What is Color Blindness?

A Miami Beach eye doctor will sometimes come across a patient that is color blind. Color blindness, or color deficiency, is a condition where someone is unable to properly distinguish between colors. There are different severities of this condition as well; some people can see colors, just not well or the right ones. However, some people are only able to see objects in black and white. Patients suffering from this condition will often ask their eye doctor in Miami if there’s anything that can be done about it, but there is nothing that can be done to treat this condition. Patients can be educated on which colors are actually what they are seeing, but their vision cannot be corrected to see colors normally.

What Causes Color Blindness?

The majority of patients that come to a doctor in Miami Beach complaining of being unable to distinguish colors normally have often always had this issue. Some people may realize it early in life, but others may not notice it until their adult years.

● The retina consists of two types of photoreceptors– rods and cones. The rods are responsible for seeing light and dark, and they are what allow people to see at night. The cones are in the center of the retina and can perceive blue, green, and red.

● When one of the cones is unable to properly distinguish colors, a person is considered to have a degree of color blindness. The cone may be nonfunctional at all, or it may also be perceiving something other than what an object’s true color is.

● The cone’s ability to see red, green, and blue uses these base colors to blend them into other images when the electrical signals are transmitted to the brain.

● Although more rare, some people can develop color blindness after an accident or a stroke.

Living With Color Blindness

Most people who see their optometrist in Miami Beach will want to know if there’s anything they can do to be able to distinguish between colors. The answer to this question lies in what type of color blindness someone has. Once this can be figured out, an eye doctor can provide training materials to someone so they can be aware of what they are really looking at. For example, if someone is looking at a blue object but they perceive it as yellow, then they can learn to recognize that the yellow object they are seeing is truly blue. Some people opt to learn this so they don’t make mistakes in life, but there are some people who don’t mind their disability because it doesn’t affect their life or job performance.

photo credit: “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” Phyllis Diller via photopin (license)