Issues with Night Vision?

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SunnyOne

Recycles dryer sheets
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I noticed when I approached 60, that I started to drive less and less at night - just felt the darkness compromised my eyesight.

It wasn't so much a problem at low speeds, street driving - but on interstates where I needed to look much farther ahead.

I went to two different optometrists and asked them to check my distance vision - they both agreed I only need a slight correction for distance - so I keep those glasses in the car for night driving -

but I feel as if something else is going on - let me back up - both optometrists agreed that I don't have cataracts or evidence of eye disease - and my Vitamin A level is good...
I just feel it's more than a distance vision problem.

Can anyone else relate? What do you do for it, if anything?
 
My problems with night driving is mostly with glare. Aside from the idiots that won't dim their brights, the yellow reflectors for curves can really jump out at me. I've discussed it with optometrists with no good answers.

For general night driving vision, most cars have a way to dial down the dash and radio lights. I do this a lot so that my pupils aren't adjusting so much to those lights, which lets me see better on the road. See if yours has it. I think it's always been a roller adjustment but I usually go full bright for days, and full dim for nights.
 
Its true for me too. It started in my mid 50s. One thing that helped is to make an effort to keep your front windshield as clean as possible. Sometime a film will build up on the inside that needs to be cleaned. I use just water. Also some of the newer cars have brighter headlights. That helps too. But a downside to a new car is the windows seem to be more tinted from the factory.
 
I have trouble driving at night too. Bright lights hurt my eyes ever since I had eye surgery back in 1996. I have mild cataracts, but they tell me they’re not bad enough to cause a problem. I’ll try dimming the dashboard lighting a bit.
 
I have had problems with night vision as long as I can remember. I try to limit night driving (or when I could not, choose a very well lit route, which makes a big difference).

I made the driving adjustments at age 17 after driving across the law of a mansion property. (I was the designated driver as I didn't drink, and my inebriated friends were yelling, "turn here" - I thought there was a road.) Thereafter, no driving in dimly lit areas.
 
It's not exactly the same, but I have an idea for you.

I got PRK (laser eye surgery) a few years ago, and ever since, my night vision has been impaired. The reason is that they can only correct something like 8-10mm of the eye, while in the dark my eyes dilate to something like 13mm. So unfocused light gets into my eyes around the edges of the correction. Result: unfocused vision when my eyes are dilated too much.

How does my experience help you? If your vision seems fine during the day & it's only a problem at night ... Perhaps you have an imperfection in the focus of your cornea or lens around the outer edges of your eye(s), such as an astigmatism? Often these imperfections aren't recognized unless you get a map done of your eyes -- when they mapped my eyes for PRK, they noted that I had an astigmatism in one eye, which they also corrected for. So when your eyes dilate more than normal at night, the imperfection at the edge of your vision allows poorly focused light to reach your retina, causing the degradation in your night vision.

The fix: When I drive at night, I frequently flip on the light in my sun visor. It provides enough light in the car, immediately above my eyes, to cause my pupils to constrict slightly & instantly fixes the fuzziness in my night vision. It's actually kinda funny to watch sometimes ... I'll forget to turn on the light, and eventually realize that other cars' tail lights all have fuzzy halos. I turn on the light & watch everything zoom back into focus. So give that a try, perhaps it'll help you too.
 
Kork13 said:
It's not exactly the same, but I have an idea for you.

I got PRK (laser eye surgery) a few years ago, and ever since, my night vision has been impaired. The reason is that they can only correct something like 8-10mm of the eye, while in the dark my eyes dilate to something like 13mm. So unfocused light gets into my eyes around the edges of the correction. Result: unfocused vision when my eyes are dilated too much.

How does my experience help you? If your vision seems fine during the day & it's only a problem at night ... Perhaps you have an imperfection in the focus of your cornea or lens around the outer edges of your eye(s), such as an astigmatism? Often these imperfections aren't recognized unless you get a map done of your eyes -- when they mapped my eyes for PRK, they noted that I had an astigmatism in one eye, which they also corrected for. So when your eyes dilate more than normal at night, the imperfection at the edge of your vision allows poorly focused light to reach your retina, causing the degradation in your night vision.

The fix: When I drive at night, I frequently flip on the light in my sun visor. It provides enough light in the car, immediately above my eyes, to cause my pupils to constrict slightly & instantly fixes the fuzziness in my night vision. It's actually kinda funny to watch sometimes ... I'll forget to turn on the light, and eventually realize that other cars' tail lights all have fuzzy halos. I turn on the light & watch everything zoom back into focus. So give that a try, perhaps it'll help you too.
Click to expand...

Fascinating! I am going to have to try this. I had lasik surgery about 30 years ago and have always had some halos with night driving since, but in the last few years I've been having significantly more difficulty seeing when driving in dimly lit areas. For example, I have a hard time seeing exactly where to turn, especially if the street is dark - have to slow down quite a bit so that my eyes have time to process.

I am now avoiding night driving like the plague, unless it is a well-lit street.
 
I know I've posted this on this forum before, but it's been a while so here goes again. I wore glasses since I was in my late 20's. Eventually I had to switch to bi-focals in my mid-40's. In my 50's my night vision started getting bad enough that I didn't feel real comfortable driving at night "but I could" drive. No way I could have passed my drivers license vision test all those years without glasses.

THEN, in my early 60's I started getting headaches wearing my glasses all the time. So I started wearing them only while driving. I could watch TV and function well enough at home without the glasses. Then I noticed that I could see better at home and while driving without my glasses and the headaches started to go away. (The glasses were causing eye strain in my case) When I had to renew my drivers license in my mid 60's, I passed the vision test with flying colors without glasses. Now in my early 70's, I see just fine at home or while driving no matter if it's day or night and my night vision seems better today than ever, all without glasses. :confused: I talked to my optometrists about what had happen and he told me that it does happen to some people as they age. (he explained how/why).

Anyway, it's "possible" things may get better as you age too. I don't know how common or rare it is but it can/does happen. Best of luck.


Now I wish I could say the same thing about my hearing. :(
 
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Thanks for posting. I have trouble driving at night and will try this.
 
I've had night blindness since I was in my early 20s. I can only see as far as my headlights. I drive slow and am very careful When it's raining hard I simply cannot drive at night. Also, at night I can drive on a highway because the exit signs have good light on the directions, but I can't drive on any smaller roads that I don't know well because I can't see the street signs and know where to turn. I have an appointment to get my windows tinted next week and added slight tint to my windshield. I'm told it will help with glare at night. After lasix surgery I started to see halos around headlights, etc. If I don't like the windshield tint , it is easy to take off. I could do it myself. In my State we have to get a medical clearance from our DMV or the car won't pass inspection with the window tint. I already got the clearance signed. I just need to mail it in. My car doesn't need inspected again in Feb 2024, so I have plenty of time. I'll try to remember to update later if it really helps or not. I know I'll like the rest of the windows tinted. I live in Virginia and it gets very hot here in the summer.
 
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Thank you for the tip on the glasses. I only wear them when I read (reading glasses) 0 (except for the ones I keep in the car for night driving - which don't really help much)....so I don't think my eyes are strained by anything I can think of.

I will try the visor trick as well. I guess I am surprised - given these comments - that there aren't special glasses available for night driving - (maybe the science isn't there?) just seems like a huge market.
 
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simple girl said:
Fascinating! I am going to have to try this. I had lasik surgery about 30 years ago and have always had some halos with night driving since, but in the last few years I've been having significantly more difficulty seeing when driving in dimly lit areas. For example, I have a hard time seeing exactly where to turn, especially if the street is dark - have to slow down quite a bit so that my eyes have time to process.

I am now avoiding night driving like the plague, unless it is a well-lit street.
Click to expand...

Yep. DW and I returned from a 4 day trip at midnight awhile back. We stopped for gas at about 10 PM, and when we turned on to the interstate acceleration lane (the overpass we left was dimly lit), were faced with a couple of dozen "glow in the dark" plastic construction barrels on the shoulder and extending 1/3 of the way into our lane. Not nearly enough time to process the info and adjust in the dark while accelerating into Interstate traffic! That really spooked me and I have been reconsidering "unnecessary" night driving since.
 
SunnyOne said:
I went to two different optometrists and asked them to check my distance vision - they both agreed I only need a slight correction for distance - so I keep those glasses in the car for night driving -

but I feel as if something else is going on - let me back up - both optometrists agreed that I don't have cataracts or evidence of eye disease - and my Vitamin A level is good...
I just feel it's more than a distance vision problem.

Can anyone else relate? What do you do for it, if anything?
Click to expand...

I'd consider going to an ophthalmologist.

I avoid driving at night, especially unfamiliar routes.
 
brucethebroker said:
Yep. DW and I returned from a 4 day trip at midnight awhile back. We stopped for gas at about 10 PM, and when we turned on to the interstate acceleration lane (the overpass we left was dimly lit), were faced with a couple of dozen "glow in the dark" plastic construction barrels on the shoulder and extending 1/3 of the way into our lane. Not nearly enough time to process the info and adjust in the dark while accelerating into Interstate traffic! That really spooked me and I have been reconsidering "unnecessary" night driving since.
Click to expand...

Oh boy I can relate. We too came home from a late flight around midnight awhile back. I was driving home on unfamiliar smaller roads that were not well lit at all in one area. I one point I had to quickly merge right into a lane to turn right. There was a car behind me on the right, but I thought it was way farther back. My ability to judge distance/depth perception when it is really dark is so limited now. Hubby yelled and it freaked both of us out...no accident but close call. He has done the majority of all night driving ever since. Scary stuff, not worth the risk!
 
user5027 said:
I'd consider going to an ophthalmologist.



I avoid driving at night, especially unfamiliar routes.
Click to expand...
+1
I've had several optometrists miss things, like glaucoma, I'll never go to one again.

I haven't tried driving at night since I had a vitrectomy last year, but it changed my vision in marginal situations. I couldn't see well in our local Mexican place, ever. I could barely see the menu and couldn't see anything across the room or outside. I didn't recognize our neighbors 12 feet away in there. It just was a big, hazy place.

After surgery, it's crystal clear. I mentioned that to the surgeon as my vision on the chart is the same, but the QUALITY is way better. She attributed the improvement to the old vitreous being cloudy, or "gunky" was her term.

The surgery was done after a large floater blocked most of my vision, not to change the gunky vitreous. I know she had to observe it for 6 months before she would do the surgery. YMMV
 
I've had issues with night vision I say during my late 30's or early 40's.

I remember my psych 101 class in college saying that as we get older our night vision decreases. I guess earlier that later for some folks.
 
easysurfer said:
I remember my psych 101 class in college saying that as we get older our night vision decreases. I guess earlier that later for some folks.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is true, according to my reading.

I suspect mine is earlier because of having lasik surgery years ago. I was a borderline candidate then because my vision was so poor. So, I had a huge correction done according to the doctor. I'm sure that's why I'm having issues a bit younger than my friends. Oh well, the surgery was so worth it! Life changing!
 
Kork13 said:
It's not exactly the same, but I have an idea for you.

I got PRK (laser eye surgery) a few years ago, and ever since, my night vision has been impaired. The reason is that they can only correct something like 8-10mm of the eye, while in the dark my eyes dilate to something like 13mm. So unfocused light gets into my eyes around the edges of the correction. Result: unfocused vision when my eyes are dilated too much.

How does my experience help you? If your vision seems fine during the day & it's only a problem at night ... Perhaps you have an imperfection in the focus of your cornea or lens around the outer edges of your eye(s), such as an astigmatism? Often these imperfections aren't recognized unless you get a map done of your eyes -- when they mapped my eyes for PRK, they noted that I had an astigmatism in one eye, which they also corrected for. So when your eyes dilate more than normal at night, the imperfection at the edge of your vision allows poorly focused light to reach your retina, causing the degradation in your night vision.

The fix: When I drive at night, I frequently flip on the light in my sun visor. It provides enough light in the car, immediately above my eyes, to cause my pupils to constrict slightly & instantly fixes the fuzziness in my night vision. It's actually kinda funny to watch sometimes ... I'll forget to turn on the light, and eventually realize that other cars' tail lights all have fuzzy halos. I turn on the light & watch everything zoom back into focus. So give that a try, perhaps it'll help you too.
Click to expand...


I have used this effect, I think in someway it is the pin hole effect. I used to watch poker on TV, but I could not resolve the cards and or the percentages on the TV I used. I found I could see them if I looked through a pin hole in a piece of paper. I bought some glasses that were black plastic with multiple pin hole perforations, I was forced to see through one pin hole and could see the numbers on the TV. I now have bigger TV so, don't use the glasses anymore.
EDIT: to add, no, don't drive like this.
 
Car-Guy said:
When I had to renew my drivers license in my mid 60's, I passed the vision test with flying colors without glasses. Now in my early 70's, I see just fine at home or while driving no matter if it's day or night and my night vision seems better today than ever, all without glasses. :confused: I talked to my optometrists about what had happen and he told me that it does happen to some people as they age. (he explained how/why).

Anyway, it's "possible" things may get better as you age too. I don't know how common or rare it is but it can/does happen. Best of luck.


Now I wish I could say the same thing about my hearing. :(
Click to expand...


I may be on my way to better vision. My last visit to the optometrist, my contact prescription was changed from + 4.5 and +5.0 to +4.0 in both eyes.
 
Time2 said:
I may be on my way to better vision. My last visit to the optometrist, my contact prescription was changed from + 4.5 and +5.0 to +4.0 in both eyes.
Click to expand...
I have no idea what those numbers mean. (assume it means better :)) but I can assure you it happens. Now I'm wondering, how often it happens? In my case, it was dramatic, although it did take many years to go from pretty bad to pretty good.
 
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Yes, I should follow up with another eye professional. I've also learned that Vitamin B12 (not just Vitamin A) can cause vision issues, day or night.

and I've learned they do make glasses that can be worn alone or over prescription glasses that reduce night time glare.

it's just a quality of life issue for me, because I like to attend night time events....may be a cause for moving into the city where there is better public transport. Gotta think about that.
 
Car-Guy said:
I have no idea what those numbers mean. (assume it means better :)) but I can assure you it happens. Now I'm wondering, how often it happens? In my case, it was dramatic, although it did take many years to go from pretty bad to pretty good.
Click to expand...


I wasn't doubting what you said, I was reinforcing it.

"The most usual farsightedness is from +2 to +6 diopters, but sometimes extending to +20,0 diopters. At values +0,25 to +3,0 diopters we speak about slight defect, values +3,25 to +6,0 diopters represent medium farsightedness, from +6,25 to +9,0 diopters we talk about high defect."
From; https://www.neovize.eu/further-eye-treatment/farsightedness-bad-near-vision/
 
My night vision worsened for years as my early cataracts progressed then finally improved after surgery.
 
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