What is Color Blindness?

Color blindness is more common and less serious than you may think. Being completely color blind is very rare; it’s more likely that if someone is color blind they have trouble seeing red, green, blue, or a mix of those colors.

Most color blind problems are genetic and originate at birth; they usually don’t develop later in life (although it does occasionally happen). Color blindness occurs when one of the three types of cone cells in your eyes is missing or doesn’t work correctly.

Symptoms of color blindness (or color vision problems) include:

• Seeing some colors but not others
  
  
• Having difficulty telling a difference between two colors (for example, not being able to differentiate between red and green)
  
  
• Difficulty noticing the different shades in colors

If you or your child is experiencing any of these symptoms, schedule an appointment with our office. We can perform tests to determine if color blindness is the culprit and what, if any, treatment can be done.

Hereditary color blindness can’t be treated or corrected. However, there are rare cases where color blindness is caused by a cataract and surgery might be a solution.

For those who live with color blindness, there are some ways to better deal with the condition. Those include:

• Training yourself to look for visual cues that aren’t color based. For example, recognizing that the green light in a stoplight is at the top of the sign, while the red light is at the bottom.
  
  
• Wearing glasses that block glare can often help because they make it easier to see color contrast.

• Colored contact lenses are another option to try to differentiate or view colors better.

If you or someone you know thinks they have color blindness, they should schedule an eye exam with our office. We will determine what, if any, treatment can be done and offer suggestions on ways to manage your color vision problem.