You cannot see the richness or depth of some color shades if you have poor color vision or a color vision deficiency. It is frequently known as color blindness.
Complete color blindness is uncommon, despite the term “color blindness” being widely used. At this point, all you can see are neutral tones of black, gray, and white. The inability to distinguish between red and green is more common in people with poor color vision.
What Are Glasses For Color Blindness?
Red and green in particular are more clearly perceived by those wearing colorblind glasses with special lenses. Although there are glasses that also correct for blue-yellow color blindness, red-green color blindness is the most prevalent type, so these glasses typically address this problem.
Although colorblind glasses do not “cure” color blindness, they do give colorblind people the ability to see the world more clearly and perceive a wider spectrum of colors when wearing the glasses.
Exactly What Is Color Blindness?
It’s a common misconception that people with color blindness only see things in black and white.
Most of the time, colorblind people can still see some colors, just not as vividly or vividly as people with normal vision. For instance, a person who is colorblind might interpret bright green as a dull or even grayish shade of the same color.
In essence, colorblind people perceive a much narrower range of colors.
Color-sensitive receptors in the retina, known as cones, process how color is perceived. Color distinction overlaps more than it should in colorblind people due to abnormal cone function or cones that are completely absent. As a result, it is challenging to distinguish between different colors.
Types Of Colorblindness
Again, it’s uncommon for someone to have complete color blindness. Red-green color blindness or blue-yellow color blindness are the two conditions that are much more prevalent.
Red-green color blindness falls into four types:
- Deuteranomaly: The majority of color blind individuals are affected by this kind. Red hues look more intense in green.
- Protanomaly: Red looks duller and more green with this type.
- Protanopia: Red and green are indistinguishable to people.
- Deuteranopia: Similar to protanopia, those with this condition are unable to distinguish between green and red.
Blue-yellow color blindness falls into two types:
- Tritanomaly: As with red and yellow, blue and green have a similar appearance.
- Tritanopia: This type cannot tell the difference between blue and green, yellow and pink, or purple and red.
How Do Colorblind Glasses Function?
Understanding color blind eyewear requires an understanding of how color blindness manifests in the human eye.
Within the retina of the human eye, there are three distinct color-sensitive receptors known as cones. These cones identify the colors red, green, and blue before transmitting the information to the brain for processing and interpretation.
The color of the objects you are looking at, however, could be misrepresented if the photo-pigment in these cones is low. The most common faulty cones are the red and green ones, where the red cone may produce a higher reading of the reds than are genuinely in an item, essentially negating or modifying the greens in the object, hence the term red-green color blind.
When you wear color-blind glasses, the saturation of the objects you see through them changes, appearing more intensely saturated in the hues that your eyes have trouble seeing. In order to make up for the missing colors, your brain can then perceive the object as if there were no visual impairment at all.
What Do Those Who Lack Color Vision See?
The two main types of color blindness are as follows.
“The most common form of color deficiency is red-green,” says The American Optometric Association’s president is Robert Layman, OD. Males are particularly affected by this: According to U.S. statistics, roughly one in 12 men and one in 200 women have some degree of red-green color blindness. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
People with this condition fall into one of two camps:
- protans, who confuse greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and browns
- deutans, who have trouble telling the difference between reds, yellows, greens, and browns
In contrast to red-green color blindness, Dr. Layman.
Blue-green color blindness is a common symptom of this condition, and yellow and purple color blindness is also a possibility. It affects both men and women equally, unlike red-green color blindness, and occurs in about 1 in 10,000 people worldwide, according to the NIH.
Best Colorblind Glasses
1. Vino Optics Sport Frame Glasses For Color Blindness
One type of frame made by Vino Optics fits over another pair of glasses among their many other styles. The majority of their frames are sporty and light, making them perfect for physical activity. UV protection is offered by their lenses.
These glasses are particularly effective at treating the common red-green color blindness, but they cannot treat the less common blue-yellow color blindness. Their vivid lavender lenses make them stand out in a crowd and might not be practical for daily wear.
2. Pilestone Red Green Colorblind Glasses
Pilestone makes standard color blindness glasses that can have prescription lenses added, but the company also sells low-profile clip-on lenses that slip right over your regular eyeglasses.
Additionally providing 100% UV protection, these clip-ons can be used by people with mild to severe deutan and proton color blindness.
Pilestone has four different types of lenses tailored to different types and severity of red-green color blindness:
- Lens A is best for people with mild to moderate deutan or protan color blindness, suitable for both indoor and outdoor activity.
- Lens B is geared toward those with strong to severe deutan or protan color blindness, also suitable for indoor or outdoor activity.
- Lens C is designed for those with mild to strong deutan color blindness—and has the added benefit of working especially well in low lighting.
- Lens D is ideal for people with protan color blindness.
Although they cost less, this line of lenses produces outcomes comparable to those of Enchroma models. A 60-day return policy is available from Pilestone, just like Enchroma.
3. Enchroma Color Blind Sunglasses
EnChroma color blind sunglasses feature cutting-edge technology to improve outcomes for people with a variety of visual color deficiencies.
The business sells both indoor and outdoor lenses. Only those with red-green colorblindness should use EnChroma’s lenses, which are not likely to be effective for blue-yellow colorblindness. They have anti-reflective coating, 100% UV protection, scratch resistance, and can be ordered with or without a prescription.
Although the company is based in Berkeley, California, some of their products, like these sunglasses, are made in Italy. Their fashionable designs can, if necessary, be worn with contact lenses. These glasses are more expensive because they have high-quality lenses and frames.
4. STBJ Color Blind Glasses
The STBJ color blind glasses are made to improve sharpness and clarity while lessening the effects of red-green vision deficiencies. Although they can be worn inside or outside, a brighter environment gives them the best results.
A business called Colormax offers a patented system called ColorCorrection in addition to the over-the-counter choices mentioned above. To make glasses or contact lenses that are specifically made for a person’s unique color deficiency, this calls for an eye exam with color vision testing.
5. Pilestone Clip-on Corrective Lenses
As a clip-on lens, this choice offers colorblind correction. This is perfect for people who usually wear glasses because it lets them keep their current lenses and corrective lenses while also improving color perception.
Why Do Colorblind Glasses Cost So Much Money?
The average price of colorblind glasses is $250, but they can cost as much as $450 or more. For less than $100, you can purchase some inexpensive or clip-on versions.
Even for more upscale versions, kids’ versions are usually less expensive.
Due to the fact that colorblind glasses are still in their infancy, the higher price helps to fund their development and research. Prices may gradually decrease somewhat.
In general, insurance does not pay for colorblind glasses. However, in some circumstances, you might be able to get colorblind glasses covered in part by incorporating them into a regular prescription lens.
The cost of colorblind glasses may be covered by HSA (health savings account) or FSA (flexible spending account) funds. Confirmation can be obtained by speaking with your plan administrator.
Where To Buy Colorblind Glasses
Colorblind eyewear is available on Amazon in a wide variety of brands and designs. You can also order directly from the EnChroma, Pilestone, or Vino websites, or see if there is a nearby retailer.
Visit an optometrist to obtain prescription colorblind glasses.
Pros And Cons Of Color Blind Glasses
The quality of life for people who are color-blind can be significantly increased by colorblind glasses. They can offer a wider variety of color combinations and more vibrant hues. This can be useful for daily tasks like dressing in complementary clothing, cooking meat, or choosing fruit at the grocery store. Even new career options may become available with proper color discrimination!
Colorblind glasses do not always work for people because color deficiency is so variable and individual. In the event that their products are ineffective, some businesses, like EnChroma, do provide a 60-day return policy. It’s important to remember that most available colorblind glasses correct blue-yellow deficiencies better than red-green deficiencies.
Colorblind glasses may be out of reach for some people; some users have reported that the most affordable options on the market are prone to scratching and require frequent replacement.
In spite of the fact that colorblindness is a lifelong condition that cannot be treated, colorblind glasses can help to enhance color perception and discrimination, ultimately improving quality of life.
Why Do Some Individuals Lack Color Vision?
According to Dagny Zhu, MD, a board-certified ophthalmic surgeon at Hyperspeed LASIK in California, genetics are to blame for the majority of cases of color blindness.
It happens as a result of a gene mutation on the X chromosome that governs color vision. Men are much more likely than women to experience color blindness because men have only one copy of the gene when they are born.
“Because women have two X-chromosomes, a functioning gene on the second X-chromosome can make up for a mutated one,” she says.
Color blindness can also occur later in life, though it’s less common. According to Dr. Zhu, certain medications, eye diseases like cataracts or macular degeneration, as well as very specific brain or eye injuries, can cause this acquired color blindness.
Why Is Color Blindness Brought On?
“Color blindness comes from a reduced sensitivity of the eye’s light receptors: the cones in the back of the eye,” These cones function to translate light for the brain so that we can interpret the colors we see, according to Dr. Sipes.
The three different cone types—red, green, and blue—are in charge of detecting various light wavelengths.
“Imagine the color spectrum of red, green, and blue as three hills separated by valleys,” says Ian A. Ymalay, OD, is a clinical preceptor for National Vision Inc. and an adjunct assistant professor of optometry at the Illinois College of Optometry.
“Each hill represents a range of wavelengths for that particular color,” he says. However, the hills for colorblind people overlap rather than being separated. They experience difficulty in detecting colors as a result of that.
New Treatments For Color Blindness
There are some contact lenses on the market that are intended to treat color blindness. Similar to the glasses, they function.
Additionally, color blindness gene therapies may be in the works.
In order to treat color blindness in monkeys, Jay and Maureen Neitz, two professors of ophthalmology at the University of Washington, used gene therapy. The genes are injected into the retina’s cone cells using an adeno-associated virus.
The Neitzes collaborated with Avalanche Biotechnologies and the University of Washington to advance the gene therapy delivery system, but it is still in the research stage at the moment.
Conclusion
It is not possible to treat color blindness with colorblind glasses. The world will resume its previous appearance once you remove the glasses. Some people who try the glasses report an instantaneous, dramatic result, while others are unimpressed.
Consult your eye doctor if you’re considering Colorblind Glasses. They can conduct an eye examination to determine whether you actually require this type of therapy and can also discuss what to expect from your particular type of color blindness with you.
