In late October I lost the practical use of my right eye. It’s not blind- I can see out of it- but it’s like looking through a very foggy window in a rainstorm (the floaters being the rainstorm- the pinpoints of clarity are all over the map and vary from second to second). I can’t read out of it unless it’s huge letters and brightly lit and I keep it closed or sometimes with a patch when I’m reading or using the computer because it actually makes the vision worse than just using the left eye. Watching TV isn’t such a problem with both eyes open, but watching movies in the theater I’m almost unable to concentrate unless I wear a patch or keep it closed. (I honestly don’t know yet whether this is a temporary or permanent condition, though the fact it’s been this way for over a month and hasn’t gotten any better at all implies it ain’t goin’ away tomorrow in either case.)
So, the point is not to whine, but to ask a question, since law of averages dictates there have got to be some one-and-a-partial eyed Dopers or Dopers intimately involved with one-and-a-partial-eyed folk: I can still drive, but obviously my right side has a much bigger blind spot than before. It’s actually better at night, because I can always sense car lights coming, while in daytime any right hand traffic is a blur. (I can usually tell you that there’s a vehicle coming- whether it’s a truck, SUV, or big car is a mystery, but it’s the “there’s a vehicle coming” that’s the important part.)
I can’t decide whether it’s better or worse to keep both eyes open while driving. Sometimes I wear a patch or an occlude (a band-aid thingy for the eye) and my vision is sharper, but obviously half my field of vision is obstructed, which means I can’t see anything coming from the right, even a blur. OTOH, when I don’t cover it up or close it, I have a greater field of vision, but it’s not nearly as clear because the stereoptical effect (or whatever it’s called) means the right eye actually blurs the left eye’s vision a bit (not exactly what I mean, but I think you get the point).
So for Thanksgiving I’m driving 200+ miles, which is by far the longest I’ve driven since having this new development and I’m trying to decide whether it’s better to drive with clear view- left eye only or cloudier view wider spectrum. In your opinion, which would be safer?
When I was in 4th grade, my mother punched me and her engagement ring tore my eye up pretty badly. Because taking me to the doctor would require her to come up with some kind of plausible lie for the injury, it was never treated.
Over the years, I have just learned to compensate. Basically, because my left eye has roughly 20/25 vision and my right eye is roughly 20/80, when both eyes are open, my brain discards the information from the right side, effectively making me blind on the right side. Because I know the situation (and have been living with it for 20 odd years) I know to compensate for the lack of peripheral vision – basically, I rely on my rearview mirror a lot.
You are just going to have to learn what works for you. I recommend keeping both eyes open and available, because even though you won’t have excellent peripheral vision, you will have more than if the eye is covered.
ETA: make sure to take plenty of breaks to rest your eyes. You might need a back-up driver if you can find one, as it can cause strain on the dominant eye, no matter which way you go, and may give you the headache from hell. This is personal experience from when my vision first went south in grade school.
have you tried glasses at all? It might be helpfull to find a perscription that increases your vision and just pop out the left lense so you can see normally with your good eye, or get contacts and just use one or something.
Think I’d opt for a patch, and adjust your mirrors carefully. Might also want to stick to the right lane as much as possible. Note that this is just a WAG, as I have no relevant experience…
I had to wear a patch over my left eye (non-dominate, if that makes a difference) for about 6 months this year, and anything other than neighborhood driving was right out because of the problem I had with depth perception. I was afraid to drive 70 mph in traffic: Is the car in front of me slowing down or stopping? You get the idea.
I understand that there’s plenty of people who can compensate for this, but I never could learn the trick.
I can relate. I have driven with one contact lens for days at a time because of being cheap or lazy. My point is that the dominant eye takes over and works fairly well for a short time.
My Optometrist chewed me out today in a nice way but she was pissed. maybe she likes me.
Three years since my last appointment. So I don’t blame the naughty boy finger wagging.
I now need bifocal contacts and glasses which is no surprise at all to me.
My doctor is kind of hot. Ok this is maybe becoming slightly TMI but isn’t it a little hot having somebody inches away who is attractive and inches away a little enticing and you are constrained in a chin lock/head lock contraption that you have no idea how it works?
I’m mostly blind in my right eye (amblyopia). I can see movement, but that’s about it. My wife is completely blind in her right eye (morning glory syndrome). Neither of us has ever had any problem driving. Of course, we’ve both been this way all of our lives, so it might take you a bit to get used to it.
Sampiro, the vision in my right eye is 20/400. It has been that way as long as I can remember, so I learned to drive without depth perception. My brain tells me that when the car in front of me is getting bigger, I need to slow down or stop. I do that without thinking just as a person with depth perception does.
I actually find it more comfortable to drive in the far right lane. That way I know that what I am missing with my right eye is mostly the shoulder of the road. (I can still catch movement and it has helped me brake for deer or notice when someone is about to cut me off from the right when I’m in the left lane, etc.) I keep the music reasonably low to increase my ability to “drive by ear.”
It may just take getting used to, but I hope that you don’t have to do that.
Sure hope you are seeing an ophthalmologist. My mother is experiencing a similar problem.
Is it at all possible to have somebody come pick you up? It doesn’t sound like you’re driving safely at all. I’m sorry I don’t have any real info to contribute. You’re one smart feller so I’m sure you’re aware that you’re being highly unsafe and you’re trying to figure out a way to compensate but… still! :eek:
