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Facts about Glare and Glare Sensitivity

February 10, 2009 @ 04:13 PM — by unknown
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In everyday life, glare from the setting sun while you drive or off of a reflective surface can be a nuisance and sometimes even dangerous. However, glare sensitivity can make these minor occurrences of glare much more difficult to handle. Glare sensitivity can be very debilitating by causes a decrease in vision and pain and discomfort in the eyes.

Glare can cause a difficulty in clearly seeing your surroundings. Contours and contrast may seem to disappear from glare. Instead of seeing a distinction between objects and their background, problems with glare can cause the sensation of looking at a white wall of light. This can create a dangerous situation when driving, especially when a person is unable to see a pedestrian in the crosswalk, the color of a traffic light, or even another vehicle.

There are numerous sources of glare in everyday life, which could make routine tasks difficult for those with glare sensitivity. Common causes of glare include:

  • Direct sunlight
  • Reflection of sunlight off of smooth surfaces, including other vehicles
  • Overhead lights, especially fluorescent lights in office settings
  • Headlights from oncoming automobiles
  • Light from computer monitors

Glare sensitivity can be caused by various circumstances. Common factors associated with glare sensitivity include:

  • Light-colored eyes with enlarged pupils
  • Over-exposure to ultraviolet rays
  • Pre-cataracts
  • Corneal opacity (cornea clouding related to inflammation, infection, or exposure to irritants)
  • Ocular inflammation (inflammation of the middle layer of your eye)
  • Age-related macular degeneration
  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Glaucoma
  • Retinitis pigmentosa
  • Cone-rod dystrophy

It is important to have glare sensitivity testing, if you believe that you may have this vision problem. Once you are diagnosed with glare sensitivity, there are several options to reduce the intensity of the glare. Some measures to help reduce glare include:

  • Tinted prescriptive lenses
  • Sunglasses
  • Anti-reflective coating/screens for computer screens

 

 

 

 

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