Floaters and "Double Vision"

Hi,

Around mid April this year I started to experience something that I can only call double vision, even though it is in each eye individually. I see a clear but faint image of whatever object I'm looking at, floating directly above the object. It's there all the time, but shows up more clearly when I'm looking at something with high contrast, like black letters on white paper, neon signs at night, White screen etc. With close objects, the image only sticks up about 1mm above the object, but when it is further away, the image floats above the object.

I also started to see more floaters i commonly see a thread like floater but when looking at bright objects such as the sky there are a lot of spot like floaters flying around.

I have tried to ignore it but it has been more noticeable lately, any help would be appreciated.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

That is not true double vision where two distinct objects of the same image is seen and one goes away if one eye is shut. You describe monocular diplopia or "ghosting". That can be due to disease of the cornea, lens, macula or a need for glasses.

See an Eye MD physician ophthalmologist for an exam. Find on in the USA at www.aao.org

JCH MD