Your Reaction to a 3D Movie Can Help Determine if You Have an Eye Condition
Here’s an unusual new way to diagnose your health: Go see a 3-D movie! According to the Washington Post, optometrists all across North America are warning patients about a condition known as “3-D vision syndrome.” That’s basically a blanket term that covers a wide variety of vision problems – including near-sightedness, cataracts, glaucoma, or “lazy eye.”
Research shows that 3% of people have at least one of these eye conditions. If you do, there’s a good chance you’ve been having vision problems all your life. However, you may not realize you’ve got a problem until you start watching 3-D movies – either in a theater, or on a 3-D TV. When that happens, the act of watching may cause you to feel dizzy, nauseous, disoriented, or in pain from a severe headache!
Why? Experts say it has to do with the way 3-D technology works. The illusion comes from cameras filming objects at two slightly different angles. In order for the illusion to work, your eyes need to be aligned in the same way the cameras were aligned. Unfortunately, people with vision problems tend to have one eye that’s stronger than the other. That means one eye will try to overcompensate when objects appear close to your face. At best, that’ll lead to eyestrain, and at worst, it’ll leave you with a migraine! The good news is that watching a 3-D movie won’t permanently damage your eyes. This report suggests you should pay attention to the way your body responds when you watch, because if you feel sick every time you leave the theater, it probably means you need to see an eye doctor.
