What is Color Blindness?
Color blindness, also known as color vision deficiency, is a visual impairment that affects an individual’s ability to perceive and distinguish certain colors accurately. People with color blindness typically have difficulty differentiating between specific colors or may not be able to see certain colors at all. This condition is usually inherited and is more common in men than in women.
While it’s commonly thought of as “color blind”, the more correct term is really color deficient, which means you have difficulty telling only certain colors apart. Complete color blindness where the world is just one shade of gray, is actually very rare.
Color deficiency affects 8% of men and 1% of women, and can be genetic or acquired. Genetic color deficiency means you are born with it, as this is typically the case for most males born with color issues. Acquired color deficiency on the other hand, can be a loss of seeing color due to a diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or cataracts.
There are three main categories of color deficiencies:
- Protan (Protanomaly/protanopia) – red weakness
- Deutan (Deuteranomaly/Deuteranopia) – green weakness
- Tritan (Tritanomaly/tritanopia)- blue-yellow weakness
Tests for Color Blindness
Passing the color vision is required for the following professions:
- Airline pilot
- Air traffic controller
- Firefighter
- Police officer
- Train driver
- Some ranks in the armed forces
- Some electrical/electronic engineers
At our office we offer the following color vision tests:
- Farnsworth D-15
- Ishihara test for Color Vision deficiency- 38 plate
- HRR Color Vision Test
EnChroma Glasses: Glasses for Color Blindness
EnChroma glasses will change the way you see the world! With their patented light filtering lens technology, EnChroma glasses can help to make colors that you typically confuse seem more apparent.
There are 2 types of EnChroma lenses:
- Outdoor– Enchroma sunglasses will help with color contrast when outdoors doing sports, driving, and being in nature. They offer 100% UV protection.
- Indoor– Enchroma indoor lenses can be made with and without prescription and are helpful for school work, computer work, cooking, watching movies, and art projects.
Click here to learn more about enchroma glasses and to take a free online color vision test.
To schedule an appointment with one of our EnChroma trained opticians, call (714) 486-3315.
Make an Appointment for Color Vision Glasses Today!
To see if Enchroma glasses can help you or your loved one, call us at (714) 486-3315 to make an appointment with one of our friendly opticians.
