If you believe your vision might not be the same as everyone else’s, you could be colorblind. If you haven’t seen an eye doctor or had an eye exam recently, learning more about the condition could help you decide if you should see a professional. Below is some important information on this condition and how to receive a diagnosis for it.

The Different Types of Colorblindness

There are various forms of colorblindness that could be affecting your vision. The two most common ones are blue-yellow and red-green. For these forms, it can be difficult to separate shades, see subtle hues, and discern the colors of items of the affected shades. For example, those who are red-green colorblind may find it difficult to separate and see shades of reds, greens, and colors that have reds and greens in them. Purple will appear blue to someone with red-green colorblindness, and blue-yellow colorblindness works the same way. The final type is extremely rare: true, full colorblindness. To people with this type, no colors are present at all—everything appears in shades of white, grey, and black.

How to Tell If You’re Colorblind

Most often, those who are born colorblind realize something is off with their vision through interactions with others at a young age. If you weren’t born colorblind, however, then an underlying issue is causing the change. It could happen slowly enough that you don’t realize it—you may notice that others debate the shades of certain colors with you when they didn’t previously, or you may simply realize you have a difficult time telling colors apart. Sometimes, you may just have a feeling that something is different and wrong with your vision.

If you haven’t scheduled an appointment with your eye doctor yet, you should do so. You could also ask your friends to help by pointing out items that are red, green, blue, or yellow and asking you what color they are. The surest way to gauge your perception of color is through a professional eye exam. Your eye doctor will use images called Ishihara plates to judge your vision; the colors used on each image are strategically chosen, so if someone who is colorblind looks at the image, they’ll just see dots of all the same shade and not see a number. These, along with other tests, will ensure an accurate diagnosis.

If you need an experienced eye doctor to determine if you’re colorblind and manage the condition, visit the expert team at the office of Dr. Ron Sealock in Dothan, AL. Over the past several years, their only goal has been to provide the highest quality, most compassionate eye care services to their patients, including contact lenses, eye exams, treatment and management of eye diseases, macular degeneration and glaucoma screenings, and more. They work with most insurances, too. Learn about their eye exams online, then call (334) 793-9607 to schedule your appointment.