One eye weaker than the other

[shaolinf]

Hi Guys

I have noticed over the last 2/3 years that my vision in my left eye has weakened considerably (blurry). What could be the cause of this ?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Too many causes to list.  Major catagories: Disease of the eye, need for glasses, disease of the body that effects the eye.

You need to see an ophthalmologist in the near future.

Find one at www.aao.org

JCH MD

[shaolinf]

Thanks for the reply. Anything but glasses! My vision is 20/20. Its just when I cover my right eye my left eye is blurry. I have heard people in my case may need to cover the good eye to force the brain to use the weak eye.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Covering the good eye only works for infants and young (less than 6) children.

Note its not what your vision is with both eyes its what your vision is with EACH eye. If one eye is not clear its not seeing as well as the other and that should be investigated.

Note if a person only has one eye but that eye sees 20/20 he can say his vision is 20/20 but that doesn't tell you that the other eye can't see anything.

JCH MD

[shaolinf]

I guess so, thanks for the clarification. Of all the possible dieases/problems that could have caused this, how many of them are curable ?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

I'm sorry that is too broad of a question.
JCH MD

[shaolinf]

lol Thats ok - I have booked an apointment with my optician after 12 years! So will see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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[shaolinf]

Ok, so I went to opticians and I was told I need glasses. They gave me a card with the following on it, I would appreciate it if you could explain to me exactly what these mean:

Right eye:
SPH: -0.75
CYL: -0.25
AXIS: 40.0

Left eye:
SPH: -2.25
CYL: -0.25
AXIS: 75.0

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

It means you are near-sighted or myopic (look up definition if you don't understand) and have a miniscule amount of astigmatism. Your left eye is about twice as nearsighted.

An important piece of information is abscent and that is what is your vision with these glasses on. If its 20/20 that's good. If the left eye doesn't see 20/20 with glasses it may be amblyopic.

Ask the optician to explain what your vision is with glasses.

JCH MD

[shaolinf]

I will do. Hmm, near sighted, thats probably because I am infront of the computer most of the time. Is this permanant ? Or is it fixable ?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Permanent, not likely due to computer use, often progressive, treated with glasses, contacts or refractive surgery like LASIK

JCH MD