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.

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 🙂

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 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.

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.

When I was pushing through a lot of eye pain, my right would hurt really bad, so I would close it.

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.

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

One-Eye-Success for 10+ users on LEDStrain

ensete

Update on my situation

I am still patching to this day. So I can say with certainty, for me at least, that patching can offer relief for at least several months

I routinely test without a patch to see if there are any changes being made from patching that may let me one day not need to wear one, and the results have been positive and frustrating at the same time. Prior to patching, I couldn't go more than a second or two without feeling symptoms. After about 7 months of patching, I can sometime go up to a few minutes now with no symptoms. It is agonizingly slow progress, but it is progress. It is also unpredictable, there are times to this day where on some days I still can't stand even a second or two of a bad computer display. However, I have noticed significant improvement with my sensitivity to LED light bulbs, oddly enough. I can spend hours in a room with them and be just fine. That was an incredible discovery for me.

For specifics, I patch during work hours, so around 8 hours a day, but I take frequent breaks and work on non computer related tasks whenever I can, so I would say in an average day I actually stare at a screen with a patch on maybe 1-2 hours.

I have presented this information to several opticians and vision specialists, and as suspected they were all baffled and useless in explaining what was going on. they agreed that since the patch helps it has to be something to do with my binocular vision, but what that was they had no clue. They recommended adding prism to some lenses, so I had some custom lenses made up and they didn't help at all. another $150 down the tubes.

Anyone have a good source on firm, paper eye patches? I got some from my eye doctor, but all I can find are the soft padded ones which suck since they don't hold a concave shape and press on your eye.

tfouto

ensete I didn't quite understand your patching time. Do you patch 8 hours a day? Do you use the patch even without using any screen? Do you change both eyes, or just one?

ensete

tfouto ensete I didn't quite understand your patching time. Do you patch 8 hours a day?

No, i only path when using my work computer. So on average 1-2 hours a day. During my 8 hour work day I take frequent breaks and try to do as much away from the computer as possible.

Do you use the patch even without using any screen?

No, I only wear the patch when using my work setup. It is the only setup I cannot change toa setup that does not trigger my symptoms. I am still of the belief that the #1 focus should always be trigger avoidance, and if you run into a situation you simply cannot avoid, then you look at other options.

Do you change both eyes, or just one?

Patching my right eye causes significantly more relief than patching the left, so I always patch the right eye.

logixoul

How safe is it to patch your eye for hours everyday?

I'm under the impression that consensus says 4 hours per day is safe. Is that so?

ensete

logixoul I'm under the impression that consensus says 4 hours per day is safe. Is that so?

Says who?

logixoul

ensete Well, here's the post I got the "4 hours" figure from:

https://ledstrain.org/d/1308-one-eye-success-for-10-users-on-ledstrain/46

This recommendation was given to @bkdo by his optometrist; since he's a medical professional, I used the word "consensus" (though indeed it's not very accurate to call it consensus).

bkdo

I saw a BVD specialist yesterday, here's the summary:

Diagnosed with Convergence insuffiency (Exophoria), Vertical heterophoria (Spasm of accomodation), and Paresis of accomodation (General binocular vision dysfunction)
Basically, my eyes are constantly working in overdrive to keep my vision as clear as possible, and this is what causes my symptoms. For example, she had me look at a chart that measures convergence. The normal range is between 2 and 6, my number for close range was 16 (!), and long range was 24 (!!). The flickering screens are apparently putting extra strain on my system, which is why they're so hard to deal with.
The specialist was not surprised at all that the eyepatch helped, since I clearly have massive issues with binocular vision. This suggests to me that if you experience relief with the eyepatch, you should definitely look into getting checked for BVD. It may not end up being the answer for your particular situation, but it is absolutely a lead worth looking into.
She was also not surprised that my new lenses help, since they at least partially address my eye misalignments. She recommended to keep wearing them to see if my symptoms keep improving (I'd say these lenses reduce the symptoms by 60-70% as of right now, hoping to get that number up as much as possible)
The plan for now is to do regular vison therapy with her & try Neurolens again (My last attempt w/ Neurolens didn't help with flicker at all, because the prescription didn't account for the totality of my misalignments. Hoping for a better result this time.)
I specifically asked what she thought about my prognosis and if she felt positive about treating or curing this issue. She said that she does feel positive, though I'll probably need lenses permanently and it'll take a good deal of visual therapy.

Overall, I'm actually hopeful for the first time in literally years. I can't thank you guys enough for suggesting the eyepatch, it's an incredible lead and I'd highly suggest anyone who feels relief from it to get thoroughly checked for BVD or any kind of eye misalignments. You could literally be one pair of prism lenses away from some sort of relief 😃

Dominic

bkdo
Hi bkdo, it's great to read some kind of success story here. Did you get a new prescription acouting your vertical misaligment?

mazury

bkdo It's been over a year, did you do vision therapy? I read that you started to wear prisms in that time and they improved symptoms for you. However I think that for CI vision therapy is the first thing that one should be doing, and only if that fails, then consider prisms. Or prisms + vt simultaneously. Because in CI they don't cure the cause, just relieve the symptoms? It's different with divergence insufficiency I think.

bkdo

Dominic

Yes, I received this new prescription from my optometrist a few weeks ago when I was first diagnosed with the double eye misalignment:

Sphere OD +0.50

Sphere OS +0.25

H Prism OD 1.25 Bl

H Prism OS 1.25 Bl

V Prism OD 0.75 BD

V Prism OS 0.75 BU

I'm currently wearing lenses with this prescription & have about a 60-70% reduction in symptoms. My main symptom now is eye fatigue & slight dizziness after 2-3 hours of using a flickering screen, but it dissipates much faster than before. It's much better, but not perfect yet.

I also got a new Neurolens prescription from the BVD specialist that has vertical prism + new horizontal prism that was worked out by my optometrist & BVD specialist together. I'll definitely post updates if the new Neurolenses provide even more relief.

logixoul

bkdo Awesome!

Btw have you ever had diplopia (double vision)? Asking because I read (in an article in my native language) that prism glasses are prescribed only when your latent strabismus causes diplopia.

bkdo

logixoul

Yep, he recommended that I not use the patch for more than 4 hours each day & only wear it when using problematic screens. For anyone who wants to use the patch on a daily basis, I'd highly recommend speaking with your optometrist so they can give you accurate advice on your situation.

logixoul

Yes, I've definitely had double vision. It happens when my eyes are extremely fatigued, and it usually manifests as text being vertically doubled slightly. No double vision whatsoever since getting these prism lenses though, thankfully.

logixoul

bkdo Ah, interesting! I thought that all prism lenses do is "slowly train your eyes to look in the proper direction". And from your experience it turns out they directly compensate for some aspect of your vision. (since you say they fixed your double vision directly). That's so cool!

bkdo

logixoul

The interesting thing, according to my optometrist, is that prism lenses may not actually be directly fixing anything related to the flicker. For example, the prism lenses are be helping w/ flicker, but that could simply be because my eyes are less strained overall and can more easily deal w/ flicker. This has definitely lined up with my experience - I've had the double vision come back after 4-6 hours of screen time, which makes me think the glasses didn't directly solve the issue.

I think this is actually good news, because it means we can try to find solutions for the underlying problem (For me, it's BVD), and still see positive results with flicker sensitivity.

Mrak0020

I'm sorry to hear that, those symptoms sound rough to deal with. Have you seen an ophthalmologist?

Mrak0020

Here is the scary story to share about my One Eye Test.
I stated previously that looking with one eye doesn't help and the problem remains.
Well, I found out that while it doesn't help me, it clearly prevents my closed eye to take a damage. If I look only with one eye, that will be the eye that gets red and gets an new visible blood vessels on the surface, that gets light sensitivity, that huts on the surface and where some muscles twitch.
Be careful. As my problem is not connected to BVD, those two cases should be differentiated. Track your eye health.

Mrak0020

bkdo Sure, and by all the tests I am completely fine, and there's no reasonable explanation of what's going on

logixoul

So I received my eyepatch 2 days ago and have been using it for all screens since (on my "bad" eye). Seems to give me a massive improvement. ("seems" because it may be placebo, and because it's too early to tell for sure).

I went to a BVD specialist, they diagnosed me with astigmatism but no BVD.

Interestingly, I have the exact same symptom as @bkdo ("text getting slightly vertically doubled when my eyes are very fatigued") that he corrected via prism lenses, but I don't have BVD so no prism lenses for me.

Here's my new theory for my screen strain and eye patching:

The astigmatism (which is much stronger in my left eye) leads to left-eye fatigue because the eye is constantly trying unsuccessfully to focus properly. The wikipedia page for astigmatism says: "symptoms can include eyestrain, headaches, and trouble driving at night")
The eye patch lets that left eye not try to focus at all, which fixes the above.
Still not sure why the problem happens only with screens

Planning to go to my personal ophthalmologist for a prescription for astigmatism glasses in about a week (the BVD specialist wouldn't give me one).

mike

logixoul

This is interesting, I haven’t had any double vision what i have notice. For me covering one eye have changed my binocular vision over time so now I can use all screens with both eyes open. And because it have worked with one eye, I have put my problem in the BVD category.

So in my point of view, if it makes a massive improvement with covering one eye, it sounds like BVD.

bkdo

logixoul

Congrats on having luck with the eyepatch, I think that's very encouraging. It's interesting that you weren't diagnosed with BVD, I'm curious if you'd have the same relief by patching the other eye or not.

Maxx

mike Same experience. Now that I 3 months ago started to have problems with ALL displays, like TV as well, patching my right (non-dominant) eye helps if not removes the issue totally.

What is interesting is that I have tried to use my wife's OLED phone with 240Hz PWM eye-patched, and it does not either cause any discomfort.

So it is BVD or some spasm related, not a windows or display driver version problem for me. Hoping to get the problem that started 3 months ago to the level it was when I was able to tolerate some non-PWM screens.

mike

In the beginning of November I changed my mobile device to a iPhone 13 Pro. It’s definitely a bit worse than my previous iPhone 11 Pro. So after two weeks, i started with covering one eye. The interesting thing here is that it was more problematic then I remember. Some nights it didn’t work with one eye, and some it did. The nights it worked I had it covered the whole time for some hours, and the nights when i covered, uncovered and covered again it just got bad.

So the conclusion here is, if it don’t work with covering one eye direct, try other variant and find what works for you. One test is not enough.

In the beginning of December i was brave enough to change tv to a brand new LG G1 “OLED EVO”. Just like the iPhone 13 Pro it was worse than my older Sony LED-tv from 2011.

With some weeks of one eye training things is going in the right direction and now my new devices feels quite nice. But not as good as my old devices. So i will keep on training for some more weeks or months.

logixoul

bkdo Will wait for some time before I try patching the other eye (I've got some things going on currently). Will let you know when/if I do.

ensete

bkdo

Careful buying into this Vision Therapy too much. I saw a the top on in my region, and he diagnosed me with the same thing you were diagnosed with, and played into all my hopes that we were onto something that could be cured, took my $5,000 for a 12 week Vision Therapy course .... and it did nothing. NO help at all. They even conned me into buying several "home exercise devices" at $200-$300 a pop. The best thing I got for them was the $2 eyepatch I now use.

There is very limited scientific data on the effectiveness of "Vision Therapy", and there are a LOT of quacks out there looking to milk desperate people for a buck. If it helps you, that's great, but I implore everyone to be VERY skeptical of claims that seem to be a magical answer and have a big price tag attached.

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