6 year old sees a ghost image/double vision

[Tarrynsc]

My 6 year old says she sees a blurry double/ghost image next to the clear image she sees. I took her to the doctor and to an optometrist for tests but he says there is nothing wrong with her physical eye? What do I do next to try get this fixed?

[JohnHaganMD]

This is a common complaint in both adults and children and has many possible causes with the most common being an astigmatic refractive error. You may need to see an Eye MD ophthalmologist that specializes in children’s eye care (not a non MD optometrist). Special tests may be necessary such as corneal topography.

[Tarrynsc]

Good day
Thank you so much for your help and I have made an appointment at a specialist but I will now check if he is an ophthalmologist. When they did tests yesterday they took a photo of the inside of her eyes. Is a corneal topography? If it is, there defect on any part of the eyes including the cornea. I don't know where to start if it's not the actual eyes being the problem.

Thank you again for your help.
Tarryn

[JohnHaganMD]

This almost always a problem in the eye in young people usually related to a refractive error (myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism). I don’t know what tests to optometrist did whether a corneal topography or retina photo or macula OCT. You start with an ophthalmologist. If you did see an ophthalmologist (I suspect you saw an optometrist) then see a pediatric ophthalmologist.

[Tarrynsc]

Thank you so much for your help. Hopefully we will figure it out. Thanks again.

[JohnHaganMD]

Okay and best of luck. Don’t forget to have other children checked as eye problems often run in families