If you experience words that seem to move or jump around the page, difficulty with keeping your place when you read or headaches after working on a computer, you may have a binocular vision problem. These symptoms can indicate an eye tracking problem, a condition that our doctors here at Bella Vision team can diagnose and treat.
The cause of an eye-tracking problem is often a breakdown in communication among the eyes, brain, and eye muscles, which can stem from physical conditions in the eye, nerve communication issues, or underlying health concerns.
How Your Eyes Work as a Team
In order to see a clear, single, stable picture of the world, your brain must simultaneously process the visual information from the right and left eyes. This process, known as binocular vision, depends on precise coordination from your eye muscles to align your eyes. When this teamwork is off, you might struggle with focus, depth perception, and reading.
Common Causes Inside the Eye Itself
Sometimes, binocular vision issues can occur secondary to a physical condition within the eye. These problems can affect one or both eyes and often cause symptoms such as ghosting or shadows around objects, creating what appears to be a doubled image.
Dry Eye & Your Vision
Patients with dry eye disease don’t produce sufficient quality tears, which makes the surface of the eye uneven. This irregular surface makes it difficult for light to focus correctly on the cornea and lens, causing blurry or even double vision. Patients with dry eye disease also may struggle with fluctuating vision while reading and a gritty or burning sensation.
Changes to Your Eye’s Shape or Lens
Conditions that alter the shape of your cornea, like astigmatism, can bend light improperly and distort your sight. Similarly, when a cataract develops, it may interfere with clear vision and reduce how efficiently the eyes track since vision is no longer clear and stable.
When Eye Muscles & Nerves Don’t Communicate Well
Your eyes move in a precise, coordinated way thanks to a complex system of muscles and nerves. A disruption anywhere along this communication pathway can cause your eyes to become misaligned and struggle to track objects together. This is common after traumatic brain injury, concussion and stroke and is treatable with Optometric Vision Therapy.
Eye Muscle Misalignment
For some patients, their eyes are not physically lined up and appear to have an eye that turns in another direction in relation to the other. This can cause an eye to turn in, out, up, or down—a condition called strabismus. Strabismus can occur at any age, but when it develops acutely as an adult, it can directly cause tracking difficulties and double vision. Strabismus is not a “muscle problem” where the eye muscles need to be strengthened, rather strabismus is a lack or breakdown of eye-to-brain communication via cranial nerves 3, 4 and 6. Strabismus is also very treatable with Optometric Vision Therapy.
Underlying Health Conditions
Systemic health is directly related to our vision. Patients who have metabolic disease (diabetes and hypertension), thyroid conditions, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s – just to name a few can also struggle with binocular vision problems since there is an ongoing disruption to the signals that coordinate the cranial nerves and eye muscles.Head Injury or Stroke
Since the brain has dedicated a lot of “real estate” to the visual system, patients who sustain a concussion, head trauma, or stroke can also have binocular vision problems that further impact their day-to-day life. This may result in a sudden onset of tracking problems or double vision. Patients who have binocular vision problems after brain injury often go underdiagnosed and sometimes make it all the way through their rehab therapies without understanding that their vision deficits are a part of the problem.
Signs You May Have an Eye Tracking Problem
The symptoms of an eye tracking issue can range from subtle annoyances to noticeable problems. You may experience:
- Losing your place or skipping lines while you read
- Frequent eye strain or headaches, especially with close-up work
- Blurry or double vision
- A feeling that your eyes are tired or overworked
- Dizziness or trouble with depth perception
How to Find Out What’s Going On & Get Help
The good news is that many eye tracking problems can be addressed once the root cause is identified. A thorough evaluation is the first step toward finding relief and improving your visual comfort.
The Role of a Comprehensive Eye Exam
A comprehensive eye exam is the key to pinpointing the source of your tracking issue. Reading the letters on the eye chart at the pediatrician’s office or nurses office is not an eye exam. That is only measuring visual acuity. An eye doctor who is trained in binocular vision can perform tests that assess your eye alignment, focusing ability, and how well your eyes work together.
Common Options for Treatment
Based on your evaluation, a personalized plan can be created to help your eyes work together more efficiently. This may include a focus on ocular disease, vision rehabilitation, or managing dry eye disease with approaches like:
- Corrective Lenses: Special glasses, sometimes with prisms, can help realign the images from each eye so your brain sees a single, clear picture.
- Vision Therapy: A structured program of eye exercises can help strengthen eye muscle coordination and improve visual skills.
- Treat the Root Cause: If dry eye or another medical condition is the source, addressing it can directly improve your eye tracking.
If this resonates with you or someone you know, share this knowledge with them. Eye tracking issues are quite common, and most don’t realize you don’t have to live with the discomfort and frustration of an eye tracking problem. The team at Bella Vision provides comprehensive eye exams for the whole family to help identify the source of your symptoms. After your appointment, you can browse a wide variety of designer frames and lenses. We can help you find relief in Spartanburg. Book today!
