Eye Dominance Testing

Do you know which eye is your dominant eye? Everyone has one eye that you rely on more than the other. This is the eye that you use for camera's, golf, shooting, etc.

Some instances you would need to know which eye is dominant are below:

Monovision is the term used to define being corrected with contact lenses or surgery where one eye is corrected to see in the distance, and the other eye is corrected to see up close. This may get very uncomfortable if the non-dominant eye is corrected for distance, since we use our distance vision more throughout the day.

Monovision is usually used for people who need bifocals and want to wear regular contact lenses. But remember, this type of correction doesn't work with everyone. Since you are only using one eye at a time, depth perception is compromised.

Eye dominance is very crucial to development in the early child/ infant. If the infant has one eye stronger than the other, and the weaker eye doesn't see clearly due to differences in refractive error (prescription), or if the eyes are not aligned correctly, the brain will suppress (shut off) the vision in the weaker eye. Without usage of the eye, it will stop development, and will not grow regularly. This is termed Amblyopia.

Studies suggest that the adult Amblyope, may recover some sight in the non-developed eye in therapy with a trained Optometrist. In children, recovery is usually very effective. This is very important that the Amblyope does not try to train their eyes without supervision. If the poorer eye begins to see again due to stimulation of the brain and if it isn't managed correctly, the person may see double! The brain gets confused with the new images.

Would you like to test which of your eyes is the dominant one?

Hold your arms straight ahead in front of you. Touch your thumb tips together. Next, touch your index fingers tips together. You should be forming a hole with your two hands that has the same shape as a "Hersey Kiss". Now move your hands together so your fingers begin to overlap, and the whole becomes smaller. Move your hands together so the hole is approximately two inches wide.

Look across the room at a small object (doorknob, light switch, etc.). Keep both eyes open, and hold up your hands (with your arms fully extended) so you need to look through the hole to see the object.

Now close your right eye....can you still see the object? If you can then you are using your left eye, and that is your dominant eye. If you close your left eye and the object disappears, you are using your right eye, and you are right eye dominant.