Color Blindness Health Video

Color blindness is the inability to see certain colors and predominantly affects males. Get professional tips and advice on living with and testing for color blindness in this video.

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Test children for color vision deficiency
Contact a doctor for color vision concerns
Learn ways to tell colors apart through brightness & location

About this Author

Dr. Patel grew up in Texas and studied at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1996, he graduated as a member of the Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society with a doctor of optometry degree from the University of Houston. Dr. Patel completed a residency in Hospital Based and Geriatric Eye Care at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. During his residency, Dr. Patel served as a clinical instructor to interns from Pacific University and the New England College of Optometry. Dr. Patel has provided hours of clinical procedures workshops for both the Oregon and Alberta, Canada Optometric Associations. He has volunteered his skills on an eye care team in Thailand, and the Special Olympics programs in Oregon. Dr. Patel also serves as a clinical examiner for the National Boards in Optometry, as a consultant to the Portland VA Medical Center, and Adjunct Faculty for the Pacific University College of Optometry.

DR. RAJ PATEL: Hi. I'm Dr. Raj Patel, optometrist with Vancouver Contact Lens and Vision Clinic. I'd like to talk to you a little bit about colorblindness. Now most of us see our world in color. if you're an individual with a color vision defect, you might not see these colors like we do and you see them a little differently. So actually, the correct terminology for colorblindness is color vision deficiency and there are actually three different types of color vision deficiency. The most common type of color vision deficiency is red-green color vision defects and those are much more common in men than women and they occur in about 8% of the male population. The other major type of color vision deficiency is the blue-yellow types and there's a third type called complete absence of color vision. Most of the time, colorblindness is genetic and so there's no treatment but fortunately most people adjust and the quality of their life isn't diminished and they tend to be able to continue all the same activities that individuals with color vision do. How is color vision deficiency detected? It is typically detected during the course of a normal eye exam, and so typically, children have their first eye exam somewhere between the ages of 3 and 6, and during the course of that exam, the eye doctor uses a book, similar to this one, that contains several multi-colored dot patterns. And so these provide kind of an assessment of how well an individual sees color vision or if there's a color vision deficiency that's inherited from birth. If you're an individual that doesn't have a color vision deficiency then you'll be able to look at card similar to this and pick out the numbers or designs that are within these dot patterns. However, if you're an individual who has a color vision deficiency then you'll find it very difficult to see the numbers or patterns within here or perhaps see anything at all. And so, that's typically the best way and actually the most accurate way to determine which individuals have color deficiency. Now sometimes, children can display symptoms of color vision deficiency and that's usually when parents ask what he sees for this color or that color and the child may tell you that it's a different color that it is. So if your child tends to exhibit symptoms that might suggest that he might have a color vision problem, and he's a boy, then I think that would be really important to have that checked out by your eye doctor. Occasionally, blurry vision might be the main reason why children have their eyes examined but during the course of that eye exam, a color vision screening will take place and that will be the best way to determine if the child has a color vision problem. People that have a positive family history of color vision defects are also individuals that have a higher risk for having a color vision problem or color vision deficiency. And other individuals that might have jobs that require looking at colors correctly should be tested for color vision deficiency as well. Unfortunately there's not a treatment for color vision deficiency but it is possible to learn to recognize color by other means. Individuals that are born with color deficiency use brightness or location to help determine what these colors are. Also there's specially tinted eyeglasses that may help to help determine certain colors apart by way of contrast. So, the take home message is that if you have a child or you yourself exhibit problems with color vision, then go to see your eye doctor and have them run a measurement check of your color vision using those simple color plates, and that is a quick and easy way to determine if one of these color vision deficiencies exist.