What is Visual Contrast Sensitivity and How Bad is it for You?

Do you always spill coffee while pouring? When the mug is darker in colour, you seem not able to see where to pour at all. Is it just your clumsiness or your eyes tricking you? If you do that quite often, you might have visual contrast sensitivity.

You might have difficulty seeing in the dark. Well, most of us have the same problem, but yours is even worse. You cannot see anything at all. Not even silhouettes. You also have difficulty reading instructions from a paper, especially if the texts are too light. You have difficulty reading texts in multiple colours. You cannot differentiate between the contrast of the different colours.

You can schedule a free eye test in the UK to check for sensitivity.

Visual Contrast Sensitivity Test

This test is not usually included in the comprehensive eye test. If you suspect you have this sensitivity in your eyes, ask your optician to do a test for it. You will be given a chart to read. It is similar to the visual acuity test, except that chart has letters or symbols in contrasting shades. The shades get lighter on each line. You need to read the texts that are visible to you. If you have contrast sensitivity, you will find it difficult to see clearly the letters to the last line. If you were able to, then congrats, you have perfect vision.

If you are too busy to visit an optician, then check the chart above. If you can read till the last line, then you have no issues with contrast. (FYI, there are eight lines of letters and the last line have three letters.)

How bad is it for you?

Apart from some inconveniences in daily life like spilling coffee, you might also endanger your life. Contrasts of the object help you in seeing the depth, spatial presence of that object. With contrast sensitivity, you might have difficulty perceiving the 3D aspect of things and get confused.

For the most part of the day, this sensitivity is annoying as you keep bumping into things. You will not realise that your vision is distorted for the most part of the day.

This sensitivity can give rise to dangerous situations when you are climbing downstairs. You might misstep and fall down. Driving is even riskier for you, especially when you drive in lower light, like on a rainy or foggy day or during the nighttime.

Contrast sensitivity with perfect vision

You have a perfect vision. Well, good for you. You do not have to wear cheap prescription glasses. But you might have contrast sensitivity. Get an eye test done if you experience any issue with seeing in low light or reading lighter texts.

Indicator of underlying diseases

Glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, optic nerve degeneration and cataracts are some diseases you might have if you experience this vision problem. These eye diseases damage your vision, and treatment at an advanced stage is almost impossible. If you get these symptoms, you should get a comprehensive eye examination to detect these said eye diseases in the initial stages. Taking appropriate actions in earlier stages can help you to a great extent.

What glasses help you with contrast vision?

1. Yellow Tinted Glasses

To see clearly with different contrasts, you will need yellow-tinted glasses. Yellow tints amplify the light, making it brighter for your eyes. These kinds of eyeglasses improve your colour and depth perception. You can see clearly with them even in lower lights if you have visual contrast sensitivity. Get high-quality yellow-tinted glasses made and wear them while driving or for working on computers.

Yellow tinted glasses block blue lights just like prescription blue light filter glasses and give you clear and strain-free vision for computers. However, you should not wear them in harsh sunlight as yellow amplify the sunlight. You will feel the glare at an increased intensity. You can get polarized lenses or anti-glare coating on your glasses for improved and comfortable vision.

Low-quality yellow tints distort your vision. They are more trouble than of any help. Get your glasses online with high-quality lenses.

2. Anti-Glare Glasses

You can try out regular prescription and non-prescription glasses with an anti-glare coating. These glasses block the excessive glare and give you glare-free vision. With clear vision without any excess light influencing your eyesight, you can see clearly even in low light.

3. Blue Light Glasses

Are you thinking of using blue light filter glasses for the office? Then you should with visual contrast sensitivity. Blue light glasses improve your vision. They give clear and strain-free vision. They also enhance your colour and depth perception and are very effective with visual contrast sensitivity.