When you left your house this morning, the last thing you expected was to wake up in a hospital with your sight impaired. You remember getting into an accident, but you can’t remember much beyond that. You’re told that the other driver fell asleep behind the wheel, and it’s been suggested that your sight might recover with time.
Car accidents are one of the most common causes of eye injuries in the United States. It should come as no surprise, as flying objects, glass and impacts can all damage your ability to see by impacting the brain or eye directly.
A loss of vision affects everything
If you were living in a seeing world before, adjusting to being blind may be a shock. A sudden loss of vision gives you no time to adjust to living without sight. You’ll have to learn how to do things without being able to see what’s around you.
Sometimes, a person’s vision can be saved. For example, if your vision is lost as a result of trauma to the eye, giving your eye time to heal might be enough to regain at least some of your sight. On the other hand, if you lose your vision because of damage to the occipital lobe, it might be hard to get your vision back. Up to 50 percent of the brain is involved in vision, so any kind of brain injury could end up costing you your sight.
What happens after you lose your sight?
The main focus is on your health. Once you’re stable, the medical providers work with you to begin teaching you how to live without sight. You may have had surgery or other treatments to help your sight return, and in that case, you’ll need to follow all instructions for keeping your eyes relaxed during recovery.
Loosing your sight is a difficult problem to face, but with help, you can move forward and live with limited or no sight at all.
