Headache while watching Avatar? 3-D movies shine light on health problem
3-D movies are uncovering a problem that, if fixed, could make you a better reader, or your child do better in school.
One doctor says the latest entertainment technology is helping her diagnose a health problem.
Emily Lopez, 17, remembers her first experience with a 3-D movie.
“When I was little, I remember we went to go see “Spy Kids 3,” and I remember when I would watch, my eyes would start crossing and I would get kind of dizzy. And so I would have to close my eyes for a while,” said Lopez.
But she didn’t know that it was something to complain about, and the years went by. Now she is a junior at Covington High School and noticed something else.
“When I’d look at the board, my eyes would kind of cross, and I would space out. And I couldn’t see from going to the board and back to my notes,” she explained.
That’s when Emily got an eye exam with Mandeville Optometrist Dr. Katie Kimble Wonch. She had 20/20 vision but something else was discovered. Something that went undiagnosed and is now starting to show up since more movies are in 3-D.
“I had a mom the other day and I asked her about her (daughter’s) experience while watching 3-D movies and she said, ‘You know, she just didn’t want to watch the movie. She kept ripping the glasses off, saying ‘I don’t want to do this’ or she would put her head down or close her eyes,'” Wonch said.
Wonch said the problem is some children have a lazy eye so they only use one eye, while many more children and adults have a more common problem, where their eyes don’t work well together and 3-D movies work based on the idea that we can use both eyes together.
“It’s a phenomenal experience to watch a movie like “Avatar.” Other people, like I don’t know if you heard stories when they’d go see “Avatar,” people were leaving the theater sick or after 10 minutes they couldn’t watch the movie anymore. So they’re just not able to appreciate the 3-D the way that it should be,” Wonch said.
Now doctors say as many as 56 percent of adults have this problem, and it’s still unclear just how many children it affects.
And it’s not just a vision problem when watching 3-D movies. It can get in the way of more important things.
“A lot of the symptoms that they may display while watching a 3-D movie can translate into when they read. Do they get tired, do they avoid reading, do they get headaches when they read, just in general are they not readers?” said Dr. Wonch.
So Emily went through a few months of vision training for her eyes, and she said it’s changed everything.
“I used to, when I would read, like 10 minutes into a book I would fall asleep because my eyes would just be so tired, and now I could just read for forever,” said Lopez. “I noticed my homework, it used to take me like six hours a night, and it went to be like 30 minutes a night, and so it was like that much of a change, like how much quicker I could do my homework.”
And that’s not all that changed.
“I recently saw that movie “Avatar” and like I watched the whole movie and was perfectly fine. And it was amazing,” she smiled.
The doctor recommends getting early eye exams for children at three and five years of age. Problems caught early may not require vision therapy.
These kinds of eye problems might not be found on a regular vision exam.
Symptoms to watch for in your children at a 3-D movie include: getting tired, headaches, nauseated, closing their eyes, putting their heads down and struggling. Some children with the more serious lazy eye, where they use only one eye, may bump into objects as early as when they start crawling.
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by Meg Farris / Eyewitness News
Posted on March 30, 2010 at 9:31 PM