50 Years Of A Lazy Eye :)

I have had Lazy Eye since birth, and never
known any difference. My sight in my right had as been very poor, probably
because of it. It is caused (in my case and most others) because of a squint in
the alignment of your eyes. So, instead of seeing a single stereo image, your
brain sees 2 separate images. The brain, rather sensibly, realises this can be
and is very confusing for the day to day activities of a normal life, and
basically switches one of your eyes off, and uses just the one.

When I was still young about 8 or 9, I had an operation to correct the squint
mostly, although it did not remove the double vision. I can easily see double
(a clear image, and a blurred image slightly to the right and up a little),
when I concentrate and think about doing it.

My lazy eye has only ever been a problem in my life the once, and it took me a
while to realise what the problem was. I enjoyed riding my bike to college;
however it was along a busy road which required extra care when making manoeuvres.
I found when coming to a particular junction, and looking over my shoulder for
traffic, my ride became rather wobbly. It took me ages to figure this out, why
I should be swerving on my bike, and then eventually it dawned on me. As in the
UK we drive on the left, I was looking over my right shoulder for traffic. What
I didn't realise that because the blurred vision in my right eye, my head was
trying to turn further so I could get a clearer vision of the situation with my
left eye. Stretching my neck and shoulders so far caused my arms to affect my
steering, hence the wobbles. This was easily corrected by installing a wing
mirror on my bike, and everything was fine after that.

So, all in all my vision is via my left
eye, my right eye is mostly peripheral vision, noticing movement, nothing very
clear. The vision in that eye has been so bad; the opticians have felt it would
be pointless wearing glasses, the improvement through the best lenses was
minimal. Until a couple of years ago, the vision in my left eye has been 20/20;
however now I have to wear glasses just for reading. A matching lens is placed
in my right eye just to balance the view.

Apart from the bicycle incident, my whole
50 years of life has not been affected by my lazy eye (I simply don’t know
anything different). I was concerned recently with the advent of 3D TV, that I
would be facing a missed opportunity at technology advancement in vision.
Although on a recent visit to a store, where a demo 3D was displayed, I was
pretty amazed to find I saw the effect through the glasses I wore. Knowing that
3D requires stereo vision, all I can surmise, is that sufficient information is
received via my right eye to allow my brain view a true 3D image. I acknowledge
this was a quick 3 min demo, and not a full experience, maybe I didn’t see all
that 3D is supposed to offer, but I felt I saw enough to give me hope that I
wouldn’t be left far behind.

So, for my fellow sufferers of the lazy eye
problem, don’t worry about it too much. Only have the operation if you feel it
will remove the squint and improve how people look at you (apparently the
vision correction is rarely successful on children over 2 since the brain has
already switched off by then and pretty much set for life). Of course, if you
are going to ride a bike, check to see if you need a wing mirror installed J