3-D Movie Anyone?

As you’re sitting in the cool movie theater at the end of summer watching The Smurfs in 3-D and  everyone is oohing and ahhing over the visual effects except for one – and it’s your child.

In a packed theater, there is always one in the crowd who says, 'What are you talking about? I didn't see anything flying out at me.' Or worse, they may mention that the movie actually made them dizzy or a little nauseated.

Dr. Scroggs points out, “Approximately five million Americans have vision problems that keep them from enjoying such 3-D movies as Captain America and the latest Harry Potter movie.”  The problem has to do with binocular vision, which is the ability to align both eyes on a target and combine the visual images from the two eyes into a single, three-dimensional perception.  "3-D is really our ability to judge distances," he said. "Adults use it a lot for driving, such as us to judge how far away the car in front of us is and children use it to judge how fast the ball is coming towards them during sports."

However, people with binocular vision problems will not be able to perceive the illusion of 3-D.  An recent poll found that these individuals will experience headaches, dizziness and blurred vision from 3-D movies instead of enjoying the action packed flick.

Several different vision disorders could be the cause of the problem, including:

• Amblyopia, or lazy eye, which occurs when one eye does not see as well as the other. Because of the difference between the two eyes, the ability to see 3-D is greatly reduced or absent.
• Strabismus, or crossed eyes, in which the eyes do not line up in the same direction when focusing. Ultimately, a person with strabismus begins to suffer from double vision or loses the ability to see in 3-D.
• Convergence insufficiency, in which the eyes are incapable of turning toward each other to fix on the same distance.

The good news is that the popularity in 3-D movies is giving some people their first clue of a vision problem they may have.   These conditions can be treated by an ophthalmologist at Carolina Ophthalmology Associates, so call to schedule an appointment if you or a loved one has not had a recent exam or are experiencing any of the above problems.