It’s almost three years ago since i tested covering one eye, and understood that it can be a way forward. That was the start of a journey from old devices (iPhone 4S/iOS7 & 2009 HP Elitebook/Win7) to today, now i can use all devices and screens with both eyes open 🙂

I have gotten many questions on this forum about my training, in threads and PM, and I have tried to answer as good that i can. I have crossed my fingers that others will have the same progress, and pushed people to keep up training. But I haven’t heard about someone else that had progress with both eyes after one-eye-covered-training. That sucks. So I have wondered if I did something more than covering one eye that led to success, and now i have an idea I want people to try, with a bit inspiration from Eye suppression theory as origin of our issues.

So this is what i want people to try:

  • Look with both eyes open.
  • Keep an bad-screen-phone in your left hand, a bit to the left.
  • Put your right hand open and standing between your nose and your right eye.

If you have done right, you can see things in the room with both eyes, but you can only see the phone with your left eye. Keep up training like this, and we will see if someone get some success.

——————————

List of users that covering one eye works on (i hope someone will test my idea):

martin
“I could use my camera display with one eye very well, two eyes were problem.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/369-my-possible-solution-treatment-and-progress-so-far/13

ensete
“It is frankly embarrassing to have to do it, but so far I've managed to slog along for a few months using Windows 10 by patching my right eye. To me this proves 100% beyond any doubt that the issue (for me at least) is 100% related to my bincular vision processing be adversely effected by the way Window 10 displays the screen.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/1263-still-patching-daily-with-windows-10

xelaos
“I regularly just use my smartphone for 30min-90min hour a day and just close my right eye. So i have close to zero problems with the device compared to severe issues when i use both.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/188-your-health/449

bkdo
“This is really interesting. I've been trying patching my right eye while using my MacBook and it's noticeably better. Not perfect, but definitely better.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/1263-still-patching-daily-with-windows-10/10

degen
”I seem to be able to tolerate otherwise intolerable software while using the eye patch. Also my concentration is better.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/925-windows-10-version-1507/28

KM
”I notice relief, too, when looking at general ’temporal dithering’ output (quotes because no proof) like Firefox, Windows 10, etc. while covering an eye.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/1263-still-patching-daily-with-windows-10/3

ryans
”When covering one eye, the dizziness seems better when using the laptop internal display.”
https://ledstrain.org/d/1276-so-depressedlenovo-ideapad5-gives-eyestrain-and-nausea/8

AGI
”I have been using the eye patch not consistently, but quite often. Surprisingly, after struggling the first couple of times, I can now read quite easily without getting an headache.”
From Private Message

SunnyD
“ I did the patching 3 weeks ago for about a week and it worked, but after about two weeks of no pain, it came back.”
Post in this thread

And so on … I didn’t had the time to find all users that had success with one eye …

    mike

    It must be relatively common to have a mild binocular vision dysfunction, like a normal human variation. None of us is made perfectly. Or perhaps it develops after a TBi or as part of disease process (more recently, multiple sclerosis). It is unacceptable that modern display tech is made so carelessly.

    Having said that, I hope there is some truth to the theory. It will make it easier for us to get action in the future, especially if a link between flickering and BVD can be made. Importantly, it must be paired with capture card footage and analysis.

    mike So this is what i want people to try:
    Look with both eyes open.
    Keep an bad-screen-phone in your left hand, a bit to the left.
    Put your right hand open and standing between your nose and your right eye.

    If you have done right, you can see things in the room with both eyes, but you can only see the phone with your left eye. Keep up training like this, and we will see if someone get some success.

    Can you explain this a bit more? I'm definitely interested in trying it, how long did you train per day with this method? And if I'm left eye dominant, I'd assume that I should do the reverse of this? (Look at bad screen with right eye)

    Anyway, thank you for creating this thread. This is a very interesting theory, and I'm definitely curious if this could potentially be the root cause to our issues.

    • mike replied to this.

      bkdo Can you explain this a bit more? I'm definitely interested in trying it, how long did you train per day with this method? And if I'm left eye dominant, I'd assume that I should do the reverse of this? (Look at bad screen with right eye)

      I am also left eye dominant, so you can follow my instructions. If you start with 5-10 minutes and that feels comfortable increase next time and so on. Find what works for you. I trained for an hour a day.

      bkdo Anyway, thank you for creating this thread. This is a very interesting theory, and I'm definitely curious if this could potentially be the root cause to our issues.

      I am very grateful for this forum, so I am happy to help 🙂

      • bkdo replied to this.

        Hey Mike add me in the list.

        I did the patching 3 weeks ago for about a week and it worked, but after about two weeks of no pain, it came back.

        Question to you, do you keep up with the training or did you stop training after not getting eye strain anymore?

        • mike replied to this.

          mike

          Sounds like you've been training the dominant eye, have you had any luck training the non-dominant one as well?

            bkdo

            For the most i have trained my dominant eye, always both eyes open!

            When i started training I didn’t know that i was training, i was just happy that i could use a newer iPhone without getting tension headache. After some weeks i tested with both eyes open, and I couldn’t believe that I didn’t got any tension headache.

            First step with training was iPhone 4S to 5S, that was easy. Then 5S to 7. Third was iPhone 7 to 11 Pro, that took around 9 months of training, and i gave up a few times on the way.

            • bkdo replied to this.

              SunnyD Hey Mike add me in the list.

              Now you are on the list 🙂

              SunnyD I did the patching 3 weeks ago for about a week and it worked, but after about two weeks of no pain, it came back.

              Question to you, do you keep up with the training or did you stop training after not getting eye strain anymore?

              The first two years i trained a lot, the last year almost no training. But for some new screens I start to feel tension headache and then i train with one eye 30-60 minutes and then the screen works without tension headache.

                mike

                How do you know which is your dominant eye? My eye strain problem is pretty new, and I've only recently found this forum.

                • AGI replied to this.

                  mike

                  In the first two years you were training, how long were your training session? Also were you training both eyes?

                  KG89

                  My understanding is that the dominant eye is the one you see better from overall, e.g., if you wear glasses, the eye with the lowest prescription. I do not wear glasses but my left eye is very slightly astigmatic and performs slightly worse at a visual acuity test, therefore I cover my left eye with the eye patch and read using my right (dominant) eye. However, the orthoptist seemed to be open to try to cover the other eye. I will see what she says after I report my progress. Back to which is the dominant eye, I am not 100% if the weaker eye is always the left for right handed people and vice versa, unless you have had an injury or you have a particular condition. In my case, anything left in my body is weaker than its right counterpart.

                  An observation I privately mentioned to @mike. I use the eye patch at night to read before sleeping. When I turn the light off, I see a shadow in my dominant eye, the one that was uncovered. It feels like my dominant eye is semi-closed. A couple of times I turned the light back on, went to the mirror and, to my surprise, saw that my eyes were both completely open. With the light on, the "shadow effect" was much weaker. I turned the light off again and the shadow was still there. The room never gets completely dark because of the street lights. I covered my left eye with an hand and the outdoor light getting into my right eye was definitely weaker. I did not notice this the first few times, probably because I was using the eye patch only for a few minutes. Now I use it for as long as I want, typically at least 30 minutes, and the shadow effect is recurring. Has anyone experienced the same? I wonder if it is caused by the LED lamps of the ceiling, as I read my Kindle in bed looking up and, although I try to look away from the lights, there is still some line of sight.

                  Another observation. As said, I do not wear glasses but I was recommended trying to see if my eyestrain diminishes by using 0.5 reading glasses. When I use the eye patch, I need to move my Kindle an inch further away otherwise I see a bit blurry. It took me a while to figure that out, because at the beginning I thought it was due to one eye giving less clarity than two eyes together. It looks like the onset of presbyopia is different using one or both eyes.

                  I will see what the orthoptist says regarding those two effects and report here.

                    AGI

                    The dominant eye is the eye that is responsible for distance and space recognition. Its purpose is to tell you where in space is the object of your focus.

                    It has nothing to do with the vision quality, often the dominant eye is the eye which has less clear picture.

                    My best eye is left and my dominant eye is right.

                      Mrak0020

                      I did the finger window triangle test mentioned on a different post, which seems to show that my right eye is dominant. I've been wearing a patch yesterday and today on my left (non-dominant) eye, and there seems to be little to no eye strain when I'm doing so.

                      I guess my question is this: by patching the non-dominant eye, is that possibly allowing the non-dominant eye to "heal up," so to speak? I feel like I may have strained something physically in my eye that needs time and rest to heal. Or, alternatively, would it be better to patch the DOMINANT eye and work using the non-dominant eye, as a way to sort of "train up" the non-dominant eye?

                      In any case, I'm happy that patching seems to be working, both in terms of my physical relief (I was just able to lead an hour and a half Zoom meeting with no discomfort), as well as that it gives me some more concrete information to be able to tell a doctor.

                        KG89

                        I would say that it is highly unlikely that patching the non-dominant eye will help you with your binocular vision, since if you have trouble with your binocular vision it can have many reason, but it is pretty rare that a weak or less engaged dominant eye is the cause. If you have a weak eye it is most likely your non-dominant eye so patching the dominant could help.

                        However, most of the time problems with binocular vision are due to the effect that both eyes could not work properly together which is best trained with both eyes open. @martin described some possibilities her which is also difficult for adults. Binocular vision issues can be caused by so many reasons that even hip, jaw, shoulder imbalances can play a huge role.

                        For most people who cover one eye it is most comfortable to cover their non-dominant eye, since you don't have to adapt when patching and when taken the patch of. Maybe when patching regularly you eyes are more relaxed than now and you can get some minutes/hours extra with both eyes before that become fatigued again.

                        I would try patching both eyes and give it some time and learn whats best for yourself even if that sounds boring.

                        Here's my current plan, does this seem like it would be useful to see if there are any improvements?

                        -Patch dominant eye for 1 week, taking note of symptoms (When they occur and how intense they are)

                        -Then, patch non-dominant eye for 1 week, while doing the same symptom tracking.

                        I'll be using the patch for at least 4-5 hours per day, while using my problematic computer.

                        Any suggestions for this plan?

                        mike

                        That's interesting. My assumption would be that you'd have to patch the dominant eye to give the weaker eye a chance to train itself, but I'm seeing a lot of people saying they've had luck training the dominant eye instead. Like others said, it seems that dominant eye vs non-dominant is unrelated to vision quality. There's so much we need to learn about this theory 😐

                          A book I would definitely recommend is Fixing my Gaze by Susan R. Barry. She was stereo-blind since birth and eventually gained complete stereo-vision. It also contains a few exercises (the usual IIRC) but nether-the-less is an inspiring read.

                          Does everybody on the list have physically straight eyes? There are various reasons for stereo-blindness and I'm interested to know if the eyes for other people here actually deviate physically or appear straight? The level of correction needed would be different for somebody with seemingly straight eyes vs. a physical issue preventing both eyes to focus on the same point.

                            diop

                            My left eye is physically higher than my right eye.

                            In my morning I sometimes wake up to minor diplopia. The vision from my left eye has to "come down" and the vision from the right eye has to "come up" so that the image fuses. When this occurs, it happens with every blink and only fixes itself when I am fully woken up.

                            To me it seems like it means something, although my previous optometrist denied vertical heterophoria.

                            Edit: I got the audiobook of Fixing My Gaze. Looking forward to the listen. The preview had me really engrossed already.

                            dev