Color Blindness: Options for Treatment
Children may face a number of vision problems as they are growing up. Diagnosing and treating these issues as soon as possible can help enhance vision and improve your child's quality of life. This is especially true of color blindness. Our Chicago vision therapy specialists can use modern eye care techniques to diagnose color blindness and treat the condition.
Color blindness tends to be misunderstood by many people, so we'd like to take a moment to consider the nature of the condition and what treatments are available for it. This will help parents and their children understand what they can do to address this condition.
What Is Color Blindness?
Color blindness refers to a condition in which a person has difficulty seeing certain kinds of colors. Typically this means red-green color blindness or blue-yellow color blindness. In very rare instances, a person may suffer from total color blindness. Even though a color blind person has problems seeing certain colors, they are still able to see objects just as clearly as other people who are not color blind.
It's estimated that around 1 in 12 men suffers from color blindness. For women, the rate of color blindness is around 1 in 200.
Causes of Color Blindness
Color blindness is caused by issues with the cells of the retina. When such problems are present, there many be issues with how a person's eye responds to and interprets the presence of certain colors.
For the vast majority of people who are color blind, the condition is genetic and inherited from one or both of their parents. It's also possible to develop color blindness from vision conditions, medical problems, and as a result of the aging process.
Is Color Blindness Curable?
At the moment, color blindness is not a curable condition.
That said, there are many treatments available that can help people with color blindness see colors better.
Contact Lenses for Color Blindness
The most common treatment at the moment for color blindness is the use of tinted contact lenses or glasses. The red-tint lenses can help people who are color blind better distinguish between certain colors. The ideal lens or type of lenses for you or your child can be determine during an examination.
Other Ways of Addressing Color Blindness
In addition to corrective lenses, many people who are color blind learn to adapt to their condition. At an early age, letting teachers know that a child is color blind can be helpful; educators can adapt lessons knowing that a child has issues seeing certain colors. When driving or buying produce, there are many other visual and sensory cues that can be considered apart from color alone.
Tech companies are also assisting people with color blindness. A number of apps and computer programs have been developed to help people who are color blind. These are great resources for people who are color blind when using mobile devices, tablets, laptops, or desktops.
A Potential Cure for Color Blindness in the Future?
There might be a cure for color blindness in the future. Researchers are looking into injection therapy for the eyes. It's hoped that this genetic material can help improve color perception, though at the moment there have been no clinical trials or studies.
As new treatments and therapies for color blindness are developed, we'll be sure to discuss them on this blog so you know what's at the forefront of modern eye care.
Contact an Experienced Eye Care Specialist
If you are color blind and would like to learn more about your options for treatment, we encourage you to contact our advanced vision correction center today. The entire team here will work with you to improve your eyesight and improve your overall quality of life.