We all remember an excerpt from the film about Ivan Vasilyevich, when Ulyana Andreevna, seeing her husband, exclaims: "You will be cured, and I will be cured." In the case of our heroine, she suggested that she was seeing double. In fact, at Balzac's age, this is far from a rare occurrence: with sclerosis, diabetes, high blood pressure and tumors, one of the manifestations of diseases is precisely the doubling of the picture.
And even he althy people periodically start seeing double. A simple explanation is overwork, too much alcohol, poisoning. You wake up in the morning and don’t know what kind of world you are in, and then your spouse sees double in curlers and with a rolling pin…
Actually fun only for those who do not suffer from this disease. This state brings a lot of unpleasant moments to a person, he is poorly oriented in space, he sees poorly, and his eyes seem to be torn from the inside.
Why doubles ineyes?
The main reason is the curvature of the eye axis. Normally, the image processing mechanism is as follows: a picture from both eyes comes from the retina, the visual analyzer superimposes them in the brain and the person sees a clear picture. And with diplopia, the picture doubles, since initially the image was projected by the lens of one of the eyes in the wrong direction, the projection points do not match, therefore, a “dubbing” occurs in a person. Moreover, there are shifts both along the horizontal axis and along the vertical one.
There are several factors that cause double vision. The causes are in the muscles, their weakness, so that they cannot keep the eye in a symmetrical position relative to each other. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as strabismus. Moreover, it, in turn, can also be caused by a number of reasons. What disease causes double vision most often, except for strabismus? In fact, there are many pathologies:
- Paralysis after strokes, in which case the eye may lose the ability to move at all.
- Aneurysms.
- Head injuries.
- Tumours and hematomas, both intracranial and tissues in close proximity to the organs of vision.
- Consequences of operations on the brain or eye.
"Bivision" can be caused by disruption of the lens or the optic nerve, their mechanical damage or weakening of blood vessels, in particular in diabetes mellitus, or a metabolic disorder in cells, most often with hyperthyroidism, which disrupts the conduction of the eyeWed.
Diplopia due to poisoning or intoxication
In its purest form, double vision without additional symptoms rarely occurs. Most often, this is a concomitant symptom of other diseases or pathologies: injuries, tumors of various nature, vascular disorders, infectious meningitis, diphtheria or botulinum.
Sometimes diplopia can be caused by poisoning or intoxication:
- Medicines or alcohol.
- Due to severe infections such as meningitis.
- Violation of muscle conduction. An example would be short-term diplopia after a Botox injection if the dosage was exceeded. In this case, it is better to check the clinic where you decide to go for a beauty injection, because beauty can quickly turn into a monster.
First signs and symptoms
The first signs can be manifested by frequent dizziness, a person cannot correctly determine the distance to the object, the picture is blurry, or one of them is brighter and the other is paler. Usually it is difficult for a person to navigate in space, he can stumble over objects, "demolish" jambs at the door.
The nature of the split picture directly depends on which muscles are damaged or weakened. If the obliques are affected, the doubling will be vertical, that is, the object will be located one above the other, if straight, then parallel. Often this condition is expressed by severe pain in the eye, the eye loses mobility.
If you start seeing double andthere is a throbbing pain in the temples, this is a pressure drop. With hypertension, diplopia is accompanied by ripples and sudden blackouts in the eyes.
With strabismus, diplopia is a constant companion. In this case, the sore eye is covered with glasses or special bandages, conservative treatment is prescribed: prismatic correction, gymnastics. Sometimes surgery is indicated, in particular, resection or recession of the muscles of the eye.
Types of diplopia
The most common binocular diplopia. This is a muscular disorder where the eyes are not symmetrical to each other. If the affected eye is closed, the double vision stops.
This type of diplopia most often occurs if a person has:
- Keratitis or Corneal Infection: Refers to focal changes in the cornea, either postoperatively or due to acute inflammation.
- Cataract or clouding of the lens. There is discomfort if a person reads something.
- Astigmatism. When the lens loses its ability to reflect light properly.
- Drying of the cornea. In this case, you can simply use "artificial tear" drops.
- Displacement of the lens. Surgical intervention is necessary, since the pathology is irreversible with conservative treatment.
Special cases of manifestation of the disease
With monocular diplopia, a person sees a double image even when using one eye. The eye projects a double image to itself. Bifurcation, if you close a he althy eye, will not disappear. Suchhappens with a dislocation of the lens, iridodialysis, as well as polycoria.
Occurs when the nerves of the eyeball, clamps, and infringements are damaged, not muscles. It can be congenital and acquired.
The following forms of monocular diplopia are distinguished:
- Refractive. Corrected by wearing glasses.
- Retinal. There is a violation of the integrity of the retina due to inflammatory processes.
- Pupillary. Development is provoked if there are additional holes in the iris.
- Aberrational. The cornea or lens has a non-uniform surface, which prevents the correct transmission of the image.
- Neurogenic. Develops with meningitis, neurosis, complex endocrine changes.
Sometimes a perfectly he althy person can see double, if he looks at an object in the distance, a closer object can double. The brain usually "extinguishes" such irregularities in focus, and the person does not notice them.
However, in case of persistent double vision, it is necessary to undergo examinations.
Diagnosis
If the lesion is complex and double vision is not the main symptom, but only an echo of more serious problems, then the doctor will definitely refer the person to a specialist (neurologist, endocrinologist, neurosurgeon, rheumatologist or oncologist).
Typically, the examination of a person complaining of double vision includes the following tests:
- Coordimetry. Allows you to determine the incorrectly working muscle, to establish the nature of its pathology.
- Research related to the definitionvisual acuity, muscle activity.
- Performing a motor analysis of the eyelids, which will determine their symmetry and muscle tone.
- Blood test for sugar.
- Sometimes an MRI of the brain is ordered.
- Test for muscle fatigue.
- Strabometry. Or measuring the angle of the squinting eye in linear terms using equipment.
Special attention of parents requires strabismus in children. Since over time the muscles atrophy, and a child without proper treatment will not be able to get rid of this defect.
Double vision: treatment
Methods of treatment depend on the severity of the disease and its nature. If a person suffers from astigmatism and outwardly the disease does not manifest itself, it will be enough just to prescribe corrective glasses. If tumors are the cause of double vision, then the only way to stop the symptoms is to remove the tumor.
If it is assumed that the disease was provoked by an infection, in this case, antibacterial drugs or antibiotics are prescribed. If it is neurological in nature, anti-stroke therapy is carried out, pressure-lowering pills are prescribed, and in case of violations of the thyroid gland, a glucocorticosteroid course of therapy is prescribed. You can't just come in and say, "Doctor, I'm seeing double." Treatment and causes must be sought based on a comprehensive examination of a person. It is not enough to eliminate any one factor to solve the whole problem, it usually takes a long time.
Enoughan effective measure for the treatment of the disease is a special gymnastics for the eyes.
Eye exercises for partial diplopia
This workout is very easy to do. The man sits on a chair. On the wall you need to fix a white sheet, you can whatman paper. On it you need to draw a vertical stripe. The main task is to focus on the lines as clearly as possible.
At the second stage, without taking your eyes off, turn your head in one direction, then in the other. At the same time, you do not need to look away from the subject.
Exercise must be repeated regularly. If a person does not see improvement, then surgery is most likely needed.
Folk remedies
Tinctures and vitamin supplements can be another effective treatment for mild forms of diplopia. The advantage of herbal treatment is that they are always at hand.
- Tincture of lavender leaves, valerian and wine. Grind lavender leaves, add a drop of valerian and a glass of white wine. Leave to infuse for three days. During this day, stir the liquid. Tincture to drink before meals on a spoon.
- Interesting effect gives pollen (provided that it is not allergic). It is recommended to collect it and take it in a spoon for a month.
- Vitamin collection from wild rose and viburnum. From the berries it is necessary to boil the infusion, boil for 15 minutes. Strain and drink chilled one hundred grams in the morning and evening before meals.
Traditional medicine is only an auxiliary measure and by no means the main therapeuticmeans.
Important to know
The peculiarity of the disease is that it most often occurs suddenly. It is extremely difficult to somehow protect yourself from this, especially if you are at risk. In this case, regular eye examinations may be the only way to avoid such an extremely unpleasant symptom.
