Riding and Amblyopia/Strabismus/Lack of Stereovision

[Adamantane]

There long ago existed a thread on this, but apparently it was deleted.

I had a so-called Lazy Eye when I was a kid, though the outward symptoms were not really noticeable unless I was sleepy. They surgically corrected it as quickly when it was diagnosed, but at the time the techniques didn’t exist to do this effectively on kids younger than about 5, which by all accounts is usually far too late for both eyes to end up with normal vision.

With only one functional eye, things requiring stereovision involving eye-hand coordination (judging and catching a ball in the air) weren’t just difficult, they were near to being impossible. (You can compensate marginally by comparing the size-appearance of an approaching object over time, but that works far better for judging oncoming cars on the highway in a passing situation.)

This is not an eye issue, it’s a brain signal processing issue and I’m sure there are other aspects than stereovision and spatial relationship processing that are affected, too.

My left eye (which of course is on the left side of my head and not in the middle) takes in everything and processes it. My right eye corrects to about 20/180 and in only useful for peripheral vision involving motion.

This means my vision sitting a horse is slightly asymmetrical, and I have no depth perception. (Of course, like most people, my default posture is also slightly asymmetrical.) Asymmetry is never good.

This creates some riding difficulties in terms of managing straightness and tracking my line, and well as some potential issues for jumping that so far haven’t been critical because they are beyond my current pay grade.

I know I’m not the only one in this situation, and the purpose of the thread is to learn what others may have done to work around the limitations of monovision for riding.

Keep learning surprising new things about stuff in living from those whose experience has differed from mine, even things at which I thought I was pretty darn expert. Prepared once again to be pleasantly surprised at what others may have figured out that I haven’t yet.

[hca86]

You need to get yourself to an optometrist. You are still a good candidate for vision therapy even though you have been living with difficulty with stereovision your entire life. I worked with a woman for a while (professor) that lacked any ability to use her two eyes together (saw everything as two dimensional). In her 50s or 60s she was suggested to try vision therapy and she now almost has perfect abilities to see the world in three dimensions. She now collaborates with Oliver Sacks and does research on stereovision (she is a neuroscientist).

I see that you are located in NC? Where exactly are you at (you can send me private message) if you like as she knows many optometrists in both the RTP area and Charlotte.

[sdlbredfan]

I am in the same boat. I lack depth perception, rarely do any jumping because of it.
ETA, on the suggestion that these conditions can be fixable by exercises, I doubt it. Once there have been ‘muscle tucks’ in the muscles that control the eye, there can be presumed/assumed to be scar tissue and residual lack of adjustability of those muscles.

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

Similar thing here. I compensate very well unless I am very tired, have had a drink (and then I wouldn’t ride), or try to jump anything over a foot :). I also have a cranial nerve palsy that gives me double vision when I look down. Luckily we aren’t supposed to look down while riding :).

Please see an ophthalmologist (MD, not optometrist) first, especially someone who specializes in this. Vike Vicente, MD, is just outside DC. Google him. Typically these docs are going to specialize in pediatric ophthalmology; don’t let that throw you off. It would be ideal for you to see a neuro-ophthalmologist first to establish whether there are other issues, but a good ophtho should be able to have a good idea as well.

Wilmer Eye at Hopkins is also good. Sorry, I don’t know anyone in NC but try UNC and Duke.

Good luck-there is help, including the vision therapy, but get checked out first.

[hca86]

Adamantane, I tried to send you a private message with suggestions but your inbox is full.

Regarding whether to see a neuro-ophthalmologist, if you want to go that route that is fine. It will not hurt, however, many if not most believe that there is no evidence to support vision therapy, which is not true. Most still support the idea of patching and if your eyes appear aligned and they find no other issues going on (though it is good to rule these out), you really need to get to an optometrist (the will do vision therapy). I have a list of optometrist in the Piedmont/Research Triangle area that are highly recommended and all well known for vision therapy.