Common among people over 50 years of age, dry macular degeneration has reduced central vision and blurred vision. It may or may not begin in one eye before affecting both eyes, and it can range from mild to severe.

Symptoms include needing a brighter light to read, visual distortion, inability to adapt to low light settings, reduced central vision, a defined blurry or blind spot, and difficulty recognizing faces. It does not cause total blindness on its own, but it may progress into wet macular degeneration. While all macular degeneration conditions begin at this stage, not all of them will progress to the wet stage. 

Getting early treatment may help with vision problems and may help prevent it from going further into the more severe wet stage of vision loss. It will not affect any side vision, so that area will stay intact.