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Many of us at least once in our lives were participants in a situation where it was necessary to help a person who had fainted, and some even found themselves in the role of a victim. The most common symptoms that precede the onset of fainting are most often blackouts in the eyes, which may be accompanied by tinnitus, general weakness, nausea, and dizziness.
Darkening in the eyes occurs quite often in people and can be not only simply a consequence of a person’s overwork, but also a harbinger of serious health complications.
Causes
Darkening in the eyes can be the result of two main fundamental causes, the first of which is the lack of oxygen and various nutrients that should have been supplied to the brain. The second may be a pathology or disturbance of the visual system.
Darkening of the eyes is often the first symptom, followed by dizziness or fainting.
More often than not, most fainting spells and blackouts that are common in everyday life are mild and do not indicate a vital health problem or injury. But sometimes such phenomena indicate the development of quite serious processes in the human body and require an urgent appeal to doctors, where, after a thorough examination and possible confirmation of negative changes in the body, a serious course of treatment can be prescribed. However, it is worth emphasizing that it will not be the consequence, which is darkening in the eyes, that will be treated, but the root causes that caused this failure.
Safe causes of darkening in the eyes
Overwork and excessive stress that accompany the lives of most students, athletes, some workers, overloaded with duties, can often lead to darkening of the eyes. With all this, there is also tinnitus, general hearing loss, loss of orientation in space, but, as a rule, there is no pain. Even with such symptoms, it is better to consult a doctor and conduct examinations for a qualified conclusion to find the cause and source of problems, as well as draw up a plan to get rid of negative consequences and not repeat this in the future. Based on this, overwork and its subspecies, as well as a low level of hemoglobin, can be attributed to relatively negative reasons.
Quite often, darkening in the eyes and malaise occurs due to a drop in blood glucose levels in the case of a diet, from overwork and exhausting physical exertion, or in the case of strong emotions experienced by a person.
After confirming just such reasons, a person will need considerable time for rest, good nutrition and the transition to a healthy lifestyle. Loads will also have to be abandoned for a while.
Darkening in the eyes from diseases
Darkening in the eyes can occur in the morning when a person gets out of bed, with sudden movements of the body and turns of the head, torso, and also occur with strong physical exertion on the human body. Such cases are often accompanied by headaches, nausea and vomiting. The last signs are more serious and may be a confirmation of the following diseases:
- hypotension;
- vascular dystonia;
- all kinds of diseases caused by infections;
- diseases of the nervous system.
Characteristics of diseases
The consequence of hypotension is a negative effect on brain cells due to oxygen starvation. With this syndrome, blood pressure drops dramatically, because of this, the brain does not receive enough oxygen and its cells begin to die, which is manifested by darkening in the eyes, as well as headache and nausea. Like any other serious health problem, this one involves a certain course of treatment and a revision of the patient’s lifestyle.
Vegetovascular dystonia has similar symptoms. The reasons here are extensive and require long-term rehabilitation treatment.
In the event that the problem with darkening in the eyes is caused by an infection in the body, the doctor will prescribe antibacterial drugs, which, along with the elimination of the infection, will lead to the disappearance of symptoms associated with vision, headache, weakness and lethargy.
Also, darkening in the eyes is included in the primary list of factors that may indicate diseases such as osteochondrosis, various aneurysms, compression of arteries and nerve endings. In such situations, darkening and pain occur only with certain movements and positions of the body, or its parts, and most often will be the first symptoms of a manifesting disease.
The main types of diseases that lead to the manifestation of blackouts in the eyes include thyroid diseases, malfunctions of the heart valves and metabolic disorders in the body. In the case of such problems, the phenomenon will be only one of a whole complex of symptoms.
Local visual problems
Do not forget that sometimes the cause of darkening in the eyes can be problems that are associated only with the visual analyzer itself. Among them are such as:
- defects associated with visual fields;
- violation of the integrity of the visual tract;
- diseases of the optic nerve.
Darkening is provoked by pathological loss of visual fields. A sharp movement in this case, or a sharp turn of the head, can cause such an eye reaction.
Also, patients with glaucoma and people with farsightedness and myopia after prolonged eye strain complain of similar problems.
Problems can arise when there is a violation of the signal from the eyes to the brain, which appear with spasm or paralysis of the optic nerve or optic tract.
To determine an accurate diagnosis that will reliably show the source of the problem and possible ways to eliminate it, a comprehensive ophthalmological examination will be required, including ophthalmoscopy, refractometry and several other manipulations that the doctor considers necessary in a particular individual case.
First aid
Symptoms of darkening in the eyes appear very quickly, so their manifestation can be noticed and the negative consequences of such an incident, including strong falls, bumping into surrounding objects, and loss of balance, can be minimized. When such symptoms occur, the best solution is to sit or lie down, provide fresh air, drink cold clean water or sweet tea.
If the darkening in the eyes is accompanied by fainting, then the person is recommended to be put on one side, in order to avoid swallowing the tongue during relaxation, it is better not to raise the head so as not to interfere with the flow of blood to the brain. It is also permitted to use ammonia or splashes of cold water to try and bring the person to their senses.
Diagnosing the problem
If you suspect such a problem, you should immediately contact a therapist and an ophthalmologist. If this symptom is not the result of overwork, then a number of studies are prescribed.
There are four main types of survey methods:
- MRI of the brain.
- MRI of orbits.
- Examination of visual fields on the computer perimeter, which can reveal scotomas.
- MRI of the vessels of the neck and head, which diagnoses disorders in the circulatory system.
It is worth remembering that when visiting a doctor with a similar problem, a patient complaining of darkening in the eyes should be prepared for the fact that he will have to clearly answer many questions of interest to the doctor. It is necessary to describe in as much detail as possible what kind of character and signs the symptoms have, how often the most serious of them or the maximum darkening occur, whether the person has previously had injuries associated with damage to the skull and brain, and whether there have been certain diseases recently. Only after listening to a detailed response from the patient, the doctor can prescribe the necessary examination with research from a specialist, and subsequently save the person from this serious problem.
Prevention of blackouts in the eyes
For those patients whose darkening of the eyes is associated with lifting and dizziness, it is recommended to carry out regular physical activity without great overload. For example: running, walking, swimming and exercising in the gym. Regular visits to the bathhouse, but without high temperatures, will also be useful. An effective method will be to take drugs that strengthen the walls of blood vessels and those medicines that prevent the formation of blood clots.
There are certain recommendations that will help not to unnecessarily provoke darkening in the eyes during the diagnosis of problems. First of all, you need to try to change the position of the body, turn your head smoothly and slowly. This will help to avoid darkening immediately after the abrupt actions that cause it.
If you nevertheless felt that a darkening was beginning and felt weak, then the best solution in this case would be to take a “reclining” position and patiently wait for the stabilization of your state of health. If this is not done, then the likelihood of injury from falling to the floor or surrounding objects, which, moreover, can be quite traumatic, will be too great.
If you feel the approach of darkening in the eyes and fainting, experts recommend lowering your head as low as possible. The best way, available at any time, is to sit down and lower your head low between your spread knees.
At the slightest sign that blackout is approaching, it is worth focusing on some of the surrounding objects (this will help get rid of discomfort).