guidetohealth.com

• Home
•  » Library
•  » The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Seniors
•  » Night Vision Problems

Night Vision Problems

Night Vision Problems

Blinded by an explosion, Charles McNider believed that his promising career as a physician and researcher had been hopelessly derailed. Then one evening as he sat alone in his darkened living room, an owl crashed through a window. McNider tore off his bandages and found that he could see in the dark!

Soon he transformed himself into Dr. Mid-nite, a 1940s comic book hero who wore special goggles to see in the light. Armed with blackout bombs that released a pitch-black cloud in which only he could see, Dr. Mid-nite battled evil foes like the Baleful Banshee and the Sky-Raider. “I am blind, yet I can see,” Dr. Mid-nite declared. “The city is draped in night, but to me it is always day. There are no dark corners for evil to hide in, no shadows too deep for the ever-vigilant eyes of Dr. Mid-nite to penetrate!”

But in the real world, midnight is hardly prime time for aging eyes. “There are plenty of reasons why virtually every 20-year-old wants to go on a road trip at night and virtually every 60-year-old doesn’t,” says Anne Sumers, M.D., ophthalmologist in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “First, as you age, your eyes need more light to work properly. Second, the lenses in your eyes aren’t as clear at 60 as they were at 20. Third, as you get older, your pupils don’t dilate as well as they used to. And in order to see well at night, your pupils have to get very large. So the overall result is that you have a lot more difficulty focusing on objects and seeing at night as you age.”

While none of us will ever match the nocturnal prowess of the fictional Dr. Mid-nite, there are plenty of simple ways to bolster your night vision even at 60, 70, or 80. Here’s how.

Try This First

Lighten up. The average 60-year-old person needs seven times as much light as a 20-year-old to see well in the dark, according to the American Optometric Association. So brighten up the rooms of your home with 60- or 100-watt neodymium lightbulbs, suggests Bruce Rosenthal, O.D., chief of low-vision programs at Lighthouse International, a vision rehabilitation organization in New York City. These bulbs provide higher contrast and produce less glare than regular lightbulbs, so you should be able to see better at night. Neodymium bulbs are available at specialty lighting stores and from some mail-order catalog companies.

For walking in the dark, try using a portable camping lamp to illuminate where you are stepping, says Charles R. Fox, O.D., Ph.D., director of vision rehabilitation at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. Camping lamps, which are available at most sporting goods stores, are better than flashlights because they provide a wider arc of light and make it easier for you to get around, he says.

Other Wise Ways

Bend and tilt. Adjustable floor or table lamps that swivel and bend so you can fine- tune the lighting to your needs can help overcome night vision problems, Dr. Rosenthal says.

If you are reading, for instance, adjust the lamp so that it’s about 12 inches from the page yet not causing an annoying glare, Dr. Rosenthal suggests. Look for lamps with built-in reflectors that will help increase illumination.

See yourself seeing well. Imagery may help improve your night vision, says Robert-Michael Kaplan, O.D., author of The Power behind Your Eyes. Twice a day when natural light is dim—within two hours of sunrise and two hours of sunset—take a moment to close your eyes and move your head slowly to the left and then to the right. As you do this, take 5 to 10 deep breaths and visualize beams of light streaming into your eyes and activating the portions of your vision that are responsible for seeing well at night. This exercise can be done in less than two minutes a day.

Ease off the gas pedal. Many night vision problems aren’t obvious until you get behind the wheel, says Gary Mancil, O.D., adjunct professor at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis.

On low beam, for instance, your headlights illuminate about 100 feet in front of your vehicle, says Steve Creel, California Highway Patrol public affairs officer. And at 65 mph, you’re traveling about 100 feet per second. So at that speed, even if you had perfect vision and were driving in perfect conditions, your headlights wouldn’t be much help. That’s why it’s important to slow down at night, particularly in poor weather. As a self-check, pick out an object in the distance and begin counting until you reach the object. A four- to six-second count is an indication that you are driving at a safe speed. If you reach that point in less than two seconds, you would not have been able to stop safely if that sign were in the middle of the road, Creel says. So ease up on the throttle.

“Just because the speed limit is 55 or 65 doesn’t mean you have to go that fast. That might not be the safe speed for you, particularly if you have trouble seeing at night,” Creel says.

See and be seen. Regularly clean all the lights on your car, especially your headlights, because at night these lights are the only way you can communicate with other drivers, Creel says.

“If you have night vision problems, you’re probably driving slower than some other people on the road. So it’s just as important to be seen,” Creel says. “One good rule of thumb is if the portions of your windshield that aren’t cleaned by your wipers are covered with gunk, it’s time to clean all your lights.”

Look for landmarks. Street signs are harder to read at night, so when traveling to someplace unfamiliar, get detailed directions that include lots of gas stations, grocery stores, and other landmarks, Dr. Mancil suggests. Check out a reliable road map before you start out, and take the map with you. If you find yourself on darkened streets, you can always pull over, turn on the overhead light, and check the map.

Don’t be a deer in the headlights. When you encounter oncoming traffic, look toward the right and follow the shoulder of the road until the other cars pass, Creel suggests. Diverting your eyes like this will reduce the blinding glare from the approaching headlights.

Break out the shades. Whenever you stop at a gas station, restaurant, or other well-lighted place, put on a pair of sunglasses before getting out of your car, Dr. Fox says. That way you’ll have less trouble re-adapting to the darkness once you get back behind the wheel again. Of course, be sure to remove your shades before driving off.

Get a pair of night glasses. Sometimes, poor night vision is merely a sign of increasing nearsightedness, Dr. Sumers says. Ask your optometrist or ophthalmologist if a new pair of glasses that is specifically prescribed for nocturnal activities like driving will help you see better after sundown.

Slash the glare. Ask your vision-care specialist about getting an antireflective coating on your glasses, Dr. Rosenthal suggests. These coatings cut down on glare, increase the amount of available light coming into your eyes, and can improve your night vision.