The Impact of Binge Drinking on Your Eyesight

With the festive season fast approaching, you no doubt have a hectic social calendar lined up. It’s important during this period that you look after yourself, both physically and mentally.

Long-term binge drinking and alcohol abuse can have a negative impact on your health, such as liver disease.

However, did you know that alcohol can also have an effect on your eyesight?

Binge drinking is defined as drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time, or drinking specifically to get drunk.

It’s difficult to define how much alcohol in one session counts as binge drinking, as everyone is different.

This can be dangerous because your body can only process one unit of alcohol per hour; to put this into perspective, a large glass of wine with a 14% alcohol content contains 3.5 units.

Does drinking affect your eyesight?

No matter your age or what you are doing, it is important that you are taking the right steps in looking after your eyes. Drinking alcohol excessively can have both short-term and long-term effects on your vision.

When you drink alcohol, your reactions slow down and your reflexes are naturally slower. This is one of the reasons why it is illegal to drink and drive. You will also experience slower pupil reactions, which can make it difficult to distinguish between objects.

Other short-term effects of alcohol on your eyesight can include blurry or distorted vision. This is because there will be a delay between your brain and your eyes which weakens your eye muscles.

These effects are often short-lived and will reduce once you have stopped drinking and your body has processed the alcohol.

There are also long-term effects on your eyesight if you regularly over-consume alcohol. This can have detrimental effects on your overall health, including your eyesight.

Long-term damage to your health due to alcohol

Excessive alcohol can increase your risk of developing a number of eye conditions. For example, drinking too much can increase your risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.

What’s more, your body may suffer from vitamin deficiency which can also have a negative impact on your vision. In extreme cases, you could experience toxic amblyopia which causes permanent vision loss.

As the party season draws nearer, it’s important to look after your eyes and the rest of your body! Be sure to attend your eye examination if you are due one, as your optician can often detect any changes in your eye health making it much easier to prevent or manage if spotted early.

Try to follow a healthy diet and ensure your body is getting all the right vitamins and minerals it needs, and carefully consider the number of units you are drinking; it won’t hurt to pace yourself!

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