Millions of Americans suffer from low vision. Low vision can occur at any age, but it primarily affects people 55 years of age and older. A low vision specialist can help to determine what is causing the reduced vision.
Typically, with low vision, the loss of eyesight cannot be corrected with corrective appliances such as glasses or contact lenses. When this occurs, a person’s quality of life can be negatively impacted.
It is important to determine what is causing the reduction in vision. A low vision specialist can examine the patient and can tell the difference between normal vision changes and changes caused by eye disease.
There are different ways in which low vision can manifest itself. It can be in the center part of the vision field; it can be in the peripheral vision area, it can be a blurred or hazy vision and even night blindness. Some patients are born with low vision, and some develop low vision due to an eye disease or other health condition.
A patient with low vision is someone whose vision cannot be corrected any better than 20/70 with corrected lenses.
Whatever the cause of low vision, in many cases it is not recoverable or fixable. It can, however, be managed with the proper treatment.
The first step in treating low vision is recognizing the symptoms of low vision. For some, it starts with having difficulty distinguishing the faces of friends and family members. For other people, it is the ability to do close up tasks such as reading, sewing, or cooking. Household lights and street signs will seem dim and will be difficult to see.
Anytime there are vision changes; they should be reported to your eye doctor. The sooner a patient is diagnosed with low vision, the more successful the treatment is.
Always talk to your low vision specialist about any vision changes.