What is Colour Blindness?

Colour blindness is a reduced ability to distinguish between colours. When a person is colour blind, also called colour vision deficient, they usually have difficulty distinguishing between certain colours such as yellow and orange, green and brown, pink and grey, or blue and purple. These confusions are typical of what is called “red-green colour blindness,” which includes protan-type (protanomaly and protanopia) and deutan-type (deuteranomaly and deuteranopia).

8% of men are colour deficient as well as 1 in 200 women. That accounts for over 300 million people globally.  

How do you test for colour blindness?

If you or a family member are having problems recognising or distinguishing between colours that other people seem to see, our optometrists can perform a test to confirm or rule out the possibility of colour deficiency.

Testing children for colour blindness can pose unique challenges.

It may be difficult for parents, teachers or caregivers to differentiate a problem of seeing colour with naming it correctly. A very young child can also have difficulties with naming colours or calling out numbers. As a result, many children with colour blindness go undiagnosed or are incorrectly diagnosed.

At Eyetek, we are able to use specialised children’s colour vision tests, even for children as young as 2 years, to make our diagnosis accurate.

How do EnChroma lenses for colour blindness work?

EnChroma's colour blind lens technology selectively filters light to increase contrast between the red and green colour signals to alleviate symptoms of red-green colour blindness for a richer, more colourful experience of the world.

Approximately 80% of those with red-green colour blindness will see some improvement in their ability to distinguish colours.

Will colour blind glasses work for me?

Colour blindness is not a singular condition. It encompasses a range of conditions, from mild to severe, that can cause each person to see colour differently. EnChroma glasses are designed to improve colour vision of people with forms of anomalous trichromacy, which are estimated to comprise four out of five cases of colour blindness, so the odds are good that it will work for you.

At Eyetek Optometrists, we perform a thorough case history and eye examination that includes colour vision testing. Should the results point to a colour deficiency, we are able to try combinations of EnChroma lenses in our practice, indoors and outdoors and test your individual response before you commit to purchasing a customised set of spectacles.

Is colour blindness the inability to see colour?

No, generally speaking, colour blindness is the reduced ability to distinguish between colours.

Red-green colour blindness is usually genetically inherited. Other types of colour blindness also exist, such as tritan-type colour deficient, also called blue-yellow colour blindness, which is associated with the inability to see shades of blue, and confusions between blue and green colours. Blue-yellow colour blindness is usually caused by age-related eye conditions such as glaucoma, or exposure to certain chemicals or medical treatments.

Complete colour blindness can occur only in very rare cases. This is called monochromacy or achromatopsia. Achromatopsia can be inherited but can also result from progressive eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Can colour blind glasses help people see colour in a normal way?

EnChroma lens technology was developed by an independent Berkley based company. EnChroma combines the latest in colour perception neuroscience, optical dyes, lens material innovations, and manufacturing techniques to deliver colour blind glasses that are scientifically proven to stimulate the brain’s colour processing centre and enhance colour vision for most people with red-green colour blindness.

EnChroma Lenses may not duplicate the complete spectrum as seen by people with complete colour vision but recent research shows that EnChroma's lens technology can improve colour vision for those with red-green colour blindness and EXPAND their range of visible colours. The study, conducted by UIW, revealed that wearing EnChroma glasses:

• Stimulated the brains colour vision centre

• Showed immediate and long-term improvement

I am colour blind, why should I try EnChroma lenses for colour blindness?

You may be an adult and you have lived with colour blindness your whole life. You may feel as if you are not missing out on anything. But colour affects every part of our lives. Colour is emotional, experiential, and tactical. It gives art life. It entices us to eat certain foods and buy certain jewellery, and sometimes it literally defines these things. We also use colour to interpret information such as signs and lights. It is deeply ingrained in our basic perception of the world. When the ability to see colour is deficient, as in the case of colour blindness, there is a dulling of what is seen; or one might say there is a dulling effect in how we see.

EnChroma lenses allow colour deficient individuals to appreciate nature, art, their work and the world in a new way.

For children, EnChroma colour enhancing lenses show growing and developing children how the world looks in complete colour. It can have a positive influence on learning and enhance their experience of nature.