Why night blindness appears and how to cure it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Sometimes it is enough to buy glasses, but you still cannot do without consulting an ophthalmologist.

Night Blindness is called Night Blindness (Nyctalopia) Causes & More, in which a person sees very poorly at dusk or in low light conditions.

Imagine that you are entering a dark room from a sunlit street. For the first few seconds, you see nothing at all. But then your eyes adjust to the twilight and you begin to distinguish between the interior, outlines of objects, details. In people with night blindness, vision at dusk hardly works.

By itself, nyctalopia (this is the medical name for night blindness, derived from the ancient Greek counterparts of the words "night" and "blind") is not Shedding Light on Night Blindness a disease. This is just a symptom.

Why does night blindness appear?

Special cells in the retina are responsible for our ability to see in dim light. If these elements for some reason are not involved, for example, they do not get light or they have suffered from some kind of disease, night blindness occurs.

Most often, the "shutdown" of cells occurs for the following reasons Shedding Light on Night Blindness:

• Myopia. This is a visual defect in which the image is focused not on the retina of the eye, but in front of it.
• Glaucoma. This is the name of the disease of the optic nerve, which connects the retina to the brain.
• Taking medication for glaucoma. They constrict the pupil, and light does not penetrate all the cells of the retina.
• Cataract. This is the name given to the clouding of the lens, which is why it does not transmit light well.
• Diabetes. High blood sugar levels have a destructive effect on retinal cells as well.
• Keratoconus. This is a disease in which the cornea becomes overly curved and tapered, making it difficult for light to reach the retina.
• Deficiency of vitamin A, which is necessary for the regeneration of the retina.
• Retinitis pigmentosa. This is a dangerous disease in which dark pigment accumulates in the retina, and vision becomes tunnel vision and gradually disappears altogether.

Fortunately, in most cases, night blindness can be cured. The main thing is to ask for help in time.

How to recognize night blindness

Many people have some difficulties with visual acuity at dusk. But they do not always talk about the problem.

Here are the symptoms that may lead to suspicion of night blindness:

• It is difficult for you to move around the house at night, even if the night lights are on.
• You avoid driving in the dark, because you have already encountered the fact that you notice obstacles literally at the last moment.
• You are afraid to leave the house at dusk and at night for fear of not seeing something under your feet and stumbling.
• Being in a room where twilight reigns, you do not recognize even good acquaintances - it is difficult for you to see the faces.
• It takes your eyes a long time to get used to the light after coming out of the dark. "A lot of time" is a subjective assessment, it can mean "more time than needed before" or "more time than others need."
• It takes your eyes a very long time to get used to the dark. Or they don't adapt at all, and you literally have to move by touch.

If you are familiar with these situations, you have found yourself in them more than once, make an appointment with an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. The doctor will conduct an examination, check visual acuity and find out what disease or disorder caused nictalopia.

How to treat night blindness

The choice of therapeutic method depends on the cause. Sometimes it is enough to get a prescription for new glasses that will return your ability to see clearly at dusk.

If we are talking about any disease - glaucoma, cataract, diabetes, it will first need to be cured or corrected. After the end of therapy, the symptoms of the disease, including night blindness, will disappear.

In any case, only an ophthalmologist can make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Therefore, first of all, consult with a specialist and follow his recommendations.