Though true color blindness is a very rare condition where people see the world only in black and white, you may be like other people and have color blindness that makes it difficult to distinguish between certain colors. Most often inherited, color blindness usually involves being unable to distinguish between red and green or blue and yellow. If you suspect you are colorblind, here is how an optometrist can screen for the condition, and how it can impact your life in ways that can be dangerous.

The Dot Test

When you have an eye exam in Cincinnati, Ohio and are screened for possible colorblindness, your optometrist will use what many call the “Dot Test.” Along with the typical eye exam, your doctor will have you look at special pictures. These pictures, which contain colored dots, have numbers or shapes in various colors hidden within them. Should you find it to be very hard or even impossible to see the patterns in the dots, your optometrist will know you are colorblind.

Can Colorblindness be Dangerous?

As to how colorblindness can impact your life in ways that can be dangerous, one of the most common involves driving. For example, if you have red-green color blindness, it may be difficult for you to know when traffic signals are showing red lights to stop or green lights indicating you can go ahead. In other situations, if you have a red-green or blue-yellow colorblindness, this could impact your ability on a job, particularly if you are dealing with electrical or electronic components where you need to distinguish the colors of wiring.

Though there are no cures for colorblindness, you may be able to wear colored filters over eyeglasses or colored contact lenses that may provide limited improvement. To learn more about colorblindness, talk to your optometrist in Cincinatti, OH.