Problems With Night Vision

Do you have trouble seeing after dark? Our Health Writer, Colleen Shannon, reports.

THE nights are drawing in and if you have trouble seeing in the dark, it can become more noticeable at this time of year.

It’s worrying, too, especially if you drive. So to get the facts about night vision, I asked Dr Louise Gow, Specialist Lead for Eye Health at RNIB.

She told me that many people do report difficulty seeing at night, and this is more common as we get older.

However, true night blindness – where there is a measurable difference in your ability to see by day versus by night – is rare. In these cases, the cause may be an inherited eye condition, diabetes that has been treated with laser, or late stage glaucoma.

Most of the time, though, poor night vision is connected to other problems that are straightforward to correct or treat.