Binocular vision involves the control of both eyes.  If your eyes don’t work as one, then this can cause headaches and discomfort, especially when you read, as what you are reading appears to drift and split in two.

As part of our routine optometric examination we do a number of tests to evaluate the coordination of your eyes including:

Pursuits - is the skill that allows our eyes to smoothly follow moving targets.  This is an especially important skill in most sports, allowing us to catch, hit, or kick a moving ball.

Saccades refer to the eye's ability to quickly and accurately shift from one target to another. This is a critical skill in reading, involving very specific eye movements. The eyes must moveleft to rightalong a straight line without deviating up or down to the lines above or below.  In addition, when we reach the end of a line, our eyes must make a difficult reverse sweep back to the beginning of the next line.  If a child cannot control these eye movements, he’ll lose his place and comprehension becomes a problem

Near point of convergence - This is the closest point that the two eyes converge to point to the same object and is measured by bringing an object to the nose and observing when one eye deviates out.

These tests are particularly important for children as demands on their vision are high throughout their school career. If necessary visual training exercises will be introduced.