Poor color vision is a reduced ability to distinguish between certain colors. Although many people use the term "colorblind" to refer to the reduced ability to discriminate between colors, true colorblindness is a total lack of color vision, which is rare.





  • Different shades of red and green
  • Different shades of blue and yellow
  • Any colors


When to see a doctor

If you suspect you have problems distinguishing certain colors, see an eye doctor for testing. It's important that children get comprehensive eye exams, including color vision testing, before starting school.

There's no cure for inherited poor color vision, but if illness or eye injury is the cause, treatment may improve color vision.

Seeing colors across the light spectrum begins with your eyes' ability to distinguish the primary colors red, blue and green.

Light enters your eye through the cornea and passes through the lens and transparent, jelly-like tissue in your eye (vitreous body) to color-sensitive cells (cones) at the back of your eye in the retina. Chemicals in the cones distinguish colors and send that information through your optic nerve to your brain.

If your eyes are normal, you can distinguish different colors, but if your cones lack one or more light-sensitive chemicals, you may see only two of the primary colors.

Poor color vision has several causes:



  • Diseases. Some conditions that can cause color deficits are diabetes, glaucoma, macular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, chronic alcoholism, leukemia and sickle cell anemia. One eye may be more affected than the other, and the color deficit may get better if the underlying disease can be treated.

You can start by seeing your family doctor or a general practitioner, or make an appointment with a doctor who specializes in eye disorders (ophthalmologist or optometrist).

Preparing a list of questions can help you make the most of your time with your doctor. For poor color vision, some basic questions to ask include:

  • How might having poor color vision affect my life?
  • Are there treatments for poor color vision?
  • Are there special glasses or contact lenses I can wear to help the problem?

What to expect from your doctor


  • When did you first notice having trouble seeing certain colors?
  • Does anyone in your family (including parents and grandparents) have poor color vision?
  • Do you have any medical conditions?
  • Are you taking any medicines or supplements?

If you have trouble seeing certain colors, your eye doctor can test to see if you have a color deficiency. You're likely to be given a thorough eye exam and shown specially designed pictures made of dots that have numbers or shapes embedded in them.

If you have a color vision deficiency, you'll find it difficult or impossible to see some of the patterns in the dots.





Although there are no clinical treatments to correct inherited color vision problems, most people find ways to work around their poor color vision. For example, you can:

  • Memorize the order of colored objects. If it's important to know individual colors, such as with traffic lights, memorize the order of the colors.
  • Label colored items that you want to match with other items. Have someone with good color vision help you sort and label your clothing. Arrange your clothes in your closet or drawers so that colors that can be worn together are near each other.
Feb. 13, 2014