What is double vision?

Our eyes are very important organs. We rely on our eyes to obtain most of the information, so we must protect our eyes from harm. Our eyes are prone to various problems, so we must understand some knowledge about protecting our eyes. If our eyes have symptoms of double vision, we should pay attention to it, because double vision has a great impact on us.

Double vision is also called diplopia. We need to know the cause of double vision so that we can make targeted treatment according to the cause of double vision. Let’s take a look at the introduction of double vision below.

Be careful if you see double vision. Double vision refers to the patient seeing two images at the same time, which is medically called diplopia.

Our eyes can move freely because there are seven muscles controlling the movement of the eyeballs. These seven muscles are the superior and inferior rectus muscles, the medial and lateral rectus muscles, the superior and inferior oblique muscles, and the levator palpebrae superioris. They are innervated by the oculomotor nerve, trochlear nerve and abducens nerve. The medial and lateral rectus muscles are responsible for rotating the eyeball inward or outward. When the superior and inferior rectus muscles contract, the eyeball rotates upward or downward, and also inward at the same time. The superior oblique muscle mainly rotates the eyeball inward, and also rotates the eyeball downward and outward at the same time. The inferior oblique muscle mainly rotates the eyeball outward, and also rotates the eyeball upward and outward at the same time. These six muscles work closely with each other to allow the eyeball to move freely up, down, left and right in a coordinated manner. When we are thinking, our eyeballs will move around; when we are absent-minded, our eyeballs will move aimlessly. A person's inner activities can also be expressed in the movement of his eyeballs. When the eyeball rotates in all directions, there is always one or more muscles playing a major role, and the other muscles play a coordinating role. The movements of both eyes must be consistent. When the eyeball looks to the right, the right lateral rectus muscle and the left medial rectus muscle must contract equally and simultaneously, otherwise binocular single vision cannot be achieved. However, when one or more of the six muscles that control eye movement become inflamed, traumatized, or have neurological disorders, the muscles of both eyes will become uncoordinated. For example, the right lateral rectus muscle contracts, but the left medial rectus muscle contracts too slowly or with insufficient force. The eye movement will be restricted or the eye will deviate to one side, forming strabismus. At this time, seeing things will become particularly difficult; or one object may be seen as two, causing double vision.

Normal people may also experience double vision under physiological conditions. If you only see double images occasionally, it may not be a problem. However, if you see double images frequently, it is a manifestation of double vision. Diplopia can be divided into binocular diplopia and monocular diplopia. In most cases, binocular diplopia is caused by eye muscle paralysis and accompanied by strabismus, which is called paralytic strabismus. At this time, if you cover one eye with your hand, you can restore normal single vision. Therefore, an eye patch is often worn in one eye to prevent double vision, which is called binocular diplopia. What causes double vision? Ophthalmologists point out that eye inflammation, eye or brain tumors, muscle weakness, diabetes, trauma and nervous system abnormalities may cause binocular double vision. Therefore, early treatment of the primary disease is important. Monocular diplopia means double vision when one eye sees things, which may be caused by astigmatism, trauma, iridectomy, ectopia lentis, progressive cataract, etc. Astigmatism can be corrected with glasses, and problems with the iris and lens can be treated with medication or surgery. Finally, ophthalmologists also pointed out that the occurrence of double vision may indicate an eye problem, and the cause should be identified and treated symptomatically in a timely manner. If left untreated for a long time, the condition will inevitably worsen.

Above, we introduced the importance of eyes to us. Most of the information we get comes from our eyes, so we have to protect our eyes. The eyes are prone to various symptoms, so we must pay attention to them. Double vision is a common symptom of the eyes. The above article analyzes the causes of double vision in detail.