Contacts For Night Vision? The 111 Latest Answer

Vision related risks of night driving

Poor night vision is common around the world. Of the 34 million drivers in the UK, 17 million have difficulty seeing at night and the fatality rate is reported to be three times higher at night than during the day.

A study found that more than 60% of vehicle accidents in India happen at night, due to factors such as driver visual fatigue and performance, and poor visibility in general.

In South Korea, the fatality rate from nighttime accidents is 53.38%. The stats are affected by the reduced visibility drivers experience during the darker hours of the day.

Glare from headlights

One of the main reasons why drivers see poorly at night is the light from oncoming traffic.

Headlights, high beams and fog lights are designed to help drivers see better at night, but they can also have adverse effects. Glare can be distracting, irritating and reduce your reaction time. What can you do about it?

If you wear glasses, one of the best ways to improve your night vision is by choosing a lens solution with an anti-glare or anti-reflective (AR) coating. This unique lens enhancement can reduce glare from oncoming headlights, street sign reflections, and other distracting light. AR-coated lenses can improve your viewing comfort and clarity, enhancing your vision for a safer night driving experience.

Difficulty seeing your dashboard (presbyopia)

Difficulty seeing the dashboard, center console, GPS and other small functions in your car can be a sign of presbyopia if you are over 40 years old. An estimated 1.8 billion people around the world suffer from presbyopia, and many of these cases go untreated.

The inability to see nearby objects can pose a risk to your night driving, as it can prevent you from monitoring a safe speed on your odometer, navigating on your GPS, or even making sure your lights are working properly. Glasses may be all you need to fix this problem.

Presbyopia affects vision as you age, making it harder for you to focus on nearby objects. If you’re blurry or it’s been a while since your last eye exam, it may be time to make an appointment with your optometrist.

Blurred traffic signs and distant objects (myopia)

Nearsightedness, or nearsightedness, is another significant risk of night driving if left uncorrected. Myopia makes it difficult to see distant objects, such as road signs, debris, cyclists, and pedestrians.

Road hazards are even more difficult to spot at night when visibility is limited and light is limited. More light reflects off traffic signs – making it even more difficult to read, other road users are harder to see – including vehicles and pedestrians – and animals are more likely to stalk the road when it’s dark. The inability to see such objects is dangerous for you and all other road users.

It is estimated that 1.89 billion people worldwide are affected by myopia. If you notice a change in your ability to see distant objects while driving (day or night), you may need to update your vision. A short eye test at your optician can determine this.

Streaky or blurry highlights (astigmatism)

Astigmatism means your eye is usually shaped more like a rugby ball than a soccer ball, changing the way light is focused. In fact, the light is focused in more than one spot, which can lead to blurring.

When it comes to night driving, astigmatism can also affect how you see lights like car headlights and streetlights. You’ll likely experience increased glare, halos, or banding around lights, which can be difficult and will likely force you to squint to better focus. This can be worse at night when there are more lights coming from your dash and other drivers.

Wearing the right lenses can help mitigate the effects, as the lens can help focus light properly on the retina. A routine eye exam can determine if you have astigmatism, and your optometrist can prescribe corrective lenses to correct the irregular shape of your eye. Unfortunately, astigmatism does not heal on its own and it is likely that you will need to wear glasses to correct astigmatism.

Night blindness (nyctalopia)

Night blindness or nyctalopia refers to poor vision that occurs in dim light or darkness. Like presbyopia and myopia, night blindness can pose a dangerous threat to driving at night because it limits an affected driver’s ability to see.

This disorder can be caused by cataracts, glaucoma, myopia, and other vision problems. In some cases, glasses can treat night blindness, but treatment ultimately depends on the underlying cause.

Driving in darker conditions can be challenging at first, and night blindness can make it really dangerous. Consult your optometrist if you experience symptoms of nyctalopia (haloes or glare, trouble seeing distant objects, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, etc.).

Safety tips for night driving

Vehicle and personal safety precautions should be taken every time you get behind the wheel – but especially when driving at night. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2016 in the United States, 23% of all accidents involving personal injury and 37% of all fatal accidents occurred between 6 p.m. and 6 p.m. and 6 a.m

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has created the Golden Rules for Road Safety as guidelines for drivers to make themselves and other road users safer while driving. First things first: Check your eyesight regularly, protect your eyes from glare and always wear your glasses when driving. The FIA ​​also advises motorists:

Always pay attention

Stick to the speed limit

Buckle up

Use a child seat

Check their tires

Don’t text and drive

Stay bright in reflective gear

Wear a helmet

Stop when they are tired

Watch out for pedestrians, especially children

Slow down for kids

Never drink and drive

Improve your vision for driving at night

How can you improve your night vision? In addition to the above tips, your vision needs to be as clear as possible.

Many vision problems that make your vision worse when driving at night can be treated with prescription glasses or contact lenses. Your eyesight changes as you age, so regular eye exams are essential. You may need to update your prescription to drive more safely and efficiently at night.

If you suspect you have a vision problem that is directly affecting your ability to drive at night, contact your optician as soon as possible.

Reduction of reflections at night

Sometimes you still struggle with reflections on your lenses at night, which can be annoying and make driving at night an uncomfortable experience. You can fix this by adding a lens coating to your lenses, which can help remove reflections and reduce glare.

Crizal Drive has been specially designed to make you feel more comfortable behind the wheel by removing up to 90% of reflections. In addition, Crizal Drive can also help protect your lenses from scratches, dirt and dust and boasts an E-SPF rating of 25. This helps you enjoy clear lenses with extra UV protection on the go.

Where can I buy night vision goggles?

Lenses for night driving can be very beneficial and help solve a range of vision problems, not to mention making you feel safer and more comfortable on the road. The right lenses for night driving can give you back some independence, which for many can be life-changing.

Find your local Essilor optician who will guide you to the right lenses for your unique needs. Your optometrist can provide the eye care services you need using the latest technology and lens types, including progressive lenses, single vision lenses, and lens coatings. Use our online optician finder to start your search.

A series of pop-up directional markers appear in tiny green lines in my field of vision. As I turn around, I can see which way north is. These are markings on a compass that are projected onto a small MicroLED display that sits on a contact lens and is held in front of my eye on a stick. After years of trying on smart glasses, my return to looking at things through a curved lens the size of my fingernail felt just as wild as ever. I’m still not sure if I should wear it in my eyes.

The Mojo lens, a self-contained display-enabled lens I previously tried in a previous pre-pandemic iteration at CES 2020, is back in a form the company says is finally ready for internal testing is.

I tested Mojo Vision’s latest prototype lens in a Midtown Manhattan office building a few weeks ago as the company prepared for its next phase of in-house development. While Mojo’s contact lenses are still not approved for everyday use, these lenses are another step along the way and represent the company’s full technology package for what will be in version 1.0.

Mojo Vision’s technology is like augmented reality. But not in the way you might think. The hard-lens monochrome green display can show text, simple graphics and even some illustrations, but it’s designed to function more like a smartwatch. The lens’ accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer also give it something I haven’t been able to try before: eye tracking.

Richard Peterson/CNET

A world in your eyes

Unlike the eye-tracking technology in VR and AR glasses, where cameras capture eye movement, these lenses follow eye movement by actually sitting on your eye. According to Mojo Vision executives, like on a smartwatch, the sensors can calculate this movement more accurately than VR or AR glasses. I have not actually worn these in my eyes as the lenses have not yet been approved for wear. I held the lens very close to my eye and moved my head around to see the tracking effect.

When I tried Mojo’s lens in 2020, it was a version that didn’t have the built-in motion-tracking technology or batteries. The new version features a battery array, motion tracking, and short-range wireless connectivity.

But the lens is not a standalone device; A custom wireless connection communicates directly with an additional neck-worn device that Mojo calls a relay, which acts as a companion computer for the lenses. I haven’t seen this part of the Mojo Vision hardware, only the lenses.

Richard Peterson/CNET

The lenses do not currently connect directly to phones because the lenses require a more energy-efficient, short-range wireless connection. “Bluetooth LE was too talkative and power-hungry,” says Steve Sinclair, SVP of Product at Mojo Vision, who walked me through the latest demos. “We had to create our own.” Mojo Vision’s wireless connection operates in the 5GHz band, but Sinclair says the company still has some work to do to ensure the wireless connection isn’t receiving or causing interference.

“A phone doesn’t have the radio that we need,” says Sinclair. “It has to be a little close to the head because of the lens’ transmission power.” He says the technology could be built into a helmet or even goggles, but for now a neckband-type device is most practical.

Ideally, Mojo is aiming for longer-range connections in the future. However, the neck-worn processor can connect to phones. It strips GPS from phones and uses the phone’s modem for connectivity, turning that neckband into a bridge.

Richard Peterson/CNET

Navigating a tiny user interface

Lifting my head and looking around the room with a lens on a rod in front of my face is not the same as wearing an eye-tracking, display-enabled contact lens. Even after this demo, the actual experience of wearing Mojo Vision contact lenses in the wild remains an unknown. But even compared to my last Mojo demo in January 2020, seeing how the UI works on the lens makes the experience feel a lot more real.

In many ways, it’s reminiscent of a pair of smart glasses called Focals from North, a company Google acquired in 2020. North Focals eye-projected a small LED display that worked like a tiny display but had no eye-tracking. I can see how looking into the lens can bring up information, similar to a smartwatch on my head or Google Glass… just different. The bright display hangs in the air like etched light and then disappears.

I see a ring-shaped surface, something I saw simulated on a Vive Pro VR headset with gaze tracking in 2020 when I last visited Mojo Vision in Las Vegas. I can see a small reticle landing on small app icons around the ring and if I stay on one for a few seconds it will open. The ring around the periphery of my vision remains invisible until I look over to the edges where app-like widgets appear.

I see a travel app that simulates getting flight information and a tiny graphic that shows where my seat is. I can see other windows (my Uber trip information, my gate). Another app-like widget shows what it would look like if there were pop-up fitness metrics on the display (heart rate, lap info, like a smartwatch gauge). Another widget shows images: I see a little Baby Yoda (aka Grogu) rendered in shades of green. Also a classic Star Wars recording of Han Solo. These images show that the display looks good enough to view images and read text on them. Another, a teleprompter, scrolls down text that I can read aloud. If I look away from the apps, back to the outer ring, the heads up info disappears again.

Figuring out how to move just right isn’t easy, but I don’t even try these lenses the way they’re intended. In my eyes, when my eyes move, they would move, directly controlling the interface. Outside of my eyes, I have to tilt my head up and down. Mojo Vision promises that the on-eye experience will make the display feel even more present and fill my field of vision. It makes sense since I hold the display slightly away from my eye. The lens’ display is designed to sit exactly where my pupil would be, and its narrow viewing window aligns with the area where the fovea, the most detailed part of our visual center, would be located. A look back from the ring should close an app or open another.

Scott Stein/CNET

Next step: actual wearing; then recipes

The Mojo Vision lens I’m looking at now definitely has more integrated hardware than the 2020 version I’ve seen before, but it’s not all fully enabled yet. “It’s got a radio, it’s got a display, it’s got three motion sensors, it’s got a lot of built-in batteries and the power management system. It has all these things in it,” Sinclair tells me. But the power system on the lens has not yet been activated to work in the eye. Instead, the lens is now attached to a small arm mount that I hold while it’s powered. Right now, in the demo I’m trying, I’m using the wireless chip to pull data on and off the lens so it can be viewed.

The Mojo lens features a small Arm Cortex M0 processor on the lens itself, which handles encrypted data running on and off the lens, as well as power management. The neck-band computer runs the applications, interprets eye-tracking data, and updates image placement in 10-millisecond loops. While the graphics data is somewhat non-intensive (it’s 300-pixel-diameter content, Sinclair says), the processor needs to update that data quickly and reliably. When things get out of sync, it can get disorienting on an eyeball pretty quickly.

mojo vision

Drew Perkins, CEO of Mojo Vision, will wear the lens first. Then the company’s other executives will, Sinclair says, and the rest of her executive team at some point thereafter. The company’s fitness and sports partnerships, announced earlier this year, should allow for some early testing to see how the lenses might work with fitness and sports training applications.

Mojo Vision is also working on getting these lenses to work as medically approved corrective lenses, but those steps could be further in the future. “We could imagine low vision users having a second, higher resolution camera built into glasses or hanging over their ear – they look at something and it takes a really high resolution picture and then it just appears in their eyes, and then they can pan and zoom and see things,” Sinclair says of the future. Mojo Vision isn’t there yet, but testing these wearable microdisplays with gaze tracking will be the start.

Additionally, these lenses require FDA clearance as contact lenses, a process Mojo Vision is working on. They also need to be made in different recipes, and the company intends to shield the chip hardware with an artificial iris to make the lenses look more normal.

“We still have to work on turning this into a product. It’s not a product,” Sinclair points out where the Mojo Vision lenses stand. I’d be pretty nervous if I were the first person to test these lenses in the eye, but why shouldn’t I be? This kind of technology has never existed before. Only one other company I know, InWith, works on smart contact lenses. I’ve never seen demos of how these competing soft lenses work and these don’t seem to have displays yet. The frontier of tiny wearable displays makes previously cutting-edge smart glasses look old-fashioned by comparison.

A new study suggests that older adults who wear multifocal contact lenses to correct near vision problems, a very common condition that increases with age, may have greater difficulty driving at night than their peers who do wear glasses. Age-related near vision problems, medically known as presbyopia, usually appear after the age of 40 and result in the inability to focus on nearby objects.

Wearing multifocal contact lenses at night resulted in significantly slower driving speeds than wearing varifocals, according to an article published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. While slower driving appears to reduce the likelihood of encountering night-time road hazards, the authors reported a reduced ability to recognize road hazards in multifocal contact lens wearers.

The study also showed that wearers of multifocal contact lenses were able to see road signs, but from a much shorter distance than wearers of glasses, potentially reducing the reaction time it takes for a driver to make the necessary navigation decisions.

“For those patients who drive long distances and hours at night, physicians should carefully consider the best form of presbyopia correction for these patients,” said author Byoung Sun Chu, PhD, formerly of the School of Optometry, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. “An alternative is to prescribe the multifocal contact lenses for the day and a different correction for driving at night.”

The research team conducted an experiment with 11 older adults, between the ages of 45 and 64, whose only experience of wearing lenses to correct near vision problems was reading glasses. Study participants drove on a closed circuit at night and performance was measured in five areas: traffic sign recognition, road hazard recognition and avoidance, lane keeping, nearby target recognition, and distance to standard road sign recognition.

Chu points out that the relatively small sample size likely led to an underestimation of some of the differences in driving performance between conditions, as some of the differences in driving performance approached statistical significance.

In addition to conducting studies with a larger sample size to confirm the results, the author suggests conducting future studies to determine whether the results found in this study are applicable to older adults with no prior experience of wearing lenses to correct near vision problems (except for Reading glasses ) persist over a longer period of time after adjustment to wearing the corrective lenses.

“It is important that the results of this study also serve as a stimulus for improving the optical properties of multifocal contact lenses to improve driving at night,” Chu added.

Clear vision is essential for safe driving, as almost 90 percent of our ability to react when driving depends on it. Unfortunately, vision decreases at night. Night driving impairs many aspects of vision, including depth perception, color recognition, and peripheral vision. One of the main problems associated with night driving is glare from headlights and traffic lights. Glare is a source of light that doesn’t help you see better, it affects your vision.

Glare at night occurs in both bright and dim light. Trying to see something in the presence of too bright a light can cause your eyes to squint and water. Conversely, vision can be impaired due to a reduction in the contrast of images caused by poor lighting.

Fortunately, there are several ways to combat glare and reduce vision impairment when driving at night:

Seniors: How to improve night vision while driving

Life doesn’t stop when the sun goes down, but driving at night — especially with oncoming headlights and bright lights — can cause vision problems for some seniors.

If you live with night blindness, also known as nyctalopia, or struggle with vision problems at night or in low light, there are steps you can take to improve your night vision and see life after dark in more ways to experience.

Read how to improve night vision while driving and learn more about night blindness and what you can do to improve or prevent the condition.

What is night blindness?

Night blindness is the inability to see in dim light or at night.

For seniors living with night blindness, it doesn’t mean they can’t see at night. Instead, night blindness means your vision is weaker at night and doesn’t fully support you in various nighttime pursuits – especially night driving.

While nyctalopia is not a disease, it is a symptom of a different type of vision problem.

What causes night blindness?

The following eye conditions can cause night blindness:

Myopia – the inability to see distant objects clearly

Cataracts – the clouding of the lens of the eye

Retinitis pigmentosa – the accumulation of dark pigment in the retina that causes tunnel vision. Early diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa and genetic testing may allow some treatment plans (particularly those involving vitamins) to begin early in life and prevent severe vision loss

Usher Syndrome – a genetic condition that affects both hearing and vision

Vitamin A deficiency – an important vitamin that is crucial for converting nerve impulses into images on the retina

It’s important to note that older adults and seniors, as well as those with diabetes, are at greater risk of having night vision problems and developing night blindness.

Ways seniors can improve night vision

Improving your own health and diet — especially taking vitamins A and B — can help improve your night vision. Special night driving goggles with anti-glare lenses are one of the best ways to improve vision by at least 5% or more. Sometimes a small amount of tint, particularly yellow, in the Rx can provide eye relief.

Here are more details on the top night vision enhancement options to help with night vision driving and other low-light activities:

Contact your optician first

Because of the complexity and variety of eye conditions that can cause night blindness or night vision problems, it’s important that your first step in improving your eye health and night vision problems is to see your trusted optometrist. The guesswork game about what’s causing your condition or how to improve it doesn’t get to the absolute root of the problem.

Most likely there is something else with your vision that needs to be addressed. In return, your night vision will likely improve at the same time.

Without knowing exactly what your eyes are struggling with, it’s difficult to go into detail in this article. However, we do present several eyewear options and strategies that your optometrist may suggest or prescribe to support night vision driving and your overall night vision and eye health.

1. Night driving goggles

Night driving glasses are specially recommended glasses that meet your vision needs and can help you see better and reduce glare when driving in the dark. Effective night driving glasses include:

Light-sensitive glasses for night driving. If you have light-sensitive eyes, you may feel like you’re being blinded by oncoming traffic, and you may even have trouble with light contrasts after dark. These difficulties are quite normal as everyone’s pupils constrict when bright light shines into the eye. Everyone’s eyes adjust at different rates. Tinted glasses are never the answer at night. Photosensitive glasses for night driving can help reduce reflections from special lens enhancements that better help night vision driving to combat light sensitivity from headlights and streetlights.

If you have light-sensitive eyes, you may feel like you’re being blinded by oncoming traffic, and you may even have trouble with light contrasts after dark. These difficulties are quite normal as everyone’s pupils constrict when bright light shines into the eye. Everyone’s eyes adjust at different rates. Tinted glasses are never the solution at night. Photosensitive glasses for night driving can help reduce reflections from special lens enhancements that better help night vision driving to combat light sensitivity from headlights and streetlights. Anti-reflective goggles for night driving. To help your eyes focus better on the road and other obstacles at night, anti-reflective glasses may be prescribed for night driving. They are special night driving glasses with an anti-reflective coating. When it comes to night vision issues, these glasses help reduce glare, sharpen vision and help many seniors see better overall on the street at night. Depending on your prescription anti-reflective lenses, some are engineered with wavefront diagnostic technology, which can also reduce halos, star flares, glare and other visual distractions. Anti-reflective glasses for night driving are usually based on your individual prescription to ensure the best possible vision for your eyes.

In addition to prescription night driving glasses, your eye doctor may recommend these additional ways to improve your night vision:

2. Choose the right sunglasses

How you take care of your eyes during the day will significantly help or hurt your eyes at night. Unfiltered sunlight can affect your night vision. But you can’t hide inside all day; Too little light during the day does not help your eyes at night either.

Finding an effective pair of sunglasses—one that suits your eyesight, blocks UV rays, and helps keep out light and rays that might enter from the side of your face—can help improve your night vision.

Be sure to read our article on choosing the right sunglasses.

3. Give your eyes time to adjust naturally

If you know in advance that you need to drive at night or do something outdoors, take 10 to 20 minutes and let your vision naturally adjust to the darkness. As an accepted practice by US military personnel, you must do the following:

Find a dark room.

Sit with your eyes open for about 10-20 minutes.

Go straight outside when you’re done. (Don’t go back into a brightly lit room.)

If you don’t have a dark room (or 10-20 minutes), put on a sleep mask and sit in a room for a few minutes while your eyes adjust.

4. Avoid direct eye contact with light sources

Outdoor activities at night always involve bright lights. But to promote optimal night vision, it’s important not to look directly into a light source. Strong light causes the size of your pupil to shrink. In this case, it takes longer for your pupil to open and let in more light.

When diving, you are constantly hit by headlights from the front and back. While being as safe as possible, try to adjust any mirror that gets hit by the headlights of a rear car. Additionally, as you learn how to improve night vision while driving, keep your eyes focused on the white line of the road rather than the middle of the road where there are more oncoming headlights.

5. Eat foods rich in vitamin A

Vitamin A is an important component of rhodopsin, a light-absorbing protein in the retina. Rhodopsin helps you see more clearly in the dark. That’s why night blindness is one of the first symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. However, this deficiency is uncommon in developed countries, but it may be worth talking to your doctor about changing your diet to improve your vision.

Before making any adjustments to your diet, be sure to consult your doctor first. While making sure you’re getting enough vitamin A, there comes a point when you can get too much.

Talk to your doctor about cataract surgery

Because cataracts are a leading cause of night blindness in older adults, you should speak to your optometrist about having your cataracts removed through surgery.

During surgery, your cloudy lenses will be replaced with clear, artificial ones. If your cataracts are determined to be the underlying cause of your night blindness, your night vision will improve significantly after surgery.

An eye exam can help you enjoy the night with clear vision

Don’t let your vision keep you from doing anything you can or want to do at night. Clear night vision is possible, we just need to understand what is causing this challenge in the first place.

A healthy eye exam thoroughly assesses every aspect of your vision, and provides you with a prescription and/or insight to improve your night vision – which can eliminate any current night vision issues.

Visit the eye experts at iCare Vision today.

Contact lenses are prescription medical devices that are placed in the eye to correct and improve vision. Sometimes cloudy vision can be the result of using contact lenses.

Cloudy vision is when you seem to be looking at things through a fog or haze. It can seem like there’s something between your eye and the world, like looking through frosted glass. If you wear contact lenses, they can be the culprit.

Your contact lenses may be dirty, or dry or cloudy vision may indicate a deeper medical condition. Damage to the cornea (the outer layer of the eye) can be a cause of blurred vision, which may be directly related to contact lens wear. Cataracts, glaucoma or macular degeneration can also be common causes of blurred vision.

Because blurred vision can have many possible causes, treatment can also vary. You may be able to simply change the brand or type of contact lenses, or even just clean the ones you have to improve the cloudy vision. The problem can be more serious and in some cases require medical attention.

If you experience cloudy vision and cleaning or replacing your contact lenses isn’t enough, talk to your eye doctor about possible causes and treatments.

Causes of contact-induced cloudy vision

Contact lenses are designed to help you see better and improve vision, but in some cases they can cause vision problems. Cloudy vision is when there appears to be fog or haze that makes it difficult to see clearly, and objects may not appear as clearly as they should. One of the simple causes of contact-induced cloudy or foggy vision is dirty or damaged contacts.

Contacts can be either soft or hard, reusable or disposable. Both can be defective in some way and have damage that can lead to impaired vision. Soft contact lenses are more common than rigid gas permeable (RGP), hard contact lenses are, and soft lenses need to be discarded regularly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published that between 40 and 90 percent of people who wear contact lenses fail to follow care instructions for them and put themselves at risk for complications. For example, the American Optometric Association (AOA) reports that 45 percent of adults who wear contact lenses do not replace them as often as prescribed. For example, disposable, everyday contact lenses are intended to be worn once and discarded, and prolonged use or sleeping with everyday contact lenses can lead to infection or other eye complications.

Cloudy vision can be caused by dirty contacts that are not properly cleaned or disinfected. Contact lenses that don’t fit properly or aren’t the right prescription can also cause vision problems.

Cloudy vision can be the result of dirt or debris trapped under the contact lens, which is more common with RPG lenses. It could also be from a scratch on the surface of the contact lens.

Vision can also become cloudy if contact lenses are worn for too long and the eyes become excessively dry. Many types of contact lenses, particularly soft contact lenses, do not allow oxygen to reach the eye as freely as it should. If the eyes are left without oxygen for too long, such as overnight, they can become dry. Dry contacts can cause cloudy or blurred vision. AOA warns that long-term contact use can be a risk factor for dry eyes.

Injury to the cornea can cause cloudy or blurred vision. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) publishes that corneal swelling can cause halos to form around lights and possibly cloudy vision, especially after waking up in the morning.

Blurred vision when wearing contact lenses can also be a symptom of a medical condition that needs treatment.

Symptoms of cloudy vision

Many signs and symptoms can indicate cloudy vision depending on the underlying disease or condition. Symptoms that can accompany cloudy vision include:

Dry eyes

Blurred or double vision

Glare around lights

Bad night vision

Increased sensitivity to light

Red (bloodshot) or sore eyes

eye itching or discharge

Difficulty distinguishing colors from one another

Blurred vision can also accompany symptoms from other body systems, such as headaches.

Possible Eye Problems Associated with Cloudy Vision Cloudy vision may not be directly related to Contact usage and may indicate a medical issue. There are several possible causes of blurred vision and associated eye problems. Cataract

glaucoma

Corneal infection or disease

Macular Degeneration Cataracts are the most common cause of blurred vision. Mayo Clinic explains that cataracts are most commonly associated with aging; However, they can also form as a result of a medical condition such as diabetes or an eye injury. If you start to experience cloudy vision and cleaning or changing your contact lenses doesn’t seem to clear it, it may be the result of cataract formation. This can occur in one or both eyes and develop slowly over time. Eye infections, such as conjunctivitis or pink eye, can also cause eye irritation and blurred vision. Eye infections are often the result of poor contact hygiene and improper care. Fuchs’ dystrophy is a corneal disease that can cause blurred vision. AAO reports that Fuchs’ dystrophy is a disease that affects the corneal layer, which moves fluid through the eye and out of the cornea, the endothelium. As a result of the disease, the endothelial cells die off, the cornea fills with fluid and swells. Blurred vision can occur in the early stages of Fuchs’ dystrophy, and it’s more common first thing in the morning. As the disease progresses, vision can last throughout the day and blisters can form, causing pain. Fuchs’ dystrophy and other corneal infections and diseases can be detected with regular eye exams. Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic nerve and can cause blurred vision. The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF) reports that macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in the United States, and one of the symptoms of the disease can be blurred or cloudy vision. If cloudy vision persists, doesn’t improve with changing or removing your contact lenses, and is accompanied by other symptoms such as eye pain, irritation, swelling, redness, or discharge, it’s time to see a doctor to find the cause. Again, blurred vision can be an indicator of an underlying medical condition.

How to manage cloudy vision related to contacts

If you have blurred vision while wearing contact lenses, the first thing to do is remove the contact lenses. Hazy vision is different from blurred vision. You may not be able to see or focus clearly without your contacts, but it shouldn’t appear like you’re looking through fog either.

Try cleaning your contacts by rubbing and rinsing them with the right sanitizing liquid. Your contacts should appear clear and transparent. When dirty, they can appear blurry or milky, which can lead to blurred vision. You may have a defective pair of contact lenses, or the brand or type of contact lens may not be right for your eye. In this case, changing types or brands may suffice.

Vision may become blurry or blurry as your eyesight changes. This can easily be remedied with a new recipe. Your eye doctor can help you with this.

Dry contact lenses can cause blurred vision, which can be resolved by using the correct lubricating drops for your specific contact lens. Be careful with regular saline or eye drops. Instead, only use the exact solution intended for your contact type and brand.

If the blurred vision persists even after removing or changing your contact lenses, contact your eye doctor for an appointment. It can be the result of a more serious condition that needs to be treated with medication or surgery.

Regular eye exams are important because they maintain eye health and can identify a potential problem before it progresses.

frequently asked Questions

Should you change your contact lenses if you have blurred vision? You can change the type of contact lenses you have or clean the ones you already use to try and improve cloudy vision. Sometimes your contact lenses can become scratched or react with your eyes when you use them. In such cases, it may help to try a different brand or type of contact lens. However, it is always best to go for an eye exam and get advice from your eye doctor. The problem can be more serious than you expect.

Should you switch to glasses if your vision is cloudy? You can always switch to glasses if you experience cloudy vision when using contact lenses. This is one of the easiest ways to determine if your contact lenses are at fault or if you have an underlying eye condition that you are unaware of. If you can see clearly with glasses, your contact lenses may be dirty or scratched. But if cloudy vision persists after switching from contact lenses to glasses, make sure you contact your eye doctor for an appointment.

Is blurred vision normal? Blurred vision is not normal. If you start experiencing blurry vision, get it checked. While cloudy vision doesn’t necessarily indicate a refractive error, it’s not normal to see things cloudy, blurry, oily, or out of focus. Such concern can also result from other reasons such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, lack of sleep, or a reaction to your contacts.

references

brief info. (July 2018). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

facts and statistics. (Aug 2017). American Optometric Association.

dry eye (2019). American Optometric Association.

Can you explain why I have halos and blurred vision in the mornings? (June 2017). American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Cataract. (June 2018). Mayo Clinic.

What is Fuchs’ dystrophy? (September 2017). American Academy of Ophthalmology.

What is macular degeneration? American Macular Degeneration Foundation.

Driving in the dark is a challenge for everyone. However, if you have astigmatism or an irregular cornea or lens shape that affects your vision, you may have additional problems seeing well enough to drive at night.

Signs that you may have astigmatism

The most immediate signs of astigmatism are:

blurred vision

Unsharp pictures

Slight halos or stripes

glare from lights

have to squint

If you have any of these problems, you should make an appointment for an eye exam. Depending on the severity of your astigmatism, your budget, and your long-term goals, temporary and permanent astigmatism solutions are available.

Why does astigmatism affect night driving?

Because of the way astigmatism refracts light in your eyes, the light from headlights or traffic lights causes blur and glare in your vision. At night, when the dim ambient light contrasts with the bright flashes from other cars, this problem is exacerbated, making an already difficult endeavor dangerous.

Tips:

Below are five tips to improve your astigmatism symptoms when driving at night.

1. Practice safe driving

These safe driving tips also apply if you don’t have astigmatism.

First, no matter what time of day, if you have low vision, be sure to allow extra time for the trip. That way, you don’t feel pressured to exceed the speed limit, and you have more opportunities to read passing signs, more leeway to react to sudden changes, and better preparedness for emergencies.

Also, don’t drive when you’re tired if you can help it. When you’re tired, your eye strain only gets worse, making it even harder to spot upcoming dangers. In addition, mistakes are made more often, which can have serious consequences when driving at night.

Next, avoid looking directly into headlights and traffic lights while driving at night. This minimizes the glare in your view, although it doesn’t completely fix the problem. Also, keep the lights in your car low or off. This will help your eyes adjust to the lower light levels outside.

Finally, reduce the number of distractions around you while you drive. Distractions impair your ability to focus on the road and hazards ahead, which is already made difficult by astigmatism.

2. Try astigmatism glasses

Driving at night is dangerous if you have astigmatism. The right glasses can reduce this hazard by bending light before it reaches your eyes to reduce glare, halos, streaks and general blur so you can focus on the road.

You’ll need an eye exam to find your exact prescription; You can then choose your new glasses in any style you want. They also have options for special lenses that can further improve your vision, eye health, and your experience with glasses. These features can include:

Lenses to reduce glare

Transition lenses that become sunglasses during the day

Water-repellent and shatterproof lenses

Lenses that reduce your exposure to harmful blue light from screens

You need to update your prescription every few years. You also need to be careful not to break or lose your glasses.

Contact lenses can help immensely with mild symptoms of astigmatism. This is a good option if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of glasses but still need to see an optician for the right prescription.

Another advantage over glasses is that most contact lenses are so comfortable that you don’t feel like you’re wearing anything at all and you can leave them in all day. Other than that, the vision improvement is the same between them.

However, contact lenses need to be replaced sooner than glasses, potentially costing you more money.

4. Orthokeratology

Orthokeratology, also called “Ortho-K”, is the contact lens equivalent of wearing orthodontic braces. In this practice, you wear special contact lenses while you sleep and take them out in the morning. The lenses slowly change the shape of your cornea, improving your vision for the next day.

This is ideal for people who have only mild astigmatism and works best if you wear orthokeratology lenses every night. As with regular contact lenses, you need to find your perfect fit with our optician.

However, orthokeratology is one of the more expensive solutions to astigmatism, and once you stop, the effects don’t last more than a day or so.

5. Eye Surgery

The most effective option for vision problems is surgical intervention to correct the irregularities. This solution is usually permanent, so you don’t have to worry about glasses or contact lenses afterwards.

The most common type of eye surgery that most people with astigmatism qualify for is LASIK. In this procedure, the surgeon changes the shape of the cornea with an extremely precise laser. It is completely safe and can improve your eyesight instantly. There are some possible side effects or complications, but these are rare.

Other surgical procedures include:

Epi-LASIK: Uses a surgical tool instead of a laser to access the cornea.

Uses a surgical tool instead of a laser to access the cornea. LASEK: This is similar to LASIK but doesn’t cut as deep.

This is similar to LASIK but doesn’t cut as deep. PRK: The epithelium is completely removed to access the cornea.

In order to gain access to the cornea, the epithelium is completely removed. SMILE: Some tissue is removed with a microscopic incision.

Some tissue is removed with a microscopic incision. Refractive or toric lens replacement: Cataract surgery to replace the defective lens in your eye.

Cataract surgery, which replaces the broken lens in your eye. Lens implants: A contact lens is permanently placed in the eye.

Surgery costs about the same as orthokeratology, but the effects are permanent. Your optometrist will be best able to assess whether you should consider surgery for your symptoms of astigmatism during night driving.

Get professional help for your astigmatism when driving at night

When night driving has become too difficult even with glasses or contact lenses, it’s time to see a doctor. An optometrist can examine your vision and determine how severe the problem is, order custom glasses, or recommend surgery.

To drive more comfortably at night, make an appointment with us online or by phone. Our professional teams at True Eye Experts perform a comprehensive eye exam and offer a customized solution to get you driving safely again. Contact us today!

Seeing halos (bright circles or rings around lights) can be common, but it can also be a cause for concern. Here’s a look at why you might see halos and what you can do about it.

Have you ever seen bright rings or circles around a light source, e.g. B. a headlight? At best, seeing halos can be an odd or even annoying visual sensation; at worst, they can be a symptom of a serious eye disease or disorder. Seeing halos can be especially problematic at night or in a dimly lit room when they tend to obscure your vision.

What causes halos?

When light is bent as it enters your eye—called diffraction—your eyes see this halo effect. This can be caused by a number of different things. Sometimes it is a reaction to bright light, especially if you wear glasses or contact lenses to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.

However, seeing those bright circles could be a side effect of a serious eye disease or other problem. Some of them are:

dry eye

LASIK surgery or other corrective eye surgery

Cataracts or recent cataract surgery

glaucoma

Fuchs dystrophy

kerataconus

photokeratitis

ocular migraine

How do I know if they are a sign of a serious medical condition?

If halos appear out of the blue, or if you also have rainbow-colored halos, blurred vision, pain, or other uncomfortable symptoms, they could indicate a more serious condition.

If you’ve never experienced halos, or if they’ve suddenly increased in frequency and regularity, it’s a good idea to consult your eye doctor to make sure there’s nothing wrong with your eye health. Your eye doctor will be able to determine the exact reason why the halos are appearing in your vision. If they are the result of a serious eye condition, treatment will help eliminate the halos vision symptom.

Are there treatments?

Although there are no direct treatments for the halos, this symptom is usually reduced when the conditions causing the halos are treated.

If you don’t currently wear prescription glasses or contact lenses, it’s definitely worth getting an eye exam for refractive errors. You may have developed nearsightedness or farsightedness without realizing it. These vision problems mean your eyes can’t focus light on your retinas like they should.

Taking care of your eye health is always the best way to prevent vision problems.

Seeing halos and worried they might be a sign of a more serious condition? Contact us to schedule an eye exam today. We are here to help!

Anti-glare lenses, also known as anti-reflective lenses, are specially calculated to eliminate the glare on your lenses and increase the amount of light entering your eye. This is an important safety benefit when driving at night, as anti-glare lenses reduce annoying reflections and halos around lights. At Peninsula Vision Care we recommend the Crizal family of anti-glare lenses. Watch the video and be sure to ask our optician about anti-glare lenses the next time you visit!

Have you ever experienced blinding reflections in your glasses from oncoming traffic when driving at night? Anti-glare lenses, also known as anti-reflective lenses, are specially designed to eliminate the glare on your lenses and increase the amount of light entering your eye. This is an important safety benefit when driving at night, as anti-reflective lenses reduce annoying and dangerous reflections and halos. These distracting glares can cause people to squint or look away, making driving unsafe. Anti-glare lenses also improve the cosmetic appearance of your glasses by reducing the reflections that obscure your eyes while someone is looking at you, making your eyes look more natural. Better still, most premium non-glare glasses are easier to clean because they contain a two-sided anti-scratch coating that helps reduce smudges and dust build-up. Ask a member of staff to demonstrate the benefits of an anti-glare lens to you. You will not regret it!

information without distraction.

At important moments, we all need crucial information, be it the next bend on the bike path, the address of the next appointment or the latest sales forecasts. Mojo Lens helps you remember what’s most important so you can focus on your priorities without burying your face in a screen or getting distracted by a mobile device.

7 tips for diving with contact lenses

“Can I wear contact lenses while diving?”

“Is it safe?”

These are just a few questions divers with vision problems ask. The answer is:

Yes. It’s safe as long as you follow certain guidelines and security protocols. In this post we discuss the things you need to do to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable dive. Without further ado, here are seven safety tips for diving with contact lenses.

Find the right mask.

Before you even think about wearing contact lenses while diving, you need to make sure your diving mask fits you perfectly. Wearing a properly fitted mask will prevent seawater from flooding your mask and contaminating your contact lenses. With the right mask, you can protect your eyes from nasty infections.

Make sure you buy your mask from a dive shop. Not only do dive shops have a wide variety of masks, but they also have staff to help you choose the best mask possible. Find your local dive shop by clicking here.

Wear soft contact lenses when diving.

There are different types of contact lenses, but not all are created equal when it comes to diving. There are rigid gas permeable (hard) contact lenses and there are soft contact lenses. Always wear soft contact lenses when diving.

Hard contact lenses are gas permeable, which means gas can pass through your eye. Hard contact lenses can create pockets of nitrogen between your lenses and your eyes, causing blurred vision, discomfort and even eye pain.

Because soft contact lenses are not gas permeable, there is no risk of nitrogen bubbles forming between your lenses and your eyes. You can comfortably wear soft contact lenses while diving, which is why they are the best and only choice for contact lens diving.

Bring spare contact lenses.

Always carry spare contact lenses with you when you go diving. The last thing you want is to lose a contact lens before you even start your diving session. Bringing spare contact lenses also allows you to continue diving if you need to ascend because you have to remove your contact lenses due to discomfort, pain, or water pollution.

Wear disposable contact lenses.

Consider wearing disposable contact lenses (dailies) when diving. Dailies are one of the safest and most affordable ways to dive. To avoid the risk of infection, you should always remove and discard your contact lenses after a dive. Daily disposable lenses allow you to throw away your contact lenses and wear new ones after your dive.

Disinfect your hands before touching your contact lenses.

Sanitizing your hands before handling contact lenses is one of the most important contact lens care and safety protocols to remember. Never touch your eyes and handle your contact lenses immediately after surfacing and exiting the water. The bacteria present in seawater can be transferred to your fingers and attach to your contact lenses, causing potentially serious infections.

Seawater also contains acanthamoeba, a unicellular microorganism found in tap water, fresh water (rivers and lakes), and seawater. Acanthamoeba can cause acanthamoeba keratitis, a serious eye infection that can lead to permanent visual impairment or blindness.

To avoid contaminating your contact lenses and catching an eye infection, sanitize your hands before handling your contact lenses. Soap and a clean water source may not be readily available in open water, so always bring rubbing alcohol or disinfectant wipes with you.

Inform your dive buddy.

Inform your dive buddy that you are wearing contact lenses before you descend. You obviously can’t talk underwater and letting your dive buddy know your situation beforehand will prevent confusion if you’re gesturing and pointing to your eye.

If your dive buddy knows you are wearing contact lenses, they will be better equipped to deal with the situation and help you if you lose your sight underwater.

Close your eyes during mask skills

Instructors will teach students various mask skills such as mask cleaning and flooding. There’s always a chance of your mask getting flooded with water, so you need to know how to carefully remove the water without contaminating your lenses.

Your instructor will ask you how to intentionally flood your mask and then show you how to remove the water from your mask. If you wear contact lenses, flooding your mask will cause water to come into contact with your lenses. To avoid this, close your eyes during mask flooding. It’s also a good idea to let your teacher know that you wear contact lenses so they can tailor the class to your specific needs.

Conclusion

By following the tips in this post, you can wear contact lenses while diving without worrying about things like contact lens contamination or eye infections. As long as you follow these tips on every dive, you will have a safe and enjoyable dive.