Anyone experiencing the ups and downs of menopause (and perimenopause, for that matter) knows it's so much more than just hot flushes. Every other day there seems to be a new symptom linked to this period in our lives, from low mood to brain fog.
Awareness is improving, but there's still a long way to go in our understanding of how women's bodies respond to this immense hormonal change. One example of this: did you know that menopause can mess with your eyesight, too?
Yep, menopause can be associated with a number of eye-related issues, including dryness, blurring, and itchiness. The good news is that there are simple interventions to help alleviate these symptoms – but first, we need to make women aware of the cause. That's something Naomi Watts, of Mulholland Drive fame, is keen to push for.
On Instagram, the actress shared that she herself was surprised to discover menopause's impact on her eyes. 'Midlife has brought some of the clearest thinking of my life, but funny enough, some blurry vision too,' she wrote. 'Turns out vision changes like dry eye and needing readers are incredibly common during perimenopause and menopause, and almost nobody talks about it. We just adapt. Squint a little. Hold the menu a little farther away.'
Naomi has partnered with Johnson & Johnson to raise awareness of this menopause symptom, after the company's global survey found that only 40% of women aged 35 to 60 connect eye changes with menopause. While two thirds of women have experienced dry, gritty, or irritated eyes, only 18% have discussed these changes with an eye care professional.
Morgan Sayes, an optometrist at contact lens specialists Lenstore, tells Good Housekeeping that hormonal changes in midlife can mess with vision because the tear film, which keeps the eyes comfortable and vision clear, can be affected. Because so many women don't connect their eye symptoms with menopause, they put up with discomfort and go untreated for months or even years.
Morgan says: 'We talk a lot about hot flushes and brain fog, but the eyes are often left out of the menopause conversation. Changing hormone levels can reduce tear production and affect the tiny oil glands in the eyelids, so tears evaporate more quickly. The result is dry eyes, which can feel gritty, burning, tired or sore.'
What can be confusing is that dry eyes sometimes show up as watery eyes. Odd, we know. 'People assume that means their eyes aren't dry, but it's often the opposite,' Morgan explains. 'When the surface of the eye is irritated, it produces a flood of reflex tears that don't do the job of proper lubricating tears.'
Other signs that menopause could be affecting your vision include slightly blurred vision (which often clears when you blink), contact lenses that were previously comfortable suddenly feeling scratchy, or struggling to deal with hours of screens and bright lights. It's important that we don't brush off all these issues as 'normal' and think we have to just quietly put up with discomfort or pain.
Instead, we should all be using menopause as a nudge to have regular eye health checks.
'Midlife is also when most of us start to notice presbyopia, the natural loss of close focusing that makes small print harder to read,' notes Morgan. 'It isn't caused by menopause, but because the two often arrive together, it's a good moment to have a full eye examination. If you're taking HRT or other medication, mention it to your optometrist, as some medicines can affect how the eyes feel. Never stop or change a prescription without speaking to your GP first. Most importantly, eye symptoms in menopause are common and treatable, so there's no need to put up with them.'
There are also small actions you can take to keep your eyes in good shape amid all the changes of menopause. Ahead, Morgan shares her top tips:
7 tips for caring for your eye health in midlife:
- Take screen breaks. We blink less when concentrating on screens. Follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
- Try lubricating eye drops. Ask your optometrist or pharmacist to recommend a suitable drop, as preservative-free options are often gentler for frequent use.
- Use a warm compress. A warm compress on closed eyelids can help the oil glands work better. Your optometrist can show you how.
- Watch the heating. Central heating and car vents dry the air. Angle vents away from your face and consider a humidifier at home.
- Shield your eyes outdoors. Wraparound sunglasses help protect against wind and cold, which speed up tear evaporation.
- Review your contact lenses. If lenses feel uncomfortable, don't push through it. Your optometrist may suggest a different lens type, solution or wearing schedule.
- Book an eye examination. An optometrist can assess the tear film and eyelids, rule out other causes and recommend treatment.