My eye is drifting!

Please don't laugh...
I was staring at myself in the mirror for a while just now and, yeah... one of my eyes (the right one) drifts outward. A little bit. Like a chameleon! Not super dramatic, but still. I hadn't really noticed it until this moment—maybe because I was avoiding it or something—but... I'm honestly a bit in shock. 😢

It reminded me that an ophthalmologist told me a couple of years ago that I have convergence insufficiency. She suggested doing some exercises with a pencil. You basically hold the tip at eye level and move it toward and away from you without breaking focus. Of course, I didn't follow her advice back then because it gave me such bad headaches—my eyes would just ache after a few tries.

So now I've got this chameleon look going on. Maybe there's a way to fix it. Does anyone know of any other exercises? Has anyone dealt with this before?

P.S. I just remembered a photo where my eye looks crooked, and I actually blamed the camera lens. How silly of me.
I feel like dying. (And I'm not even emo).

How can I fix this??? 😢
I want to be able to look straight ahead instead of drifting to the right. 👎

Sorry if there’s already a thread about this, but I doubt it. 😁

Just keep your head tilted to the left—and if you happen to be growing out a beard, give it a little stroke now and then. It’ll make people think you actually have some brains. 👍

LOL
LOL
LOL

...anybody else want to chime in without the mockery?....
wiredtiger10: I don't have a beard because I'm not a guy, nor am I a woman with excess testosterone🙂

Hmm....maybe I should just rename this thread "Strasbourg"?

I wrote this whole essay on Strasbourg, but my connection kept dropping so it wouldn't post.
Anyway, here’s the gist.

It’s a condition where one eye stays focused while the other just wanders off aimlessly. Usually, it's caused by vision issues, weak muscles, structural differences, or even nerve paralysis from some kind of growth. Typically, you go to an ophthalmologist to get checked for refractive errors, then you move on to glasses—which help correct both the prescription and the wandering. It works better the younger you are. For adults, or kids with severe cases, doctors often have to perform surgery to tighten or loosen the eye muscles. Most people also have to wear a patch over their strong eye to force the weaker one to work harder. If left untreated, you can end up with much more serious eye diseases.
I spent years staring at those stupid pencil tips.
I had convergent Strasbourg; my eye would drift upward toward my nose (I actually dealt with double vision for a while). But the thing was, I could still control it. I wore my glasses, followed the process, and eventually, things turned out fine. My Strasbourg is minimal now.🙂

Man, my bad—I just couldn't help myself. But look, this guy actually knows his stuff—so whatever you do, definitely don't follow my advice.

wiredtiger10: No worries at all 😉
And honestly, I don't think it’s nearly obvious enough for anyone to think I'm insecure about it 🙂
Andrew Jones12: Thanks for sharing this. I already wear contacts—I'm nearsighted in both eyes...
I suppose I could try those pencil exercises once in a while...
Sometimes I see double, like two images at once. Not sure if everyone experiences that, but I tend to merge them into one single image (hopefully that means I'm still the one in control here). A little weird, I guess 🙂

So, does your eye wander every once in a while, or is it just constantly off-center?
Mine drifts to the right—people look at me like I’ve completely lost my mind.
I try to control it, and honestly, I can manage when I’ve actually slept, but the second I'm tired, both eyes just decide to go their separate ways 😁
I’ve done all those classic exercises too; the pencil-to-nose thing, trying to draw with one eye covered, even that "put the cat in the window or the car in the garage" bit...
Is anyone else actually out here trying to put cats in windows?!? 😍
Anyway, things have been way better since I started wearing contacts.

So, I’ve actually got a bit of Strasbourg going on myself... though I haven't really bothered with any eye doctor checkups lately—and honestly, I don't even wear glasses. It first started popping up about two years ago... things get a little more wonky when I'm exhausted or running on zero sleep, but otherwise, it's mostly under control.

Donna Taylor68 said:so does your eye drift every now and then, or is it just constantly off-center?
mine drifts to the right, and honestly, people look at me like I've lost my mind.
I try to keep it under control, which works okay when I've actually slept, but once fatigue hits, both eyes just decide to head in opposite directions.😁
I've done all those standard exercises too; the pencil thing near the nose, covering one eye while drawing, even the one where you try to put a cat in a window or a car in a garage...
is anyone else seriously out here trying to shove cats into windows?!? 😍
anyway, things have been way easier since I started wearing contacts.

My son deals with Strasbourg, and he used to do all that stuff—putting cats in windows, soldiers in dollhouses... man, I still remember how many necklaces he made out of pasta.

Jeremy Booth6 said:wiredtiger10: It’s really no big deal. 😉
And honestly, it’s not like I’m making it all about me—it’s not even that obvious that I’m feeling insecure. 🙂
Andrew Jones12: Thanks for sharing that. I’ve actually been wearing contact lenses for a while now—I'm nearsighted in both eyes.
I honestly feel like I could spend some time over here just practicing my penmanship...
Sometimes I find myself seeing two images at once. I’m not sure if everyone experiences this, but I have this habit of merging them together into a single frame—which, honestly, is probably my way of proving to myself that I’m still the one pulling the strings here. A little bit twisted, I guess. 🙂

That’s just classic Strasbourg—I’ve been dealing with it since I was a kid. Honestly, your best bet is to head to an eye doctor, get a proper exam, and have them prescribe some new specialized glasses. Whatever you do, don't mess around with that bandage method; it’s honestly dangerous. It did nothing but ruin my vision by two diopters when I tried it.

Look, I’m telling you, surgery for Strasbourg is incredibly risky, so don't let anyone talk you into it. You really don't have many options beyond wearing glasses or trying out contact lenses to keep everything under control.

Every single day you go without getting the right prescription for your Strasbourg is just making things worse.

When I was a little kid, my right eye used to drift inward—my parents caught it early on. I actually did those eye exercises where you focus on things like soldiers, cats, or kids carrying buckets, all while keeping the other eye covered (which was tricky since I wear glasses for farsightedness!). It ended up working, and now my eye only drifts a tiny bit when I’m totally wiped out.

Seriously though, don't freak out, it's really not that big of a deal... just see what your ophthalmologist says...