General Fitness & Nutrition: Running making my eyesight go weird?

Well. A LONG time ago, I was jogging and had hair gel in my hair. When I sweat it got in my eyes and i wasn't noticing until I started getting a similar sensation as you described. After a few of these I ended up with chemical conjunctivitis. (Pink eye caused by chemicals). My eyesight hasn't been the same since.

I would think a trip to the optomitrist is in order. The changes that you have noticed may have nothing to do with your running. Maybe you are just getting older, but my experience with that (49 yo wearing glasses since 12) is that my distance vision has pretty much stabilzed,it is the ability to focus close in that becomes harder. I do fins that if I spend too much tim staring at the computer screen, then I have difficulty seeing far away. This is realted to the close vision changes, both stem from the eye losing the flexibilty to chage focus that I had when younger. I have noticed kind of the opposite effect from running. After a particulalry good run I have found my distance vision slightly more acute. I chalk it up to higher blood oxygen from breathing hard while running. It is always temporary, but it is cool to be able to see the edges of the leaves on trees a hundred yards away. Reminds me of how I felt when I first got glasses and discovered that the world had edges.

Are you in your 40's? If so It is probably normal aging effects. Seeing an Optometrist is always a good idea though. I did the same thing. Went from perfect vision to needing glasses (hasn't gotten bad enough to actually get glasses but I do need them) seemingly overnight. I'm sure it was a slower process but it seemed like someone flipped a switch. When I run, I see double vision during the run and for several minutes after. My optometrist wasn't worried about the double vision and told me I was getting older. (Can't believe I paid for that). In any case, it's good to get checked out so you can relax.

It's good to hear that some other people have similar experiences of things going blurry.  I'll have to try focussing a bit on my breathing perhaps, make sure I'm not pushing myself too hard.

Jodaddy, no I'm not in my 40's, just turned 30 in December.  I think you're spot on though, no doubt my vision has been slowly getting worse for a while now, it's just now I've noticed it I'm horrified at how bad it is!

You might not be blinking enough.  I wear contacts and my eyes can get dry quickly and then they get very blurry.  It's usually because I'm not blinking enough and not so much the contacts.  It might work for you.

I also had a similar problem where my vision seemed to go a blur on and off. I ignored it but soon the blur stayed one day in my right eye. After trips to the various doctors and specialist they found that a blood clot formed in the optical nerve. It happen because I have blood disorder that most people do not know they have which is factor 5. I had been eating a lot of greens which has a lot of vitamin k which can thicken your blood.

In review never postpone going to the doctor.

I find just the opposite when I run - my eyesight improves the more often I run.  I do a fair amount of trail running, so I'm assuming that my vision becomes sharper as I have to focus on avoiding rocks and barriers in my way.  Strange though to hear of vision worsening.  Maybe some road chemicals (salt, cleaners) used in your area?