vision

Remember the classic song, When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, by the Platters? While it’s true the occasional plume of smoke from a campfire wafting directly into your eyes never feels good, the discomfort is usually short-lived and typically relegated to minor irritation, stinging, and brief tearing up. 

Regardless, you never want to experience eye irritation from any outside, environmental factors – and there are certainly many more dangerous, damaging, and even surprising environmental factors than a puff of wood smoke to be aware of.

Depth perception is the ability to see in three dimensions: length, width, and depth and to judge how far away the object is located. Depth perception is only possible when we have good binocular vision which means the effective use of both eyes to view the world.

Our eyes view an object from slightly different angles and our brain compares and processes the two sets of information to form a single image. When both eyes see clearly and the brain can process a single image effectively, it is called stereopsis. Stereopsis is not present at birth but develops at 3-6 months of age.

An eye doctor may use one of many tests to check your depth perception. The most common test is called a vectograph and uses polarized 3D glasses. You may be asked to point out which animals, circles or forms are coming out of the page towards you.

It’s that time of the year again… Time to stock up on pencils, wide-ruled notebook paper, and get your kids’ eyes checked. All kids should have their eyes checked at the beginning of each school year, and prior to kindergarten. Many learning disabilities are diagnosed incorrectly and may in fact be vision problems.

Estimates claim 20% of children have refractive errors and require either glasses or contact lenses to improve their vision. Myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism are the most common refractive conditions. Additionally, lazy eye can be present in children and needs to be treated as soon as possible to prevent permanent vision loss.