Enchroma Glasses – For Colour Blindness Enhancement

Written By: Dr. Tina Goodhew

ENCHROMA COLOUR VISION ENHANCING EYEWEAR NOW AVAILABLE!

enchroma eyewear frame

Abbey Eye Care is very excited to be the third location in Canada (and the first in Ontario) to offer the exciting new Enchroma lens technology. The only specialty eyewear available to help alleviate red-green colour vision deficiency. Allowing countless people to finally discriminate between two of the most important primary colours.

WHAT IS COLOUR BLINDNESS?

enchroma artworkColour blindness, or colour vision deficiency (CVD), is a condition where a person is unable toΒ distinguish certain shades of colour. The most common colour confusion occurs between reds and greens, with CVD individuals often thinking they are the same colour.

WHO IS AFFECTED?

enchroma cvd prevalence

Colour vision deficiency (CVD) affects millions of people worldwide. Men are most commonly affected with 1 in 12 having some form of CVD while the prevalence in women is 1 in 200.Β  Most people who suffer from CVD are not blind to colour, but have a reduced ability to see them.

WHAT DO AFFECTED PEOPLE SEE?

People with red-green CVD see the world differently. Their red and green photo sensing cells (cones) in the retina have more overlap than normal making them unable to see certain colours. Reds and greens often look the same and appear to be muddy brown in colour.

Enchroma Deutan Protan example

THE SOLUTION

Enchroma lenses use a unique patent-pending technology called ‘multi notch’ filtering, cutting our specific wavelengths of light. The lenses attempt to separate the overlapping red and green cone sensitivities, helping improve vision for people who have difficulty seeing the difference between reds and greens.

Enchroma primary colour diagram

TAKE THE COLOUR VISION TEST!

Enchroma Colour Vision Test

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

At Abbey Eye Care we carry the most popular Enchroma styles in our office, both prescription and non-prescription are available. Prices in our store reflect current prices on the Enchroma website but in Canadian dollars. Any promotions offered online will be matched in store. You can stop by and try on the glasses and see the impact for yourself. 80% of people with a red-green CVD will see an improvement in their colour perception while wearing Enchroma glasses. The effect can be instantaneous for some people while for others the impact will be more subtle and take a week or two to become noticeable. We encourage everyone to take the colour vision test on the Enchroma websiteΒ which will help pre-determine your candidacy. It is important to note that Enchroma lenses do not cure colour blindness or allow wearers to pass standardized colour vision tests. If you do decide to come by our practice to try on the Enchroma glasses, please call ahead and arrange a time so we can help optimize your experience with theses lenses.

It is important to note that 20% of CVD patients who try Encrhoma lenses have a “wow” moment and for 20% of patients there is no impact. The 60% in the middle will have a range of experiences. That being said we encourage those with CVD to try Enchroma lenses for themselves to see how their world is affected by this amazing technology.