines can mean).

AMD is more likely after 55, and smoking raises the risk. Only a dilated eye exam can tell you whether you have it and at what stage. For people with intermediate AMD, a specific supplement formula, AREDS2, can slow progression. Our guide to AREDS vs AREDS2 explains exactly what it contains.

If you have diabetes

Diabetic retinopathy damages blood vessels in the retina. The NEI notes it has no symptoms early on; blurry vision and floaters come later. That’s why people with diabetes are advised to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year, even if their vision seems fine.

When blurry vision is an emergency

Gradual blurriness can wait for a regular appointment. These can’t:

• Blurry vision that comes on suddenly
• New floaters or flashes of light, which can signal a retinal detachment
• Any sudden loss of vision, even if it lasts only seconds
• Double vision, or blurriness with eye pain

The American Academy of Ophthalmology advises seeing an eye doctor immediately, or going to the emergency room, if any of these happen.

Where a supplement fits

Of the causes above, supplements have real evidence for only one: AMD. The AREDS2 formula slows progression in people with intermediate AMD. It doesn’t sharpen vision, and it doesn’t treat presbyopia, cataracts or dry eye. If you don’t have AMD, no supplement has been shown to prevent it.

Some people still take lutein and zeaxanthin for everyday visual comfort, since a one-year trial found they improved contrast and recovery from glare. If that’s you, these two held up best in our reviews. Neither matches the AREDS2 doses.

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See them side by side in VisiFlora vs VISIVRA.