Are yellow “night driving” glasses the answer?

Rarely — tinted lenses cut total light at night. Precise correction with a quality anti-reflective coating beats novelty tints.

Why do halos improve when I blink?

That is the tear film talking: each blink briefly smooths the surface. Blink-sensitive halos point squarely at dry eye treatment.

When is night glare a cataract?

When glare grows over months and daytime color or contrast dulls with it — the exam grades the lens and the timeline honestly.

What is night blindness?

Night blindness means seeing poorly in dim light or having trouble adjusting to the dark. It is a symptom with several possible causes. Some are treatable, such as a cataract, which surgery removes, or vitamin A deficiency, which is rare in the United States. Others cannot be corrected, such as retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited retinal disease whose most common early symptom is loss of night vision, so the first step is an exam that tells them apart.

What causes poor night vision?

Dim light opens the pupil, and a wider pupil lets in more unfocused light, so every small flaw shows: a small uncorrected prescription that blurs only at night, an unstable tear film that scatters headlights into halos, an early cataract that makes lights glare, an irregular cornea such as keratoconus, or naturally large pupils. We also ask about every drop and pill you take. One exam separates the causes, and most have a fix.

Medically reviewed by Dr. Bijan Cohenmehr, OD Last reviewed October 24, 2026

Night Vision & Glare

Night trouble has a short list of causes. We work the list.

Eyes that feel fine at noon can struggle at night: halos, starbursts, smeared headlights, hesitant lane changes. Dim light opens the pupil and drops the margin for error — so every small flaw in optics or tear film suddenly shows. The fix depends entirely on which flaw it is.

Book appointmentOr call 310-828-2010 Accepted insurance

The pattern: Fine by day, hard by night
Why nights expose it: Large pupils forgive nothing
The exam: Works a short, specific list
The fix: Matches the cause, not the symptom

The list

Five usual suspects, five different fixes.

A small uncorrected prescription: Low astigmatism that daytime hides becomes smeared points of light at night. Fix: precise correction, sometimes night-driving glasses with anti-reflective lenses.
Dry eye: An unstable tear film scatters light between blinks, so you see halos that a blink briefly clears. Fix: the dry eye program, which rescues more night drivers than any lens.
Early cataract: The aging lens scatters oncoming headlights into veils of glare. Fix: monitoring first, surgery co-management when it genuinely limits you.
Keratoconus and irregular corneas: Ghosts, multiple moons and comet-tailed lights: the signature we map and correct with scleral lenses.
Large pupils and higher-order quirks: Some eyes simply open wide; lens designs and coatings are chosen to respect that.

One exam with an eye doctor in Los Angeles separates the five — guessing between them from the driver’s seat is how years get lost.

Worth a same-day call

Two night symptoms that skip the queue.

New flashes of light or a burst of floaters
A curtain or shadow across any part of vision
Both are retina checks: call 310-828-2010 today, or go to an emergency room when we're closed

Call 310-828-2010

Common questions

Night vision, answered.

Anything else, call the office at 310-828-2010.

Rarely — tinted lenses cut total light at night. Precise correction with a quality anti-reflective coating beats novelty tints.
That is the tear film talking: each blink briefly smooths the surface. Blink-sensitive halos point squarely at dry eye treatment.
When glare grows over months and daytime color or contrast dulls with it — the exam grades the lens and the timeline honestly.
Night blindness means seeing poorly in dim light or having trouble adjusting to the dark. It is a symptom with several possible causes. Some are treatable, such as a cataract, which surgery removes, or vitamin A deficiency, which is rare in the United States. Others cannot be corrected, such as retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited retinal disease whose most common early symptom is loss of night vision, so the first step is an exam that tells them apart.
Dim light opens the pupil, and a wider pupil lets in more unfocused light, so every small flaw shows: a small uncorrected prescription that blurs only at night, an unstable tear film that scatters headlights into halos, an early cataract that makes lights glare, an irregular cornea such as keratoconus, or naturally large pupils. We also ask about every drop and pill you take. One exam separates the causes, and most have a fix.

Night vision near you

12222 Wilshire Blvd, on the Santa Monica border.

West Los Angeles Brentwood Santa Monica Westwood Beverly Hills Culver City Pacific Palisades West Hollywood Marina del Rey Newport Beach

Also consider

Next step

Nights getting smaller because driving feels risky?

The five-suspect work-up takes one visit, and night driving is usually recoverable.

Book an evaluation Or call 310-828-2010