What is Low Vision?
Low vision is used to refer to a visual impairment who has vision >20/70 or worse than that is not correctable through the surgery, glasses or contact lenses. It is partial often characterized by partial sight; such as blurred vision, blind spots or tunnel vision, but also includes legal blindness.
Causes of Low Vision – There are innumerable number of conditions that can lead to low vision. Some common disorders include the following:
- Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Advanced Glaucoma
- Retinitis Pigmentosa
- Atrophy of the Optic Nerve of the eye
- Albinism
- Nystagmus – when both eyes move in rapid jerks, involuntarily.
Symptoms
- Decrease of central vision
- Night blindness
- Loss of peripheral vision
- Blurred vision
- Hazy vision
Low Vision Aids (LVA)
These are devices that can help people with visual disability see better for near and/or distance.
Various magnifying lenses/devices, including Dome, pocket, illuminated and electronic magnifiers can be used to provide better near vision for the clearer reading of magazines, newspapers, maps, documents and bills.
There is a large variety of telescopes including monocular and binocular telescopes, focusable and fixed designs, hand held and spectacle mounted –all with a diverse range of magnification, to help visual disabled patients with distance vision.