Night vision

I am 22 and have absolutely terrible night vision, where it has come to the point where I am afraid to drive at night. My normal vision prescription is left-6.25 with a -1.00 astigmatism, and -6.0 in my right eye.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

See an ophthalmologist Eye MD physician and discuss your problem. You first need to make sure you do not have any of the night blinding disorders the most common of which is retinitis pigmentosa. Likewise you need to rule out retina, macula, lens and corneal pathology.

If you smoke STOP IT. Smokers have reduced night vision due to the smoke products damaging the rods that the retina used to see at night. Eat a good diet, take a multivitamin pill daily.

If no abnormalities are found ask the eye MD about getting a pair of glasses for night vision that are: 1. have a anti-reflective coating  2. one of the new optical technology that reduces optical aberations from the lens  and MOST important 3. overcorrect the night vision by about -0.50 on each eye (your Rx would be -6.75  wih the astigmatism correction and -6.50 on the other eye.

At night when the pupil dilates in the dark it causes a shift in the bending of light to make the eye more myopic (so called night myopia). In people with really large pupils in the dark this is a big problem.  During the day you would wear your regular glasses.

This approach has worked well and helped a lot of my patients that have night vision problems.

JCH III MD

[LukeL]

Thank You, I have an appointment at the end of Janurary, I just wanted some insight now. I saw an optometrist recently, but with a history of neurofibromatosis, my GP wanted me to be seen by a opthamologist to rule out any tumors or other serious eye problems. I just started driving 6 months ago, so I am unsure if I am just overly nervous about night driving, or if it has been an on going problem, that I have just ignored or never really noticed.

Although I have always had a hard time adjusting from coming in from outside on a bright day, it usually takes me 10 minutes or more to adjust.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Important piece of information. neurofibromatosis often affects the eye either the lids, orbit or within the eye. All your exams should be by an Eye MD ophthalmologist in the future.

When you see a Eye MD physician usually your health insurance will cover the exam.

JCH III MD