Do you have trouble distinguishing between specific colors, especially red and green? Do you often find that the colors you see are different from what everyone else seems to describe? If so, you might be color blind. Color blindness is a fairly common condition, with about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women suffering from it. The condition comes from a lack of certain pigments in the back of your retinas, called cones, that help your eye distinguish between colors. When cones are missing, the result is difficulty distinguishing between certain colors, like red and green. If you think you might be color blind, there are a few tests you can try.

Forms of Color Blindness

The most common form of color blindness is red/green color blindness. That doesn’t mean that red/green color blind people can’t see red or green; rather, it means that they see the two colors as one and the same. This also often applies to colors that have red or green in them, like orange or brown. A red/green color blind person, for example, might have trouble distinguishing blue from purple because the redness in the purple color is difficult for them to pick out.

Red/green color blindness can also be broken down into a few categories: deuteranopia, or green color blindness, protanopia, or red color blindness, or tritanopia, or blue/yellow color blindness. Each of these conditions restricts the sufferer to a particular spectrum of colors. In fact, a person with moderate or severe red/green color blindness might only be able to accurately perceive five or six of the 24 colors in a standard box of crayons or colored pencils.

What to Do if You Suspect Color Blindness

If you think you might have color blindness, you can easily find some simple tests online that can give you an idea of where you stand. You can also ask us at your next appointment to provide you with a more thorough examination.