What Causes Double Vision?

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis, which can cause an affected individual to experience double vision, is an autoimmune disorder where an individual's immune system abnormally attacks the healthy tissues of the central nervous system or the optic nerves, brain, and spinal cord. It is known to be a very debilitating disease because it causes the patient's central nervous system nerves to malfunction when sending and receiving signals to and from the rest of the body. The optic nerve is the main nerve responsible for the transmission of visual information impulses from the individual's retina to the vision center of the brain.

Even though it is technically a part of the eye, the optic nerve is also part of an individual's central nervous system. Multiple sclerosis causes the immune system to attack the protective myelin sheath that covers the nerves and allows for the smooth transmission of electrical impulses. Because the optic nerve is a part of the central nervous system and is made out of nerve or ganglionic cells, multiple sclerosis can disrupt the normal transmission of visual images through the optic nerve to the vision center of the brain. This disruption causes a number of vision abnormalities, including double vision.

Aneurysm

A brain aneurysm can cause an affected individual to experience double vision as a result of their condition. When a weakened region of the arterial wall fills with blood and bulges in the brain, it is called a brain aneurysm. An aneurysm can be the result of trauma or another underlying condition. An aneurysm in the brain can remain unruptured for an extended period, or it can rupture. A ruptured aneurysm is a life-threatening and urgent emergency. An unruptured aneurysm is a projection of tissue in a place where it does not belong.

Aneurysms can press on any surrounding organs or structures just like a projection of any other tissue in a place where it does not belong. When a brain aneurysm occurs in the area near an individual's eye, it can cause some of the nerves connecting the eye to the brain to become compressed. The compressed nerves are unable to transmit the electrical impulses that feed the image from the eyes to the brain. This disruption in the nerve pathway can cause a patient to have blurry and or double vision.