Diplopia, most commonly known as double vision, is when a person sees two images at the same time when looking at an object. It usually appears as a symptom of other conditions and can be pretty unpleasant to deal with.
There are two main types of diplopia -monocular and binocular and bellow we will take a look at what each of them mean for your health.
Monocular diplopia,
is double vision in only one of the eyes. Typical for this type of double vision is that its effects, are experienced even when the other eye is closed. This kind of diplopia can be caused by multiple conditions such as:
*Keratoconus – due to this condition the cornea can become thin and cone-shaped.
*Astigmatism – can lead to double vision due to its abnormal curve on the surface of the cornea
*Dry eye – increases the chance of diplopia
*Retinal Abnormalities and problems – double vision is possible to appear when the surface of the retina is not smooth
*Cataracts – the lens becomes more transparent
Binocular diplopia,
is double vision in both eyes. It is usually related to a misalignment of the eyes. The double vision usually stops if one of the eyes is covered. Problems that affect muscles around the eyeball that are in charge of the direction of the gaze are one of the most common causes of binocular diplopia.
Some of those problems are:
*Diabetes
*Strabismus – childhood misalignment of the eyes
*Damage to the nerves that are in control of the extraocular muscles – nerves can become injured due to infection, brain damage, sclerosis, stroke, head trauma, brain tumor or a tumor growing inside the eye socket.
*Graves’ disease
*Myasthenia gravis – neuromuscular illness which causes the muscles to become weak.
Symptoms
The main symptom is seeing two images of the same object! Double vision can appear alone or combined with other symptoms depending on the condition that causes them and can contribute to other types of discomfort.
Those may be:
*Pain when the eyes move
*Unaligned eyes
*Nausea
*Headache
*Droopy eyelids
Temporary Double Vision
is another type of diplopia. It appears and has the same symptoms, but sorts itself out with time. It can be caused due to drugs, medication, and intoxication.
Treatment
The treatment of diplopia mainly depends on the underlying cause that leads to the problem to occur in the first place.
*Surgical treatment - in cases such as cataracts, pterygium or surgery on the eye muscles.
*Laser surgery – when there is corneal irregularities
*Lenses - help if the person has double vision due to astigmatism
*Medication
* Prism vision therapy
*Treating the disease that is the cause of the problem
If you notice or start experiencing any of the symptoms, please contact a professional as soon as possible! Taking care of yourself and noticing that something is not right in time may prove to be vital for your health!