Can Lyme Disease Cause Vision Problems? Blurred Vision, Double Vision, and Visual Changes
Vision problems may occur in Lyme disease
Neurologic involvement can affect visual processing as well as the eyes
Prompt evaluation can help identify treatable causes of vision problems
Can Lyme disease cause vision problems? Yes. Lyme disease can affect both the eyes and the way the brain processes visual information. Reported symptoms include blurred vision, double vision, light sensitivity, impaired contrast sensitivity, difficulty reading, and visual processing problems. While many eye symptoms have other causes, Lyme disease should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis when these symptoms occur with other features of tick-borne illness.
Because many of these symptoms occur despite a normal routine eye examination, patients are sometimes told that nothing is wrong. However, specialized testing and careful neurologic evaluation may reveal abnormalities that are not detected by standard visual acuity testing.
Contrast sensitivity may be affected in post-treatment Lyme disease
One visual function that has received increasing attention is contrast sensitivity, which measures a person’s ability to distinguish an object from its background when the contrast between them is low.
Unlike the familiar eye chart used during routine eye examinations, contrast sensitivity testing evaluates how well a person sees under real-world conditions such as dim lighting, fog, rain, glare, or night driving.
In their study, Rebman and colleagues reported:
“We found a relationship between contrast sensitivity impairment in participants with post-treatment Lyme disease compared with controls that is associated with neurologic abnormalities and specific cognitive test impairments.”
The investigators found that reduced contrast sensitivity was associated with objective neurologic findings and poorer performance on selected cognitive tests, suggesting that visual dysfunction may reflect broader nervous system involvement rather than an eye problem alone.1
Contrast sensitivity is particularly important for everyday activities such as:
- Driving at night
- Walking safely in dim lighting
- Reading low-contrast print
- Recognizing faces
- Navigating stairs and uneven surfaces
According to Arditi, contrast sensitivity is strongly associated with reading performance, mobility, driving safety, face recognition, and many activities of daily living.2
Other visual changes reported in Lyme disease
Patients with Lyme disease may experience a variety of additional vision problems. These can include blurred vision, visual fatigue, double vision (diplopia), convergence insufficiency, impaired eye tracking, headaches triggered by visual activities, and difficulty processing complex visual environments.3
A recent peer-reviewed case report by Sayyed and Padula described a child whose persistent visual processing problems—including blurred vision, headaches, photosensitivity, tracking difficulties, poor balance, and reading problems—prompted a comprehensive neuro-optometric evaluation. Subsequent laboratory testing confirmed multiple tick-borne infections.4
Although this report describes a single patient and cannot establish cause and effect, it illustrates how unexplained visual dysfunction may occasionally contribute to the recognition of underlying tick-borne disease in carefully selected patients.
Mikkilä and colleagues additionally reported that photophobia and severe episodic ocular pain may occur in Lyme borreliosis. They concluded that Lyme disease should be included in the differential diagnosis of retinal vasculitis, particularly in endemic regions.5
READ MORE: Ocular Lyme disease: Eye complications and symptoms
Can visual processing problems occur in Lyme disease?
Not all visual symptoms arise from abnormalities within the eye itself. In some patients, Lyme disease may affect how the brain processes visual information. This type of dysfunction is sometimes referred to as a visual processing disorder or neuro-visual dysfunction.
Patients may report symptoms such as:
- Difficulty keeping their place while reading
- Words appearing to move on the page
- Visual fatigue after short periods of reading
- Difficulty focusing in busy or crowded environments
- Problems with eye tracking
- Poor concentration during visually demanding tasks
- Increased sensitivity to light or motion
- Dizziness triggered by visual stimulation
The exact mechanisms remain under investigation, but researchers believe these symptoms may reflect neurologic dysfunction affecting visual pathways rather than damage to the eyes themselves.
The Padula Institute of Vision describes similar visual processing complaints in patients with tick-borne diseases. These observations may help explain symptoms reported by some patients, although specialized neuro-optometric approaches and proposed biomarkers require additional validation before becoming part of routine clinical practice.3
When should Lyme disease be considered?
Most visual symptoms have many possible causes. Blurred vision, double vision, eye pain, light sensitivity, and floaters may result from common eye disorders, migraine, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, medication side effects, or other neurologic conditions.
However, Lyme disease should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis when visual symptoms occur together with other features suggestive of tick-borne illness, particularly in patients living in or traveling through endemic regions.
Clinical clues may include:
- History of tick exposure or outdoor activities
- Erythema migrans (bull’s-eye) rash
- Facial palsy
- Headache or meningitis symptoms
- Joint pain or migrating musculoskeletal symptoms
- Neuropathy or numbness
- Cognitive difficulties or “brain fog”
- Persistent fatigue
Because early laboratory testing may be negative, physicians often rely on the patient’s clinical history, physical examination, and evolving symptoms when deciding whether Lyme disease should be considered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Lyme disease cause blurry vision?
Yes. Blurred vision has been reported in Lyme disease and may result from ocular inflammation, cranial nerve involvement, optic nerve disease, or abnormalities in visual processing.
Can Lyme disease cause double vision?
Yes. Double vision can occur when Lyme disease affects cranial nerves, eye movement, or visual processing. Because double vision has many possible causes, it should be evaluated promptly.
Can Lyme disease affect night driving?
Yes. Reduced contrast sensitivity may make it more difficult to see in low-light conditions, during rain or fog, or when driving at night, even if routine visual acuity testing is normal.
Can Lyme disease cause floaters?
Floaters are not among the most common manifestations of Lyme disease and have many possible causes, including age-related vitreous changes and retinal disorders. However, inflammatory eye conditions associated with Lyme disease may occasionally produce floaters, making ophthalmologic evaluation important.
Can an eye examination be normal even if Lyme disease affects vision?
Yes. Some patients experience visual processing abnormalities despite having a normal routine eye examination. Persistent visual symptoms should prompt further ophthalmologic or neurologic evaluation when clinically appropriate.
Can visual symptoms persist after Lyme disease treatment?
Some patients with post-treatment Lyme disease continue to report visual symptoms, including impaired contrast sensitivity, although the reasons for persistent symptoms remain an active area of research.
Clinical Takeaway
Vision problems are increasingly recognized as part of the neurologic spectrum of Lyme disease. While many eye complaints have causes unrelated to Lyme disease, published studies suggest that impaired contrast sensitivity and visual processing abnormalities can occur in some patients, particularly those with neurologic involvement or post-treatment Lyme disease.
Persistent blurred vision, double vision, light sensitivity, difficulty reading, floaters, or unexplained visual fatigue deserve careful medical evaluation. Identifying the underlying cause is essential because many neurologic, ophthalmologic, and systemic disorders can produce similar symptoms.
Recognizing visual changes early may help identify neurologic Lyme disease and other treatable conditions while improving patient outcomes.
Related Articles
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Can Lyme disease cause double vision?
Can Lyme disease cause optic neuritis?
Erratic rapid eye jerks in a child with Lyme disease
References
- Rebman AW, Yang T, Aucott JN, Mihm EA, West SK. Contrast Sensitivity Loss in Patients With Posttreatment Lyme Disease. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2021;10(3):6.
- Arditi A. Improving the design of the letter contrast sensitivity test. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2005;46(6):2225-2229. doi:10.1167/iovs.04-1198.
- Padula Institute of Vision. Lyme and Tick-borne Disease: Vision Problems. Accessed July 2026.
- Sayyed AI, Padula WV. Visual dysfunction and sudden onset symptoms leading to early detection of tick-borne infections: A case report. IJID One Health. 2024;4:100036.
- Mikkilä HO, Seppälä IJ, Viljanen MK, Peltomaa MP, Karma A. The expanding clinical spectrum of ocular Lyme borreliosis. Ophthalmology. 2000;107(3):581-587. doi:10.1016/S0161-6420(99)00128-1.
Dr. Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH
Lyme disease clinician with over 30 years of experience and past president of ILADS.
Symptoms • Testing • Coinfections • Recovery • Pediatric • Prevention
I believe my visual problems were due to Babesia and to Bartonella. Not Lyme.
Some Eyesight issues including light sensitivity cleared up when I treated my Babesia first.
The pain behind my eye, and poor vision, plus a slew of other issues surrounding my trigeminal nerve, cleared up or are clearing as I treat the Bartonella.
I think that the common co-occurrence of Lyme + these coinfections may have people mistakenly attribute ocular issues to Lyme.
I have had problems with my eye since I first had Lyme disease for almost ten years now. The vision would generally improve when I was on antibiotics, but it didn’t help me the last time I was taking antibiotics. Is there a specific antibiotic that can target this issue? I’ve been treated for bartenella, but I wonder if it could be caused by another co infection.