The American Academy of Ophthalmology defines double vision as a condition in which a person sees a double image of a single object. Some people see two identical images beside each other or overlapping one another. Others see a combination of both. The good news is that this is a treatable condition. For people who do not want surgical correction, nonsurgical treatments are available. Here are the details.

Vision Therapy

This is for individuals who have difficulty coordinating eyesight with hand movements. It is also for people who have difficulties in visual perception from a neurological disorder, such as a stroke. Your vision therapist will work with your doctor to develop treatments that could meet your needs. Your therapist will work with you as well. This can help you improve your ability to perform daily activities.

Occlusion Therapy

Your doctor can suggest occlusion therapy, in which managing double vision can involve wearing a patch over one eye or over part of the lenses. The therapy aims to remove double vision by blocking images from one eye. A soft eye patch with an elastic band is ideal. But placing an opaque tape over an eyeglass lens is enough.

Occlusion therapy should continue until your double vision goes away. The doctor will keep an eye on your therapy until you achieve significant improvement. This is possible through follow-up visits every two to three months. Vision improvements may happen in a few weeks. Long-term improvements may take longer to appear. You will not need the eye patch anymore once the double vision goes away.

Prisms

Your doctor may recommend the use of a prism to help your double vision. This plastic or glass object is a tool in the shape of a wedge. It can bend the light that passes. The eye doctor will attach the prism to your eyeglass lens. The aim is to manage your binocular double vision.

Wearing the Fresnel prism may last for many months. Your eye doctor will adjust the strength to suit your visual needs. If this is successful, you can talk to your doctor about having a pair of eyeglasses with a prism attached to one eyeglass lens.

For Binocular Double Vision

Your treatment will consist of wearing opaque contact lenses, glasses, or in some cases an eye patch. Performing eye exercises is also part of this treatment. In some cases, the eye doctor may recommend botulinum toxin injections into your eye muscles. This relaxes your eye muscles and may relieve your double vision.

For Monocular Double Vision

Corrective contacts or glasses can correct the passage of the light entering your eye. This treatment is for patients with astigmatism. People with dry eye syndrome experience eye pain and swelling. This can then result in double vision. Your eye doctor can prescribe a tear substitute. The artificial tears can tone down the symptoms and help your double vision.

Having double vision can be disorienting and debilitating. It can also be stressful and dangerous. At Holistic Vision, we always help our patients achieve better eye and vision health with our quality products and services. Please visit our clinic in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, for an in-person consultation. You can also reach us by dialing 267-500-9600 if you want to schedule an appointment or ask about our nonsurgical treatments for double vision.