ghost image in one eye
Larry Bickford, OD
>
>I have recently noticed the following vision problem: When my eyes
>are dark adapted and I look at a bright object such as a streetlight,
>my right eye sees a disturbing ghost image immediately above the object.
>My left eye seems to function normally. The aberration seems to be
>caused by the lower part of the pupil, because the ghost image disappears
>when I place my finger in front of the eye in such a way that it hides
>the lower 1 millimeter or so of the pupil. Assuming that this problem
>has developed fairly recently, could it be an indication of something
>serious? Should I see an eye specialist (no pun intended)? I have had
>a similar problem in my left eye a couple of years ago, but it disappeared
>after a day or so, and was almost certainly caused by severe eye strain.
>At that time the ghost image was so severe that reading became difficult:
>this time the ghost image is only noticeable in low light, and only around
>bright light sources, but it has not disappeared since I noticed it a week
>ago.
>
>Jaakko Oksa
Ghost images appearing in one eye independantly of the other is most always the
result of uncorrected astigmatism. It is certainly possible that intensive near
vision activities or squinting can create a temporary astigmatic optical effect.
To answer your second question: Yes, you should consult with your eye doctor.
Your previous experience with similar symtoms may make you inclined to self
diagnose and you'd probably be right. But there are certain, all be it much more
unusual conditions which may cause similar symtoms. Your eye doctor will be
able to diagnose the cause of your symptoms and recommend appropriate
treatment/vision correction as indicated.
Larry Bickford, OD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Th EyeCare Connection
http://www.pacrain.com/~eyecare
>
Jaakko T Oksa
Bruce Brooks
In my case, the appearance of a ghost image was the first symptom of a
developing cataract. Eventually, multiple images appeared. A developing
cataract will sometimes manifest itself in the form of discontinuities in
the lens' refractive index, causing an additional image for each
discontinuity.
In your case, it could be that the first discontinuity that appeared is a
horizontal one. When you cover the bottom 1 mm of your pupil, you have
blocked the discontinuity and the part of the lens below it, and you are
seeing through the part of the lens that has no discontinuity, and thus
causes no additional image. Try blocking your pupil from the top down -
I'll bet that the main image disappears, and the ghost remains.
You probably have the ghost image all the time, but only notice it in high
contrast situations. In normal well lit scenes, the ghost image is weaker
than the main image that it overlays, and thus it is overwhelmed and
effectively hidden.
While a cataract is serious and will eventually result in blindness if not
corrected, the correction is easy and very effective. I now have a plastic
lens implanted in my eye that has much better optical properties than my
original equipment, even before the cataract. The only problem is that it
has a fixed focus, but that's what bifocals are for.
Bruce Brooks
Alex Eulenberg
weird viewing positions) and the ghost images they produce. Usually it is
pressure from the eyelids or the extraocular muscles that is implicated.
The effect is visible on the cornea.
If the ghost images appear after intensive visual work, and go away during
a hot shower, or during a good live music concert (or anything else that
soothes you) I'd say it's muscular influence on the cornea that's causing
the problem.
--Alex
PS: here's a short biblio: (note: "bilateral" means "in each eye";
"bi/poly- opia" means double/multiple images)
Bowman KJ, Smith G, Carney LG. 1978. Corneal topography and monocular
diplopia following near work. Am J Optom Physiol Opt 55:818-823
Goss DA 1992. Bilateral monocular polyopia following television viewing.
Clin. Eye Vision Care 4:28-32
Knoll HA. 1975. Bilateral monocular diplopia after near work. Am J Optom
Physiol Opt 52:139-140
Mandell RB. 1986. Bilateral monocular diplopia following near work. Am J
Optom Arch Am Acad Optom 45:797-806
Eric Jones
says...
>
>
>I have recently noticed the following vision problem: When my eyes
>are dark adapted and I look at a bright object such as a streetlight,
>my right eye sees a disturbing ghost image immediately above the object.
>My left eye seems to function normally. The aberration seems to be
>caused by the lower part of the pupil, because the ghost image
disappears
>when I place my finger in front of the eye in such a way that it hides
>the lower 1 millimeter or so of the pupil. Assuming that this problem
>has developed fairly recently, could it be an indication of something
>serious? Should I see an eye specialist (no pun intended)? I have had
>a similar problem in my left eye a couple of years ago, but it
disappeared
>after a day or so, and was almost certainly caused by severe eye strain.
>At that time the ghost image was so severe that reading became
difficult:
>this time the ghost image is only noticeable in low light, and only
around
>bright light sources, but it has not disappeared since I noticed it a
week
>ago.
>
>Jaakko Oksa
>
I noticed the same problem with my left eye about 2 years ago. At that
time I was diagnosed with keratakonis. The doctor described the problem
to me as a misshaping of the cornea into a conical shape into a spherical
shape. The first step for me was switching to gas permable lenses, so the
contact would not conform to the shape of my cornea. Instead it floats on
the cornea suspended in tear fluid. This gives my cornea a spherical
surface to work with.
The disturbing problem with my condition is that if it get to the point
this does not work, they are going to recommend a cornea transplant. This
option scares me to death, so I hope things don't get worse.
Good luck,
Eric Jones/Tulsa, OK
R Henry
surgery 2 months ago (which I developed from some medication, not from
aging). Soon after, I saw partial ghosts around light objects. I am
stilling trying to figure out why. I have seen a number of doctors, all
with different opinions. When they removed my *natural* lens and
replaced it with the *silicone* lens, I was told the ghosts are happening
because (Dr.#1) the lens has become decenterd; (Dr.#2) the operated eye
is near-sighted and the other eye far-sighted; (Dr #3) I have iritus,
inflamation, in my eye; (Dr #4) my body is reacting to the implanted lens
material. So there you are, more info to confuse you. A couple Drs
have suggested I use a medication (eye drops) which constrict my pupils,
because the problem worsens when my eye dilates in restricted light
conditions. The same drops are used on glaucoma patients. They help
some, but are painful.
I am a computer analyst and these ghosts prevent me from working on the
computer full-time... After 4 doctors, I wonder if anyone really knows.
I truely sympathize with what you are going through. Unless it has
happened to you, no one knows the disability this problem creates.
- good luck, Robyn H.
Larry Bickford, OD
self diagnosis of eye conditions may not be in your best interest.
What may appear as a simple, easy to fix problem may actually be
much more involved and totally unexpected.
As you all can gather from this thread, these symptoms can result
from a simple uncorrected astigmatism optical error, near vision
stress causing a temporary increase or change in astigmatic error,
mal-fitting contact lens, or considerably more serious conditions.
These include: cornea irrgeularities including epithelial dystophies,
keratconus, etc, displaced cyrstalline lens, retinal disease including
edema, tumors, and many other issues.
By the way, the orginal post concerned this phenomena occuring
following intensive near vision tasks and the writer indicated he had
this occured before and it went away spontaneously without
treatment. The immediate assumption would be to "off the cuff"
diagnose induced or variable astigmatism.
That diagnosis would likely be correct 95% of the time. The other 5%
might be an equally simple-to-fix problem or possibly a vision or life
threatening condition. And just because a previous event was a
temporary, self healing condition doesn't mean that the next event
with the same symptoms is the same condition.
That's what makes our job as eye doctors interesting. Things are not
always what they appear to be.
Larry Bickford, OD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The EyeCare Connection
CyberLens! replacement contact lens service
http://www.pacrain.com/~eyecare