Why Do You Feel Cross-Eyed: Common Reasons & How To Address

It is often unsettling to look up after a long day of screen work and feel your eyes drifting. You might sense they are crossing or refusing to lock onto a target. This sensation is a real physical symptom rather than simple fatigue. It indicates that your visual system finds it challenging to maintain alignment. This article explains why your eye-teaming system fatigues and offers a path to fixing the root cause naturally.

Why Do My Eyes Feel Crossed Or Drift After Extended Periods Of Screen Time?

We must first look at the mechanism of how your eyes work when reading or using a computer to understand this feeling. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), maintaining clear vision up close requires your visual system to perform two coordinated actions constantly [1].

• Accommodation (Focusing): Your eyes must now adjust their own internal lens to make things clear.

• Convergence (Teaming): Your eyes must work harder as a team to aim and lock onto a target.

The role of muscle fatigue

Maintaining this tension for hours requires significant stamina. The muscles can no longer hold that precise inward posture effectively when they fatigue.

Consequently, the eyes may physically drift outward or spasm inward as they try to find a resting position. This loss of precise alignment creates the crossed or double sensation you experience.

Visual adjustment

After focusing at one fixed distance for a long period, the visual system may need a moment to readjust to natural viewing distances, leading to short-lived discomfort or visual confusion. It finds it challenging to instantly readjust to real space when you look up. This leads to a momentary sense of disorientation or misalignment.

Why Does My Vision Blur When I Look Up From Reading?

You may also notice that when you look up from a book or phone, your distance vision might not feel so clear right away.

This is often caused by a condition called Accommodative Spasm. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) describes this as a locking mechanism where the ciliary body inside the eye has been contracted for so long that it effectively gets stuck in near mode [2].

Therefore, the muscle cannot relax quickly enough to flatten the lens for distance vision when you look up. This is a functional focusing difficulty rather than a permanent loss of eyesight. Your eyes are physically capable of seeing clearly, but the focusing mechanism is momentarily unable to release its grip.

Is It Just Eye Strain Or A Decompensating Phoria?

What feels like simple fatigue is sometimes a sign of a hidden condition called a decompensating phoria.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology explains that many people have a slight hidden eye misalignment known as a phoria [3]. The brain compensates for this perfectly when it is well-rested. The visual system’s fusional reserves can be overwhelmed by fatigue, illness, stress, prolonged near work, etc., so control becomes less stable. The bond holding the vision together weakens, and alignment control becomes less precise, which can feel like drifting.

Below are possible signs that your 'tired eyes' are related to a hidden challenge known as a decompensating phoria:

• Double Vision (Diplopia): Seeing two images, even momentarily, that come and go.

• Closing One Eye: You subconsciously cover or close one eye to read or watch TV to remove the confusion.

• Physical Symptoms: You experience dizziness, nausea, or motion sickness along with the "crossed" feeling.

How Can Orthovision Singapore Help Stabilise Your Vision?

If these symptoms sound familiar, a standard eye exam may not be enough. This is because a standard "20/20" test primarily checks for clarity (visual acuity). It is static; it does not "stress-test" how long your eyes can stay together before giving up.

We conduct a Functional Vision Assessment at Orthovision. This goes deeper than a standard check. We specifically test your Binocular Stamina and Flexibility to identify exactly when and why your eye alignment breaks down under stress.

We can prescribe Vision Therapy if we identify a functional challenge. According to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), Vision Therapy is a rehabilitative programme for the brain and eyes designed to treat these specific functional difficulties [4].

Pursuant to the specialised methodology at Orthovision, we utilise the ICORE (Integrated Cognitive Orthoptic Remediation) framework to retrain the fusion reflex in the brain. Our aim is to make eye alignment automatic again. We want to build the stamina of your visual system so you no longer have to exert effort to keep your eyes straight. This effectively eliminates the crossed sensation and fatigue.

It is a completely natural and non-invasive approach to strengthening your visual foundation.

You do not have to live with end-of-day double vision or strain. Let us help you rebuild your visual stamina if your eyes feel like they are giving up after a workday. Book a Functional Vision Assessment at Orthovision Singapore today to stop the strain.

References

[1] American Optometric Association (AOA). Computer Vision Syndrome. 

[2] National Institutes of Health (NIH). Accommodative Spasm. 

[3] American Academy of Ophthalmology. Esophoria and Exophoria. 

[4] College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD). What is Vision Therapy?.