Binocular vision dysfunction occurs when your two eyes aren’t working together as the ideal team they should be. Your brain is incredibly adaptable and will always try to work with the visual "data" it has, but this constant compensation comes at a high metabolic cost.

Because the brain is prioritizing the "stitch" between your two eyes, the resulting symptoms often show up in ways that don't feel like they are coming from your eyes at all. Common signs of this hidden strain include:

• Migraines and Persistent Headaches: Often the result of the brain's over-exertion.
• Anxiety: A common systemic response to visual misalignment.
• Early Exhaustion: Feeling completely drained early in the day because your body is dedicating too much energy to basic visual processing.

The Science of the "Spliced" Image

Every moment your eyes are open, they are taking in two separate images and splicing them on top of each other to create the perception of a single world. When these images are slightly out of alignment—or "spliced" poorly—it takes significantly more effort for the brain to join and process them.

Binocular vision dysfunction is essentially a massive energy leak. Your brain puts so much energy into forcing these images together that it has very little left over for everything else. Unfortunately, much of the optometry and ophthalmology industry doesn't spend a lot of time considering these implications.

Seeking a Binocular Vision Specialist

If you are experiencing chronic exhaustion or migraines while your eyes are open and active, there is a good chance you are dedicating too many of your brain's resources to simply making your eyes work together.

Standard eye exams often miss this because they focus on one eye at a time. To address this, you need a doctor who specializes in binocular vision—someone who can detect if your images are "too far apart" and provide the optical hardware to help splice them together more efficiently. Maximizing how your eyes work as a team can often resolve systemic issues you never thought were related to your vision.

At Chadwick, we focus on the "optical nerd" details that standard exams miss, providing the filters and lenses that take the load off your brain.

Are you a low vision practitioner?

Get an Aniseikonia Size Lens Kit to help you assess the magnification needed to correct size discrepancies in your aniseikonia patient's vision.

Have a question about binocular dysfunction or how your eyes "splice" images?

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