Are you color blind? Is there a treatment? Find out at our Citrus Heights, California , eye care center
Despite the name, being color blind has nothing to do with blindness. Rather, it’s a vision condition that compromises your ability to perceive all the colors of the rainbow. However, that doesn’t mean people who are color blind can only see black and white – they just see color differently from the majority of the world.
Millions of people around the globe are color blind, primarily due to genetics. What about you? If you’ve ever noticed that you have trouble differentiating certain colors (does your family always joke that your clothes don’t really match?), book an eye exam at EYEcenter Optometric. Our Citrus Heights, California , eye doctor will check your color vision with a specialized test.
What makes some people color blind?
You can’t understand how color blindness works without a basic understanding of how light and color vision work:
All objects reflect some wavelengths – while absorbing other wavelengths. When you see color, you’re seeing only the reflected light. For example, a vibrant sunflower blossom is only bright yellow because it reflects the medium-long wavelength of yellow and absorbs all the others.
Your eyes and your brain partner to see the different wavelengths of light. The cornea and the lens of your eye focus light onto the retina, which contains millions of light-sensitive photoreceptor cells. These cells are called rods and cones, after their respective shapes.
Rods and cones contain photopigment molecules that trigger electrical signals to be sent to the brain when they absorb light. Cones, which contain one of three different photopigments (red, green, and blue), respond stronger to bright light.
If your cones have a mutation that blocks their ability to respond to all the wavelengths of light, then the signals that communicate colors to your brain won’t be sent correctly = color blindness. The most common type of color blindness is red-green, which makes people see the world in duller, yellowish brown hues.
To find out if you’re color blind and to learn more about the different specialized glasses and lenses available for treating color blindness, visit our Folsom, California , eye care center. We’ll help you see the world in full color!
At EYEcenter Optometric, we put your family's needs first. Talk to us about how we can help you maintain healthy vision. Call us today: 916-727-6518 or book an appointment online to see one of our Citrus Heights eye doctors.
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