Binocular Vision Disorders

Binocular vision truly means is that your eyes can focus together in the same direction. When your binocular vision is working as it’s supposed to, your brain can create a single image from two eyes that are communicating slightly different information. It’s this combined image that allows you to experience depth perception and accurately judge the speed of an object. When your eye teaming coordination works properly, your vision should feel effortless. However, when there is even minor inefficiency in how the eyes work together or how the brain receives signals, it can cause incredible discomfort and severely affect your ability to navigate the world around you.

We evaluate your eye efficiency during yearly exams. The symptoms of a poorly functioning binocular vision symptoms can include headaches, short attention span, losing place while reading, double vision, tired eyes, trouble concentrating while reading and many more. There are so many options to improve how your eyes function! We usually start with discussing anti-fatigue lenses, blue light filtering, visual hygiene (take breaks at the computer!), or prism glasses. This is especially important if you have ever been diagnosed with conditions like ADD and ADHD. We will make sure your eyes aren't working harder than they should be!

While it’s essential that everyone has routine eye examinations, many of the conditions that interrupt regular binocular vision begin to occur quite early in life, so it’s crucial that parents and teachers are observing their children for anything out of the ordinary. Testing can also be done in adults. Sometimes adults do have binocular teaming inefficiencies but never really can explain the symptoms until later in life, it is not too late, mention your symptoms to Dr Belmonte or Dr Espiritu and we will assess with the appropriate binocular vision tests.

Some of these tests can include:

Tracking (the ability to move your eyes across a sheet of paper)
Fusion (the ability to use both your eyes together at the same time)
Stereopsis (the ability to perceive depth)
Convergence (the ability of your eyes to move and work as a team)
Visual Motor Integration (the ability to use our eyes and our hands in a coordinated and efficient way)