FAQs About Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD) | Eyes For Life Spokane

Helping Spokane-area patients find lasting relief from hidden vision problems.

How Do You Know If You Have Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

Frequent headaches and dizziness are two of the most common signs of BVD. Many patients experience tightness or pain around their temples or forehead, along with feelings of lightheadedness or disorientation.

Other common symptoms often occur alongside headaches and dizziness, including pain, trouble with balance, reading struggles, vision issues, and emotional symptoms.

Pain Symptoms:

  • Aching in the face, eye discomfort, or pain during eye movement (often mistaken for migraines, sinus infections, or TMJ problems).
  • Neck and upper back soreness caused by a constant head tilt (similar to symptoms of spinal misalignment).

Vision Symptoms:

  • Blurry vision, double vision, or overlapping images.
  • Shadowed or ghosted vision (which can mimic MS-like symptoms).
  • Extreme sensitivity to bright lights, glare, or reflective surfaces.

Balance and Coordination Symptoms:

  • Motion sickness or nausea.
  • Poor depth perception.
  • Feeling off-balance or drifting to one side while walking (“I’ve always been clumsy”).
  • Lack of coordination that can resemble conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke recovery, or inner ear disorders such as Meniere’s Disease.

Psychological Symptoms:

  • Feeling overwhelmed or anxious in large indoor spaces like malls or big-box stores.
  • Heightened anxiety when in crowds or while driving (similar to agoraphobia or panic attacks).

Reading Symptoms:

  • Difficulty focusing and staying attentive (similar to symptoms seen with ADHD).
  • Problems with reading comprehension.
  • Skipping lines or losing your place while reading.
  • Words appearing jumbled or running together (often mistaken for dyslexia or learning difficulties).

If you’ve already seen a primary care doctor or specialist and no clear cause has been found, it may be time to consider testing for BVD. Eyes For Life offers specialized evaluations right here in Spokane, WA.

How Do You Fix Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

At its core, BVD is caused by the eyes being slightly out of alignment, sending two different images to the brain. This forces the brain to strain and work overtime, which can trigger symptoms like headaches, dizziness, neck pain, and anxiety.

At Eyes For Life in Spokane, we treat BVD with precision-crafted microprism lenses. These specialized lenses gently realign the images your eyes send, reducing strain and providing noticeable symptom relief.

In fact, most patients report a 50% improvement in their symptoms before even leaving their first appointment. Continued fine-tuning of the prism lenses over a few follow-up visits helps maximize results and eliminate lingering symptoms.

Can Binocular Vision Dysfunction Make Driving Difficult?

Yes.
Driving can become challenging — especially for BVD patients experiencing dizziness or trouble judging distances. Difficulty seeing road signs clearly, maintaining lane position, or managing nighttime glare are common struggles.

Many Spokane-area patients report feeling especially anxious when driving at night or on busy highways before their BVD was diagnosed and treated.

How Do You Get BVD?

Several factors can contribute to developing BVD:

  • Natural facial asymmetry (where one eye is positioned slightly higher than the other)
  • Nerve or muscle abnormalities in the eye (sometimes present from birth)
  • Injuries to the head, such as concussions, strokes, or other brain-related trauma

Sometimes BVD symptoms appear gradually without an obvious triggering event.

How Is BVD Diagnosed?

The team at Eyes For Life in Spokane follows a thorough evaluation process to properly diagnose BVD:

  1. You’ll complete a specialized questionnaire focused on identifying BVD symptoms.
  2. We’ll gather a detailed health history to better understand your visual and physical background.
  3. A standard eye exam will be conducted to check for refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
  4. A NeuroVisual™ Evaluation will test how well your two eyes work together.
  5. If BVD is found, you’ll try on trial microprism lenses during your visit — and many patients notice immediate symptom improvement when wearing the lenses for the first time.

Plan to spend approximately 3 hours in our Spokane office for this specialized diagnostic process.

Can People With Traumatic Brain Injuries Be Helped?

Yes, they can.
Many individuals who have suffered from concussions or other brain injuries experience lasting symptoms related to undiagnosed BVD.

Before evaluation, it’s important to rule out other potential causes of symptoms. Once that’s done, Dr. Maier at Eyes For Life can perform a NeuroVisual™ Evaluation to determine whether BVD is part of the ongoing issues — even if symptoms have been present for years.

Get Help for BVD at Eyes For Life | Spokane, WA

Have more questions?
Our team is here to help.

Call us at (509) 448-7300 or
email us: info@eyesforlife.net.

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