14 Things Your Eyes Can Reveal About Your Health

Written by Tanya Arora  • 

Forget the saying “Eyes are the windows to your soul.” They are actually indicators of your health!

Long considered as one of the most attractive features of the human face, epic poems have been written on these almond-shaped wonders. But while lovers prefer to get lost in each other’s eyes, maybe it’s time for you to drown in your own peepers. Or at least give it a good, long look in the mirror to find out if something’s wrong with your health.

Most people suffer from one or the other disease without even realizing it since there are no ‘obvious’ symptoms. If you think you’re one of those (and even if you do not), check your eyes. They can reveal symptoms of conditions you may be suffering from.

Here are 14 things your eyes can say about your health!

1. White Spots On Your Cornea

Do you wear contact lenses often? You may notice white spots developing on your cornea, which is a sign of a corneal ulcer (1). Corneal ulcers are a type of bacterial or fungal infection, normally accompanied by pain. Immediate treatment is necessary or it can lead to complications.

2. White Ring Around Your Iris

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Generally, a white, gray or translucent ring around the iris is a sign of aging. So, if you’re in your late 60s or 70s, you shouldn’t lose sleep over it. However, if you’re still living your younger days and notice a circle around your eyes, it might indicate that you suffer from ‘arcus senilis’ – a condition caused by high cholesterol levels in the body (2).

3. Bloodshot Eyes

Bloodshot or red eyes are commonly accepted as a result of stressed eyes caused by staring at screens for too long or working for several hours without breaks. However, if you cannot attribute any cause to your red eyes, you might be suffering glaucoma, pink eye or even broken blood vessels (3).

4. Dry Eyes

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The feeling of dryness in your eyes is far from comfortable and can even be painful when coupled with a sensation of burning and itchiness (4). Most of the causes of dry eyes, such as allergic reaction to medications, pregnancy, and aging, are nothing to worry about. However, medical conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome are quite serious and require immediate medical attention (5).

5. Translucent Specks In One’s Vision

You’ve seen them before, and usually they are not alarming in themselves. They only turn into a cause of concern if their frequency increases and you start seeing them all the time. If that happens, visit your doctor as it could indicate retinal detachment (6).

6. Puffy Red Eyes

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Redness that is accompanied by swelling in your eyes means that you suffer from fatigue and also lack of sleep. These might seem like ordinary causes to you but lack of sleep and extreme fatigue mean you’re probably suffering from other underlying health issues that require your attention.

7. Yellow Spots Near Iris

Another one of the many signs of aging, but if you experience yellow spots despite being young, it could mean something else. It could denote that you spend too much time in the sun or the pollutants in the air have been irritating your eyes.

8. Involuntary Tears

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Involuntary tears are a common symptom of dry eyes – a condition that is generally caused when your tear ducts cannot produce enough tears (7). This can be easily treated so there’s nothing to worry about.

9. Disruption In The Visual Field

If your vision is obstructed and you can’t see parts of your visual field, you could be suffering an ocular migraine. While there’s no treatment for this, it does not have any severe impact on your overall health.

10. Blurry Vision

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Blurry vision is bad news, indicative of cataracts and diabetes among other things (8). Both of these conditions can be quite dangerous, so a visit to your doctor is a must!

11. Twitchy Eyes

Some amount of eye twitching happens to most of us from time to time. However, if it gets too common, it shows that you experience chronic stress. While this isn’t dangerous in itself, the stress that causes it can lead to other health problems such as weight gain, etc.

12. Thinning Eyebrows

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Though not technically a part of the eyes, thinning or disappearing eyebrows is one of the lesser known symptoms of thyroid disease – one that you should get checked out at the earliest.

13. Eye Bulging

Your eyes can be naturally bulging due to your genetic makeup. However, if that’s not the case and you notice a sudden bulge, you can, again, blame it on a faulty thyroid gland (9).

14. Double Vision

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Seeing double does not happen very often, but when it does, it only spells bad things such as dizziness or even a stroke (10). Sudden vision loss and dimmed vision indicate the same.

There’s no denying that you want to stay healthy and happy always. So, if you notice anything wrong with your eyes, do not take it lightly and get professional help as soon as you can.

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