Tag: night-time glare

Do I have Cataracts?

Karen Griffith

Cataracts are typically caused by age. Sometimes, ultraviolet exposure, smoking and medications can speed their development. If you live long enough, cataracts will develop.

Cataracts are located inside your eye. The lens becomes yellow and cloudy. Symptoms tend to occur gradually with night time glare, blur and color changes.

Cataracts can also cause changes in your glasses prescription. Usually the eyes become more nearsighted. If vision can be improved with glasses a new prescription is written. At some point even new glasses can’t correct the vision and surgery is the best alternative. Cataract surgery is the most successful and commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States.

New technologies have improved implant options. The intra-ocular lens (IOL) replaces the cloudy crystalline lens (cataract) that is causing vision impairment in your eye. “Premium” IOLs include options to correct astigmatism and presbyopia. this can reduce the need for glasses after cataract surgery.

Nearly 20% of Americans over 40 years old have cataracts in one or both eyes. Schedule an eye examination so an accurate diagnosis can be made.

Why is Driving at Night so much harder than Driving during the Daytime?

admin

Even with the longer days of spring, driving at night is still challenging.
When you are behind the wheel of a car, your eyes are constantly on the move – looking at vehicles ahead and to the side, reading  traffic signs, checking your rear view mirror, and shifting your gaze inside and outside your vehicle in order to check the speedometer, look at your global navigation system, or change a radio station.
During darkness these tasks can become even more difficult for some drivers. According to a nationwide survey 32% of the drivers say they have difficulty seeing all or most of the time while driving in the dark.
Low light levels cause the pupil to dilate, which can accentuate existing focusing problems and result in blurred vision. Wearing the best distance correction will minimize this vision problem. At Westside Optometry we also recommend a non-glare coating to eliminate reflections from annoying headlights.

Dry eyes will effect your vision when driving at night also. If the tear layer is uneven, thick or thin, the quality of vision is negatively impacted. I compare this phenomena to the windshield and wipers. Every blink is like the windshield wiper across the windshield, in the case of the eye, the eyelid wipes across the cornea. If the windshield is dry, the wiper makes it smeary. You can resolve this by squirting water on the windshield and wiping again. If the eye is dry, vision gets smeary and sometimes there are not any tears to clear it up. I recommend applying a drop of artificial tear solution before starting to drive at night.
When you do not see well you have to get closer or drive slower, and if you do not account for that need, you are at risk of causing accidents.