Description and Possible Medical Problems
When you first wake up in the morning, it’s not that uncommon for your vision to be distorted. The digital numbers on your clock may appear a bit wavy, or the cat may look thinner than she really is. Usually, blinking your eyes a few times or just sitting up to regain your equilibrium is enough to make your vision return to normal.
You can blame this funhouse mirror act on your retina and the gradual, yet harmless, deterioration it undergoes as our eyes age. Since the retina’s function is to decode the light that enters the eye through the lens before sending it on to the final processor, the brain, when the retina becomes less flexible with age, the image your brain “sees” will be temporarily distorted in some manner. Some people will notice a slight difference in their vision; for others, the change will be quite dramatic.
A certain amount of deterioration in the retina is natural and starts to become noticeable after the age of 60. As aging affects the retina, it becomes dull, and the amount of time it requires to process the light entering the retina increases.
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to prevent deterioration of the retina. The good news is that a stronger eyeglass or contact lens prescription can frequently cure the distortion. You should, however, be alert to changes in your vision, because sometimes the distorted images you’re seeing as the result of an aging retina can lead to more serious retinal problems, such as macular degeneration and retinal detachment.
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