Don't Skip your Eye Exam — Your Vision is Too Precious

Inadequate vision development or improperly developed eye muscle control can cause poor eye coordination. People with poor muscle control in their eyes often subconsciously exert extra effort to maintain proper alignment of the eyes. In more severe cases, the muscles cannot adjust the eyes so that the same image is seen by both eyes, resulting in double vision. However, the brain will try to avoid seeing double, so it eventually learns to ignore the image sent by one eye. This can result in amblyopia, a serious vision condition commonly known as lazy eye. Left untreated over a long time, amblyopia can impair the visual system. Vision will not fully improve, even with glasses or contact lens correction. Although rare, an injury or disease can also cause poor eye coordination. No one understands this better than the doctors of optometry at the office of Drs. Chandler & Davis, who are specially trained to detect signs of imbalance and ensure that our patients are seeing the world with precision and clarity.

It may be surprising to learn that each of our eyes actually see slightly different images, which are then fused by our brains into one three-dimensional picture. Finely tuned coordination is necessary to keep our eyes in their proper alignment, or else our vision can suffer from stunted development. Problems can arise due to poor muscle control, leading to eye strain and sometimes double vision.

Symptoms of poor eye coordination include double vision, headaches, eye fatigue, irritability, and difficulty reading and concentrating. Children with poor eye coordination might cover one eye, skip lines or lose their place while reading, perform poorly in sports, avoid tasks that require close work and tire easily. That’s why we recommend a comprehensive eye examination starting at 6 years of age, during which our optometrists will test for indications of how the child’s eye coordination is developing.
Poor eye coordination is often successfully treated with eyeglasses and/or vision therapy. Sometimes, eye coordination will improve when other vision conditions like nearsightedness or farsightedness are corrected. In some cases, surgery may be necessary.

At the office of Drs. Chandler & Davis, our doctors of optometry are trained in diagnosing eye coordination and imbalance conditions and determining effective solutions for treatment. Call us today to learn how our friendly, attentive team can make a clear difference in your family’s outlook on life.