Hi guys, I've been tested several times and told my eyesight and convergence is good but I can't play video games and struggle to watch tv at times. I read on here that several people have stopped their symptoms with patching. I'm just wondering if there is any danger to patching long term, or if there are any general guidelines on how long to patch daily?
Patching Side Effects
Fakman It can further impair your binocular vision. However in small kids it is used to actually treat it, and by the overly positive results here, I think its more beneficial than not. I was told it shouldnt be done more than 3h at a time on one eye. And that you should alternate the eyes after, or even with a shorter time period.
Frist time I tried patching I had this odd sensation for about a week after that my eyes weren't pointing in the same direction. Only happened the first time, and hasn't happened since, but I've only tried patching a handful of times.
24 days later
Thanks lads. Should the eye under the patch be open or is it ok to keep it closed?
I have been patching daily for years now. No side effects. I have seen multiple doctors and none of them had any concerns with my continued use of patching. People with permanent eye injuries wear eye patches daily for their entire life. It took about a week to adjust and then smooth sailing
Should the eye under the patch be open or is it ok to keep it closed?
I keep mine open
- Edited
ensete What is "smooth sailing"? Does patching make any bad device easy on the eyes or is it just a means of survival? Can you use electronics patched for as long as you want and do not you feel any fatigue in the non-patched eye afterwards? What did you experience during the first week? I tried patching a few times and I had the feeling of eyes collapsing, like crossing, after a while, so I stopped. I am already so little productive that I cannot afford another step down.
In general, I still do not understand what the mechanism behind the healing via patching is (I understand you never fully "healed"). I am not being polemic. I just would like to understand the theory behind it. I spoke with the orthoptists that have been following me and they are puzzled. They recommended not patching as this would jeopardize all the binocular vision training efforts I have been making.
- Edited
What is "smooth sailing"?
No negative issues with patching after I adjusted
Does patching make any bad device easy on the eyes or is it just a means of survival?
So far it has rendered every unusable display (smartphone, TV, Windows 10, and car windshields) all pain free while patching
Can you use electronics patched for as long as you want and do not you feel any fatigue in the non-patched eye afterwards?
Yes. I work on my Windows 10 PC 7-8 hours a day, 5 days a week
What did you experience during the first week?
During the first week, when I went from patching for a while and then removing the patch, my vision took a minute or so to re-adjust to not being patched. After a week or so that went away
I tried patching a few times and I had the feeling of eyes collapsing, like crossing, after a while, so I stopped. I am already so little productive that I cannot afford another step down.
I cannot tell you what will or will not work for you. Patching never triggered that reaction in me
In general, I still do not understand what the mechanism behind the healing via patching is (I understand you never fully "healed").
The root cause of my issue is Binocular Vision Deficiency. For whatever reason, problematic displays are not interpreted corrected in my brain, so it tries to re-focus by moving my right eye in/out to compensate. It does this by activating the muscles around my eye, which causes them to tense up, and those muscles then compress the supraorbital branch of the trigeminal nerve triggering the muscle spasms and migraine.
An eye patch knocks out your binocular vision, so the brain does not try and compensate due to BVD, stopping the issue before it starts
They recommended not patching as this would jeopardize all the binocular vision training efforts I have been making.
In my personal experience, eye doctors of all stripes are largely useless for our issues as our the factors related to our disorder are not common (among even us), the mechanism of action is not understood, the mechanism that triggers it is not understood, the root disorder is not understood, so they are guessing just as much as we are.
ensete Thanks for all the detailed answers.
ensete , so it tries to re-focus by moving my right eye in/out to compensate.
Did you have this in and out movement of the right eye "measured"? That is close to what I feel when I am in front of my laptop right now. It is a continuous re-adjustment. Prior to November, I remember staring at the very same display from any angle and distance and being shocked at how smooth it felt compared to when I first got the laptop. However, I had my eye movement measured by a camera and VR goggles when I was in a pretty bad state and the test was negative. I was shown the eye movement pattern of a couple of patients with Parkinson disease and/or who had incurred a major brain trauma. It was all over the place.
Perhaps these eye movements caused by flicker/dithering are so minimal that are not picked by the measuring devices, still quickly affect our muscles?
- Edited
Did you have this in and out movement of the right eye "measured"?
I can feel the muscles on my temple (which control eye positioning) moving.
Perhaps these eye movements caused by flicker/dithering are so minimal that are not picked by the measuring devices, still quickly affect our muscles?
Dithering/temporal dithering/flickering has zero impact on me. There is no common stimulus among everyone affected by this issue. That's the problem with finding a solution.
But it's the muscle activation triggering the migraine. Not the eye moving (in my case)
- Edited
ensete then what do you think it's the root cause? Why were you fine with Windows 7?
I remember when I was blaming myself for not starting this journey earlier - I knew I was dodging the bullet and I wouldn't be lucky forever. Five years later I don't know what else to try and I still have no clue on what is causing my problems.
- Edited
Fakman As far as I'm aware, eye patching is used (on a short term basis) to help treat conditions such as amblyopia, strabismus, & double vision experienced during ocular myasthenia gravis.
It's important to note that no clinical research on patching healthy eyes/vision, exists. So the long term effects are unknown. (This doesn't apply to those already diagnosed with an eye condition/injury).
However, it's reasonable to assume that prolonged patch use may result in conditions such as hyperopia, myopia and anisometropia in the dormant eye, especially if one is patching for 7+ hours a day (average work day).
Although this can be mitigated if one is regularly alternating the patch over each eye.
Either way, if patching, it's vital to monitor any vision/health changes through routine appointments with an optometrist/ ophthalmologist.
In my view, I refuse to use an eye patch just to use certain digital equipment. Both my eyes & vision are currently in good stable condition, as determined by my opthalmologist.
I can read books, newspapers and small text comfortably on paper, and i can see physical objects near and far, with and without the use of prescription eyeware. I've also been able to use certain digital displays in the past, without any trouble, and presently, I can use certain (although limited) LCD displays quite comfortably.
I know my eyes and vision are not the problem here, but the actual display tech itself is.
I'm not prepared to patch, and I'd rather find and use a display that's comfortable for my eyes, as I shouldn't have to subject myself to any risk.
However I fully sympathize with and understand those that patch for employment purposes, or those experiencing extreme difficulty finding any comfortable display without patching. I can only suggest regular routine visits with an opthamologist/optometrist, and discussing the matter directly with them if any changes in the patched eyes are noticed.
Vividblu99 I know my eyes and vision are not the problem here, but the actual display tech itself is.
I was also thinking that way, but then how do you explain that billions of people use the tech fine and do not notice any difference between devices and operating systems etc?
- Edited
AGI then what do you think it's the root cause? Why were you fine with Windows 7?
Who knows
Vividblu99 However, it's reasonable to assume that prolonged patch use may result in conditions such as hyperopia, myopia and anisometropia in the dormant eye, especially if one is patching for 7+ hours a day (average work day).
Not according to the 2 optometrists I discussed this with. What are your credentials in making a claim like this? I personally find it deeply offensive when people without the proper education, necessary credentials, and clinical experience make statements they are not qualified to make. At best they are unhelpful, at worst they are dangerous
Vividblu99 I'm not prepared to patch, and I'd rather find and use a display that's comfortable for my eyes, as I shouldn't have to subject myself to any risk.
Do not make clams about "risks" without actual evidence to back it up. Discouraging someone from trying something that may prove helpful to them, based only on your personal opinion, is incredibly harmful
AGI I was also thinking that way, but then how do you explain that billions of people use the tech fine and do not notice any difference between devices and operating systems etc?
He is wrong. This isn't an "us vs tech" issue. The issue is how we respond to these things. And to your point it is a fools errand to believe that the tech industry is going to all of sudden grind to a halt and spend millions of dollars on research and tests to appease a group of people that probably don't even number high enough to run a McDonalds restaurant.
ensete I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.
I've discussed this topic in the past, with my own ophthalmologist, and they've recommended against it, as they've stated that depriving healthy fully functional eyes of movement may increase the chances of developing conditions related to the weakening of the eye muscles.
And as there are no clinical trials on the safety of prolonged patch use over fully functional healthy eyes while using digital equipment, it'll always be a risk as there is no evidence to support its use or long term safety.
If it works for you, and you've not had any side effects, then that's great! However I'm perfectly entitled to state that I'd rather choose not to. And as I mentioned in my post, I've actually advised people to discuss this with a professional and recommended routine visits/testing. Not sure why you've chosen to ignore that part, and portray me as being irresponsible.
- Edited
AGI The strain issues are widespread (especially with smartphone displays). Hence why blue light filters on devices are now ubiquitous, along with features such as "Digital wellbeing", and " Screen time".
Alongside this, manufactures such as Xiaomi, Honor, Realme, have responded to consumer feedback by investing in, developing, improving, advertising & promoting smartphone displays with higher pwm rates, advanced blue light filters, and circadium friendly displays.
Certain laptop manufactures like Asus, have also provided similar solutions, with their flicker free certified displays.
Hopefully Google, Apple, Microsoft etc will follow in their footsteps.
Also it's worth bearing in mind that many people don't establish a link of their symptoms being related to certain display tech use. Awareness is the key, and observing online comments and forums, it's becoming more publicized.
- Edited
ensete Who knows
Honest answer. Same on my end. It is like being at war with an invisible enemy.
Vividblu99 I want to believe you but I doubt the tech will ever be smooth on everyone's eyes. They will rather go for two more colors because a few million and 4K ain't enough. If it were for me, we would have 10 colors - that has always been enough for my graphs, and we would still be watching a CRT TV. I could enjoy working again, and feel fresh instead of a zombie after a day at the desk.
- Edited
Things should hopefully improve, although progression is slow paced.
But we're heading in the right direction.
It can sometimes take years for governing bodies to take hold of these types of issues. As with specific absorption rates, it took around 15 or so years for the FCC to impose regulations on smartphone manufacturers.
The eye strain/blue light issue is way more publicized now though, and there is more of a concern due to the amount of children accessing and using digital display tech - and although the solutions provided aren't entirely effective and only skim the surface, awareness has been generated, and hopefully manufacturers will respond accordingly, especially after more scientific research is conducted within this field.
2 years later
Here in this Reddit post, patching as an adult is not recommended.
There are no sources for the statements there. So they should therefore be viewed with skepticism. But it made me feel unsure.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Strabismus/comments/1bppiew/do_not_use_patching_as_an_adult/
Jumaba Well, I was 40 years old when I started (2018). Patching has been a total game changer for me. From big problems with like every new screen -> today I can use all new screens.
In the text on Reddit, you can read about improve vision for 0-12 years old.
For me, my theory is that patching hasn’t changed/improved my vision. It has changed so my brain doesn’t send the wrong signals to my eye muscles, or something like that. The important thing is that it worked.
All eye doctors/specialists I have meet only knows/talks about classic vision problems, not “ledstrain”-problems from flicker/pwm.
I would say that ledstrain is more a brain/communication problem, only indirect a vision problem.
The specialist I have talked to has said that patching was ok, as long you don’t overdo it. But there is no guarantee in that.
- Edited
Jumaba Honestly, I would find anything posted on Reddit as direct evidence that the opposite is true, that entire site is nothing but an internet cesspool filled with bots and teenagers cosplaying as subject matter experts.
I have patched practically daily for 4+ years now, and under regular monitoring by a neurologist and ophthalmologist, and have suffered precisely zero side effects or negative reactions