Diplopia, or double vision, can have various causes and can be temporary or permanent, affecting one or both eyes. Binocular diplopia is caused by misalignment of the eyes, often due to strabismus, while monocular diplopia is caused by physical deformities of the eye. Treatment options include patching one eye or physical therapy, and sudden onset of double vision should be immediately evaluated by a doctor as it may indicate a serious medical condition.
Diplopia is a type of vision disorder that has a wide variety of causes. While some causes are relatively benign, diplopia can indicate the presence of a serious health problem. People with diplopia see two images of an object, where normally only one is seen. The two images are usually displayed side by side horizontally or on top of each other vertically. This visual disturbance is more commonly known as double vision.
This condition can be temporary or permanent and can be experienced in both eyes at the same time or in only one eye. Most people who develop diplopia are adults. It is very rare for children to experience double vision, because children’s visual system is able to suppress the single copy of the doubled image, so that the child only sees one image. While this is largely beneficial to the child, it can in some cases result in the development of amblyopia, also known as lazy eye. This condition causes blurred or otherwise poor vision in the affected eye.
Binocular diplopia is double vision that is seen in both eyes. Typically, this means that if a person with this misalignment looks at an object, only one eye is directed at the object; the other eye is directed to the left or right of the object. This causes the image of the object to fall into different places on the retina of each eye. The brain therefore cannot resolve the two images into one image, so the viewer experiences double vision.
This type of double vision develops because the two eyes are aligned differently relative to each other. Often this is caused by a condition called strabismus, in which the muscles that control each eye are unable to coordinate their movement well enough to direct the eyes to the same spot. Strabismus can also cause other vision disorders, such as impaired depth perception.
Monocular diplopia is double vision that occurs in only one eye, while the other eye views images normally. This condition is much less common than binocular double vision. Monocular double vision is not caused by muscle weakness or lack of coordination; instead it is usually caused by scarring or physical deformity of the cornea, iris, or retina.
Several types of diplopia treatment can be used in an attempt to correct the problem. A common temporary treatment is simply to patch one eye, so that only one image of an object can be seen. This prevents double vision because the brain doesn’t have to try to resolve two images. Physical therapy to train the eye muscles to coordinate properly is another common treatment. More rarely, surgery may be needed to correct a serious muscle problem.
Sudden onset of double vision, particularly in adults, can indicate a serious medical condition. Sudden vision disturbances can mean a neurological abnormality such as a stroke, brain tumor or aneurysm. Anyone experiencing a sudden serious visual disturbance such as double vision should see a doctor right away.
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