Walking into a dark movie theater, it may take a little while for your eyes to adjust to the dim lighting before finding your seat. But for someone who has night blindness, this process can take much longer. Night blindness causes problems seeing in any dark or dim lighting. These symptoms can lead to problems getting around at night-or even a fear of the dark.
Night blindness can be caused by a variety of problems, and some are easily treated. Donald Schwartz, MD, associate clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Southern California's Doheny Eye Institute explains what a doctor can do to help restore your night sight.
What is night blindness?
Night blindness can be a number of things. One of the things that is called night blindness is a decreased ability to see at night. Some people become more nearsighted at night as the pupil dilates in dark conditions, a condition called spherical aberration. People with this condition become more nearsighted in the dark. In this case, signs off in the distance, such as freeway signs, may not be as clear at night.
Another situation is where people have problems adapting to light changes. For example, when they go to the movies, they find that it takes a very long time for their vision to come back in the dark room. This may simply be caused by a deficiency in vitamin A, or it can reflect an underlying medical condition.
Copyright 2009 NBC Health
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