Closing one eye to read up close. What's up?

[Lindsay Loo Hoo]

For about the past three years, I have noticed that I close one eye in order to focus on what I am reading or typing.  They notice at work also, and quite honestly I'm tired of hearing, "When are you going to get glasses?"

When I try to use both eyes up close (I'm nearsighted so wear contacts/glasses to see far away, if I don't close an eye, my eyes relax too much, like when you stare at one of those pictures at the mall and suddenly see a picture appear if you look long enough.  I can only see that way.  In other words, when I use both eyes to see up  close, the words double.

I'm afraid I'm favoring one eye by closing the other, and that it will get worse, possibly like my toddler's, who, if we don't keep up with her visits in Miami, she could totally lose sight in one eye.

Do I have prisms or need glasses with prisms???

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank You,
Linds

[Monoxide]

It sounds like you are suffering from what is known as "binocular diplopia".  I have suffered from the same thing since birth.

It's caused by a problem with the muscles in one of your eyes, which in turn causes your eyes to become misaligned.  Normally, the eyes are perfectly aligned and the seperate image from each eye forms a single stereoscopic image.  But in our case, they aren't so we see two of everything.

Since I suffered from this as a child (my left eye turned outward), my brain picked a dominant image, and started ignoring the image from the other.  Because of this, my left eye is amblyopic, and although it has perfect near and far focus, I still can't see very well with it.  It's hard to explain - but it's pretty much like I'm unable to see the small details (patterns, contrast, etc) in an image.

As far as I know, binocular diplopia cannot be treated with glasses.  (Though I could be wrong on this)  In my case, it required surgery to modify the muscle in my left eye - which I had done at age 12.  The result was cosmetic only for me.  My eyes appear very straight, but I still see two images.  Though since my left eye is ignored, I normally don't notice the double vision.  Luckily, the cosmetic benefits have lasted over 13 years so far - but the eyes can eventually become misaligned again.

I would definately recommend seeing your doctor and finding out what your options are.

[LukeL]

An eye docotor would be able to tell you more accuratley because there are many things which can cause double vision.