Blog > 4 Signs Your Senior May Be Having Vision Trouble

4 Signs Your Senior May Be Having Vision Trouble

Your senior loved one may not be able to see as well as they used to. Often when seniors experience vision changes they just assume that it’s because they are getting older so they don’t say anything about it to their family caregivers or elder care providers. But changes in your senior loved one’s vision may be indications of a health problem that needs to be addressed. Changes in their vision could also indicate that your senior loved one needs to get an eye exam. Look for any of these signs that your senior loved one may not be able to see as well as they used to:

Clothes Not Matching

If you or your senior loved one’s elder care provider notice that your senior loved one suddenly has started wearing socks that don’t belong to the same pair, or a shirt that doesn’t match their pants, or is wearing clothing that clashes it could be that your senior loved one is having trouble seeing colors and patterns. If they can’t see the colors and patterns of the clothing they have they won’t be able to match pairs of socks or choose colors of clothing that go together.

Bumping Into Walls Or Doors

Most of the time family caregivers assume that if their senior loved one is bumping into doors or walls it’s a balance problem or a mobility problem. But it may be a vision problem. If the walls of their home are the same color as the doors and they are light colored it could be the case that your senior loved one can’t tell where the wall ends and the door begins. They also have may have trouble figuring out the distance to the wall because it looks like just a blob to them. A great way to solve this is to paint the walls a bright color and to paint the doors and doorway a contrasting color so that your senior loved one will have an easier time seeing them.

Not Recognizing Friends And Family Members Immediately

If your senior loved one doesn’t have dementia but takes a minute to recognize you or their familiar elder care provider when entering a room it could be that they just can’t see people’s features clearly until the people are right in front of them. This is an issue that should be looked into by an eye doctor, but in the meantime make sure that you are saying hi loudly or announcing yourself when you walk into the room so your senior loved one will know right away who is entering the room.

Walking Hesitantly

If your senior parent has started shuffling when they walk or hesitating to take a step it might not be a mobility issue it might be because of a vision problem. Schedule an eye exam for your senior loved one to make sure that they can still see where they are walking. If the vision exam shows no changes in their vision then you should schedule a general health exam to find out why there has been a change in how your senior loved one is walking.