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night vision
Improve Your Night Vision
by W. A. Hunter OD PA
The first sign many people notice when they need an eye exam is that their night vision has gotten worse. The reason for this is that when your eyes are out of focus it causes a pinpoint of light to blur into a fuzzy ball. The larger the pupils become, such as in dim light, the larger these blur circles become and the greater the blur. Bright light, which causes the pupils to constrict, makes the blur circles smaller and allows you to see more clearly during the day than during the night. So first rule out the possibility that your eyes may just be getting a little out of focus.
Keep one of your eyes closed for a few minutes before going from a brightly lit area into the dark, so that eye will be dark adapted and able to see better in the dark while the other eye slowly adapts. Also to see better while driving at night, you should never look directly at oncoming headlights. Even if your eyes are normal it will take a few seconds for your eyes to recover from the resulting night blindness and again become dark adapted for night vision.
If it takes more than a few seconds for your eyes to recover it may be a sign that you have a vitamin A deficiency. This problem increases dramatically with older drivers and can be a chronic problem unless you consume adequate amounts of foods rich in this vitamin such as broccoli, spinach and foods that are red or orange in color. To properly utilize this vitamin you must also consume vitamin D, E, and cholin. It may be necessary to supplement with a multiple vitamin pill, but dont take more than 20,000 units a day of vitamin A, or you expose yourself to some uncomfortable side effects.
Also we see better at night with our side vision than we do with our central vision. To see objects better in the dark, instead of looking directly at the object, look slightly to the side of it. If there is some light on the object look about 5 degrees off center, and up to 15 degrees to the side when it is really dark so the object will focus on that part of the retina which is richest in the rods we use for night vision.