Diplopia question???

Question

I found this picture online, and it captured what I see things like on a daily basis perfectly:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp3.blogger.com/_zWRyD80BSBk/Rsdb52wfFwI/AAAAAAAAC_c/aCutHWsPBbI/s400/Diplopia.jpg&imgrefurl=http://h5l5n5-artyshow.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-post_18.html&h=400&w=300&sz=16&hl=en&start=1&um=1&usg=__xPzBtJruozE4zkuo-7slHHNCdwU=&tbnid=6nSEJHsb_XDpOM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddiplopia%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

Now replace that glass with basically everything in your life, and that's what I see (although not usually that "crossed"-- it would only be like that if it were a foot or two away from me).

The further I am away from something, the less it looks like that. (If you put that glass a good twenty or thirty feet away from me, it would look like one glass.) The closer I am, the more it looks like that. Also, it depends on the size of the object-- smaller objects tend to be more "crossed" than larger objects.

Is this actually diplopia? And how can I explain what I'm seeing to my eye doctor?

(I'm looking for serious answers please, I'm at a loss for how to describe this to my doctor.)

Thank you!

Answer 1

You just did an excellent job of describing this.  Explain to your eye doctor that you are seeing double (diplopia) when you look at things and that the closer you are to it, the more noticeable it is.  Also explain that it happens with both eyes open and disappears when you close one eye.  

You eye doctor may prescribe eye exercises, glasses, or both depending on the cause of your diplopia.

Also be sure to tell them when this started (when you first noticed it), how often it happens, if it happens more after certain activities or a certain time of day, etc.