Double Vision
Seeing double can turn small tasks into large ones. Ordinary activities such as reaching for a door knob or a glass of water can be challenging. Those with diplopia often have poor depth perception, which disrupts the ability to read, drive and play sports.
If you or someone close to you is experiencing double vision, Dr. Cameron McCrodan or Dr. Scott Irvine can prescribe a fully personalized neuro-optometric rehabilitation therapy program.
Symptoms of Diplopia
Common symptoms of double vision include:
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Pain around the eyes, temples, or eyebrows
- Painful eye movements
- Noticeable eye misalignment
- Eye weakness
- Drooping eyelids
There are three types of diplopia:
- Horizontal diplopia: seeing two images that are separated horizontally
- Vertical diplopia: seeing two images where one is higher than the other
- Monocular diplopia: double vision that persists in only one eye
Double vision is sometimes a symptom of other health issues, and sometimes can indicate the need for immediate medical attention. If you experience diplopia, contact Opto-mization NeuroVisual Performance for a prompt appointment.
What Causes Double Vision?
Temporary diplopia can be due to a lack of sleep or excessive alcohol consumption and is generally no cause for concern. Long-lasting or recurring double vision can be caused by several eye conditions, such as keratoconus, cataracts, or dry eye.
Most often,diplopia is caused by these conditions.
- Head injury, such as a stroke, a concussion, brain swelling, a brain tumor, or brain aneurysm
- Refractive surgery, such as LASIK
- Cranial nerve palsies
- Strabismus, or eye misalignment
- Muscle weakness that loses compensation (most common in vertical heterophoria)
How is Double Vision Treated?
Diplopia treatments can include surgery, neuro-optometric rehabilitation therapy, and prescription prism glasses.
Why Choose a Neuro-Optometrist?
A neuro-optometrist diagnoses and treats neurological conditions that impact the functioning of the visual system.
The first step is to have a complete functional visual evaluation to determine which visual skills are lacking. After the initial diagnosis, Dr. Cameron McCrodan or Dr. Scott Irvine will recommend the most suitable treatment. For diplopia patients, a fully personalized neuro-optometric rehabilitation therapy program is most often prescribed. This specialized form of vision therapy can help you regain lost visual skills or develop new ones, and trains the eyes to work in unison with the brain. The result: long-lasting clear and unified vision.
Neuro-optometric rehabilitation therapy for double vision can effectively treat the underlying neurological condition using prisms, therapeutic lenses, filters, and patching. The use of prisms is often prescribed to patients with diplopia, as the prism bends the light to match the displacement of the affected eye, allowing the patient to see a single image.
A functional visual evaluation with Dr. Cameron McCrodan or Dr. Scott Irvine is especially crucial for patients who’ve sustained a head injury — however mild — as visual symptoms may result from the trauma.
Additionally, if you suspect your child has diplopia or any other visual problem, it’s best to bring them in for a functional vision assessment without delay, as children often lack the verbal skills needed to express what they’re seeing. A child experiencing double vision may still be able to identify letters and shapes, making it difficult for parents and teachers to detect a problem.
If you or a loved one is suffering from diplopia, don’t hesitate to call Opto-mization NeuroVisual Performance to schedule your appointment today.
Our practice serves patients from Victoria, Nanaimo, Duncan, and Vancouver Island, British Columbia and surrounding communities.
Tennis/Pickleball
The speed and accuracy of your return, or your ability to read the spin of the ball, all depend on how your eyes and brain work together. Pros have known this for years and spend lots of time working on their depth perception and tracking. Vision therapy can take your tennis or pickleball to the next level.
Tennis/Pickleball
The speed and accuracy of your return, or your ability to read the spin of the ball, all depend on how your eyes and brain work together. Pros have known this for years and spend lots of time working on their depth perception and tracking. Vision therapy can take your tennis or pickleball to the next level.
Golf
Do you put it too short or too long? You’re using your depth perception to gauge how far the hole is and how hard to hit the ball. Many people have to routinely ‘look past the hole’ or aim for the front of the cup in order to be more accurate. This is usually because they are not judging the distance accurately to begin with. Another common pain point in golf is not being able to see your ball after you’ve hit it. Problems with how the eyes track and work together can create problems tracking your golf ball, but fortunately, these are easily remedied.
Reading and Hobbies
Getting tired when you read? Not able to read for as long or as quickly as you used to? It’s common for eye tracking or eye teaming (binocular problems) to cause problems with reading. This can show up as fatigue, falling asleep, headaches, strain, and reduced comprehension. Many people end up slowly avoiding reading, knitting, woodworking, or other hobbies that require sustained focus.
Computer Screens
Computers can be a really helpful tool for emails, research, and all sorts of amazing things. However, problems with how the eyes work together, or how glasses are set up, can create headaches, light sensitivity, difficulty focusing, and more with prolonged screen time.
Related Conditions
If you have been diagnosed with any of the following conditions, it may increase your likelihood of having problems with how your eyes work together:
- Vestibular neuritis
- Meniere’s
- Stroke
- Concussion
- Headaches
Our Approach
We go beyond the routine eye health testing to investigate how your eyes and brain work together. This includes eye tracking, binocular function (eye-teaming), visual-vestibular integration (eye and inner-ear), and more. We have a variety of tools we can use to get the improvement you’re looking for.
Specialized Glasses
We are able to design specialized prescriptions (Ergopathics™) that do more than allow you to see clearly. Ergopathics™ prescriptions can improve how efficiently your eyes and brain work together. This can significantly improve driving, balance, reading, and more.
Vision Therapy (Opto-mization Training)
You may also be a candidate for vision therapy. Our Opto-mization Training Vision Therapy recalibrates how your eyes and brain work together and enhances your performance.
If you’re struggling with driving at night, balance, dizziness, depth perception, reading, or just feel like your vision is affecting your daily life, please book an assessment.