Dizziness

Most of us have had at least a few dizzy spells in our lifetime. Dizziness is often not very serious and can be caused by a huge range of different things, from side effects from taking certain medications and low blood pressure to ear infections, tiredness, motion sickness or migraines. However, another very common cause of dizziness that many people are unaware of is a condition that is known as Binocular Vision Dysfunction or BVD for short. 

 

Binocular Vision Dysfunction: An Overview
 

For our eyes to produce one clear, concise image, they have to work together in perfect synchronization. This enables our brain to take the images seen by both of our individual eyes and combine them into a single image. However, if one of the eyes is even slightly out of sync with the other, the image will not be perfectly clear. We may not realize it at the time, but our brains will refuse to accept this and will automatically respond by telling our eye muscles to work harder to align themselves. This will momentarily fix the issue, but the brain will quickly revert back to the blurred image. What follows is a successive cycle of misalignment and realignment that your brain may interpret as things moving around you, or you yourself moving, causing dizziness amongst other symptoms. Unsurprisingly, this cycle also places a great deal of strain on the eye muscles. These effects are what is known as the symptoms of BVD. 

Dizziness while driving is a common sign of BVD. As you might expect, having such an experience while in control of a vehicle can be extremely dangerous, both for yourself, any passengers in your vehicle, drivers of other vehicles and pedestrians. As such, if you experience any signs of dizziness while driving, it is essential that you seek professional advice right away.

 

Signs of dizziness while driving
 

Although you might think that dizziness while driving would be a pretty obvious symptom in itself, it can actually manifest in a variety of different ways. Some of the main symptoms of dizziness while driving that occur as a result of BVD include:

• Feeling lightheaded or close to passing out while driving
• Having a severe episode of anxiety or a panic attack while driving
• Cars passing by yours seen too close for comfort
• You find it difficult to tell distances between cars
• You feel detached from your body
• Driving around bends makes you feel dizzy or disorientated
• Driving along cliffs or across bridges seems scary
• You try and avoid roads that are particularly busy/ have multiple lanes
• When you are stopped you still feel as though you are moving, but backwards!
• You feel incredibly stressed, tense and anxious when carrying out simple journeys

Treatment for dizziness while driving
 

Fortunately, it is possible to alleviate the dizziness that you experience while driving if you are diagnosed with BVD. The most effective treatment is known as Neurolenses. Neurolenses are special prescription lenses that contain a pre-determined amount of ground prism which works to bring the eyes into perfect alignment and synchronization. The exact amount of prism needed will vary depending on the individual and will be gradually increased until your professional achieves the optimal improvement in your BVD symptoms. 

Click here to access our free test to see if your dizziness could be caused by BVD. Still have questions? Call us at  and we'll be happy to answer your questions.

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