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What is Colorblindness?

What is Colorblindness?

Colorblindness is an interesting thing to most people because we wonder what it must be like to not distinguish some colors—a function of vision that we take for granted. Most people can live with colorblindness because it is present as soon as they are born and many go years without realizing that they do not see a full array of colors.

Certain tasks may be difficult or impossible, but even without seeing as many distinct colors as possible, these people function fine in everyday life. Colorblind tests exist to diagnose people who have color vision deficiency, and new advancements have even created eyewear to help people see more of the colors they are missing depending on their deficiency.

The cause of color blindness usually involves faulty cones. Cones are cells in your eyes that distinguish the three wavelengths of light that we see. Light can be split into red, green, and blue for the spectrum visible to humans. Color blindness can happen because the cone cells are faulty in some way and do not show distinct colors. A person may see shades of yellow and blue, for example, but have problems distinguishing red and green. Many people believe that color blindness means seeing only in black and white, but that is far more rare than typical color blindness.

Also, color deficiency is much more common in men than women. Only up to 1% of the female population has trouble seeing various colors, where somewhere between 8-12% of the male population is color blind.

Color blindness is usually an inherited genetic deficiency with the cones, but symptoms of color blindness may also occur due to stroke, old age, or a problem with pathways from the cones to the brain where the brain can determine colors.

More and more people are able to afford relatively new technology that helps us see more distinct colors. People who are not color blind can use special glasses to see a more saturated and distinct view of colors, but those with color deficiencies are seeing some colors that they have never seen before. These special color vision glasses are a favorite subject of YouTube videos where people give their friends the gift of color and film the shocking experience.

Curious about your own color perception? Learn more about it here (http://enchroma.com/test/instructions/), and test your color vision!

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COVID-19 Update: (April 29, 2020)

At North Central Eye, we have been working diligently to maintain a safe environment for our physicians, our staff and most importantly, our patients. We have changed numerous operations to limit exposure, and you may notice some changes in the office and in our optical shop, both of which are open and ready to serve you. In addition to our efforts of meticulously cleaning each room and rotating the rooms used each day, please expect the following for your safety:

  • All patients should wear a mask while in the building.
  • Patients should check in by calling 419-668-3295 from the parking lot. Our staff will then call you to tell you when to enter the building, in order to control our ability to provide adequate social distancing. Our waiting room now has a limited number of seats spaced far apart.
  • Only the patient should come into the office. Spouses, friends, or other companions should wait in the car in order to lessen exposure.
  • In our optical shop, please do not touch the frames on display. Our optical technicians will assist you, and you can point to the frames that you would like to try on. After each session is finished, every pair of frames touched is cleaned.
  • If you have an outstanding bill, please feel free to call and we can process it over the phone with your credit card rather than in person.

Most importantly, if you have;

  • experienced any coronavirus-like symptoms; fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, shaking chills, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, fever, or
  • have tested positive for COVID-19, or
  • been exposed to an individual with known COVID-19, please call 419-668-3295. We would like to reschedule you to a time when you feel better and/or have been cleared by your doctor.

Finally, thank you for your patience through this challenging ordeal. Your support of us- as a small business and a group of front-line medical workers- is what makes us proud to serve our local community.