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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies: Night Blindness

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Night Blindness

11 Ways to Deal with the Dark

Walk out of bright sunlight and into a dark movie theater and suddenly you can hardly recognize the person who walked in with you. "Everybody is night-blind momentarily in such a situation. That is, it takes a moment for the retina to adjust to the difference in light," explains Alan Laties, M.D., a professor of ophthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

But for some people night blindness is more than momentary. "Some people are quicker to adapt to light changes and darkness," Dr. Laties says. "Nearsighted people can at times be slower to adapt to the dark. And other people simply can't see in the dark. I can name several different reasons for this." For example, some people—though this is rather uncommon—have what is known as congenital stationary night blindness; they're born with the problem. "That's just the way the person was made," Dr. Laties says. "There's no danger to the eye."

Unfortunately, doctors don't have a bag of ready-to-issue cures for night blindness. But if you don't see well at night and your doctor has ruled out an eye disorder as the reason, here are a couple of ideas to consider, as well as good, practical advice for driving safely at night.

Do a self-evaluation. "Many people have enormous concern about their eyes," Dr. Laties says. "They are afraid of going blind." He says most people can reassure themselves that their night vision is all right. "After 5 minutes in a movie theater you should be able to see the person next to you."

Make sure you're getting vitamin A. This nutrient is important to night vision. In fact, large doses of vitamin A given to a person who is vitamin A deficient can bring improvement in night vision within hours, says Creig Hoyt, M.D., vice chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. However, vitamin A deficiency is rare in the United States, Dr. Hoyt says, adding that high-level vitamin A supplementation should first be approved by a doctor.

MEDICAL ALERT

Leave Diagnosis to your Doctor

Occasionally, night blindness can be an early symptom of a progressive eye disease. One example is retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which affects an estimated 100,000 people in the United Sates, according to Jill C. Hennessey, M.S., assistant to the director of science at the RP Foundation Fighting Blindness in Baltimore, Maryland.

"At this point," Hennessey says, "there's no know effective treatment." RP tends to run in families and the cause of the disease is also a mystery. It can eventually lead to blindness.

If you're having problems with night vision, you should have your eyes examined by an ophthalmologist, advises Alan Laties, M.D. It's the best way to protect your vision.

When driving at night, do everything you can to increase visibility. On a clear day, from the driver's seat, you're usually looking about 1,200 to 1,500 feet down a straight road, says Quinn Brackett, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University.

But at night, under good conditions and with only your headlights as your guide, you can only see 300 to 400 feet. So it's important to give yourself every advantage. "Make sure your headlights are cleaned off," says Charles Zegeer, senior staff associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Highway Safety Research Center. "Dirty headlights really reduce visibility" and will only make an already bad problem worse.

Don't wear sunglasses at dusk, either—no matter how stylish they may be—because they will further reduce light coming into your eyes, says Dr. Brackett.

Slow down. That way, you give yourself more time to react to any unexpected hazards.

Get a Pair of Night Glasses

Owls, famous for their nocturnal nature, have very good night vision. People, even the "night owls" of the human species, aren't so blessed. But that doesn't make improving night vision impossible. Millions of people take advantage of glasses to improve their vision, and there's no reason why glasses can't improve night myopia (defective night vision, especially of distant objects), says Creig Hoyt, M.D.

"Pilots will tell you they have more trouble seeing runways at night, and they will wear a different prescription at night," Dr. Hoyt says. So what works for a pilot trying to land a plane on a narrow strip of pavement ought to help you keep your car in the driveway and out of the front yard.

Consider, Dr. Hoyt says, wearing a stronger prescription at night or getting glasses for night driving even if you currently don't wear glasses during the day.

Expect the unexpected. These days the roads don't belong just to cars, but to walkers, runners, and cyclists as well. "And wearing white at night isn't enough to be visible," Zegeer says. So it's your responsibility to watch for pedestrians.

Respect the rain and fog. These two conditions make night driving especially dangerous, Zegeer says. He recommends keeping your headlights on low beam in fog for better visibility.

Plan ahead. Careful route planning can make night driving easier. "When possible," says Brackett, "select roads that are divided or have very little traffic."

Don't take chances. If fog or travel conditions become too bad, says Zegeer, pull off at a rest area, service station, or parking lot. Stay off the shoulder of the road.

Look to the right. "Look at the roadway's edge to the right to help you avoid the glare of oncoming headlights," Brackett suggests.

Leave the driving till tomorrow. Drive only during the day. Even good lighting conditions at night, such as found in a big city, can be troublesome to someone with night blindness.

PANEL OF ADVISERS

Quinne Brackett, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Jill C. Hennessey, M.S., is assistant to the director of science at the RP Foundation Fighting Blindness in Baltimore, Maryland.

Creig Hoyt, M.D., is vice chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.

Alan Laties, M.D., is a professor of ophthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia.

Charles Zegeer is senior staff associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Highway Safety Research Center.

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