Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCauseDiagnosisTreatmentPrognosisOther Visual Disturbances
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Cause
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prognosis
Other Visual Disturbances
Oscillopsiais a visual disturbance that makes it seem like things you’re looking at are moving when they are not. Oscillopsia is not a condition but a symptom associated with neurological disorders likeepilepsy, inner ear problems likeMeniere’s disease, or eye motor problems likenystagmus.
Oscillopsia may resolve on its own once the underlying condition is treated, butchronic(persistent) cases may require medications or visual therapies to help you better cope.
This article describes the symptoms and causes of oscillopsia, including how it is diagnosed and treated.
Katja Kircher / Getty Images
Oscillopsia Symptoms
The most common symptom of oscillopsia is the feeling that objects and surroundings are moving even though they are stationary. People with oscillopsia often report that they see things jumping, vibrating, shaking, or jiggling. This might happen when your head or body is moving or when you’re staying still.
Oscillopsia can trigger other symptoms, such as:
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What Causes Oscillopsia?
Oscillopsia is largely associated with dysfunction of thevestibulo-ocular reflex(VOR). This is the mechanism involving the eyes, brain, and inner ear that helps you maintain balance and perceive things accurately while moving your head or body.
When your eyes and head are not in sync, objects will appear to be moving even if they are still.
Among the medical conditions associated with VOR dysfunction are:
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How Oscillopsia Is Diagnosed
If you have symptoms of oscillopsia, your healthcare provider will review your medical history and ask questions about your symptoms, including when you experience them. They will also conduct aneye examto check for any problems with your eye alignment.
Your provider may also perform anoculomotor test. This involves moving your eyes horizontally and vertically to assess how severe your headaches, dizziness, nausea, and fogginess are on a scale of 0 to 10.
To identify the underlying cause of oscillopsia, your healthcare provider may order additional tests and procedures, including:
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How Oscillopsia Is Treated
Opsillopsia is treated based on the underlying cause. When it is related to VOR dysfunction, the chances of recovery are good. This is because the brain has the ability to rebuild neural networks, referred to asneuroplasticity, after the underlying condition is resolved.
Even so, people with oscillopsia need to manage their symptoms, and there are treatments that can help. With certain chronic conditions, like multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, ongoing management may be needed.
Medications
There isn’t a specific drug to treat oscillopsia, but the following are sometimes prescribed to help reduce abnormal eye movements that contribute to oscillopsia:
Visual Therapy
Anoptometristcan help with exercises that strengthen the eye and improve eye control. A range of exercises can help improve the symptoms, including looking at lines using different filters and lenses.
Vision therapy also helps with eye movements. People with oscillopsia who participate in this form of treatment can potentially regain control over eye movement, especially when the condition is in an early stage.
The prognosis for oscillopsia will depend on the diagnosis and stage of the underlying condition. Some problems, such as VOR dysfunction, can be treated and monitored. In other cases, the person will need to learn to live with oscillopsia.
Generally speaking, if the underlying cause of oscillopsia is resolved, the chances are good that oscillopsia resolves itself as well.
Other Conditions That Cause You to See Things
There are conditions other than oscillopsia that can cause you to see things that are not there. The cause of this may be neurological (involving the brain), ocular (involving the eyes), or psychiatric (involving the mind).
Examples include:
Summary
Oscillopsia is when you see things that appear to be moving but aren’t. It can occur as a result of a neurological, inner ear, or eye problem that affects the vestibulo-ocular reflex. This is a mechanism involving the eyes, brain, and inner ear that helps you maintain balance and perceive things correctly when your head moves.
Oscillopsia usually resolves on its own once the underlying condition is treated. Some people may require medications or visual therapies to help them adapt and better cope with persistent symptoms.
15 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Jones W, Silkworth W, Dusto N, Pelak VS, Berliner J, Buard I, Kluger B.Central visual oscillopsia: case report and review of the literature.Cogn Behav Neurol.2018;31(2):86-95. doi:10.1097/WNN.0000000000000151Dizzy and Vertigo Institute of Los Angeles.Intro to oscillopsia: the balance disorder of the eyes.Hande V, Jain S, Ranjan A, et al.Vestibular, central, and non-vestibular etiologies of vertigo and disequilibrium: a rural hospital-based cross-sectional comparative analysis.Cureus.2023;15(3):e36262. doi:10.7759/cureus.36262lsalaheen B, Carender W, Grzesiak M, et al.Changes in vestibular/ocular-motor screen scores in adolescents treated with vestibular therapy after concussion.Pediatr Phys Ther. 2020;32(4):331-337. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000729Anson ER, Gimmon Y, Kiemel T, Jeka J, Carey JP.A tool to quantify the functional impact of oscillopsia.Front Neurol.2018;9:142. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.00142Yaramothu C, Morris CJ, d’Antonio-Bertagnolli JV, Alvarez TL.OculoMotor assessment tool (OMAT) test procedure and normative data.Optom Vis Sci.2021;98(6):636–643. doi:10.1097/OPX.0000000000001698Wallace B, Lifshitz J.Traumatic brain injury and vestibulo-ocular function: current challenges and future prospects.Eye Brain. 2016;8:153-164. doi:10.2147/EB.S82670Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Current treatment of nystagmus.American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is Charles Bonnet syndrome?.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Basic approach to diplopia.MedlinePlus.Hallucinations.Goodwin D.Homonymous hemianopia: challenges and solutions.Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;22(8):1919-1927. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S59452American Academy of Ophthalmology.Floaters and flashes treatment.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Photophobia: looking for causes and solutions.Brown GC, Brown MM, Fischer DH.Photopsias: a key to diagnosis.Ophthalmology.2015;122(10):2084‐2094. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.06.025
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Jones W, Silkworth W, Dusto N, Pelak VS, Berliner J, Buard I, Kluger B.Central visual oscillopsia: case report and review of the literature.Cogn Behav Neurol.2018;31(2):86-95. doi:10.1097/WNN.0000000000000151Dizzy and Vertigo Institute of Los Angeles.Intro to oscillopsia: the balance disorder of the eyes.Hande V, Jain S, Ranjan A, et al.Vestibular, central, and non-vestibular etiologies of vertigo and disequilibrium: a rural hospital-based cross-sectional comparative analysis.Cureus.2023;15(3):e36262. doi:10.7759/cureus.36262lsalaheen B, Carender W, Grzesiak M, et al.Changes in vestibular/ocular-motor screen scores in adolescents treated with vestibular therapy after concussion.Pediatr Phys Ther. 2020;32(4):331-337. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000729Anson ER, Gimmon Y, Kiemel T, Jeka J, Carey JP.A tool to quantify the functional impact of oscillopsia.Front Neurol.2018;9:142. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.00142Yaramothu C, Morris CJ, d’Antonio-Bertagnolli JV, Alvarez TL.OculoMotor assessment tool (OMAT) test procedure and normative data.Optom Vis Sci.2021;98(6):636–643. doi:10.1097/OPX.0000000000001698Wallace B, Lifshitz J.Traumatic brain injury and vestibulo-ocular function: current challenges and future prospects.Eye Brain. 2016;8:153-164. doi:10.2147/EB.S82670Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Current treatment of nystagmus.American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is Charles Bonnet syndrome?.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Basic approach to diplopia.MedlinePlus.Hallucinations.Goodwin D.Homonymous hemianopia: challenges and solutions.Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;22(8):1919-1927. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S59452American Academy of Ophthalmology.Floaters and flashes treatment.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Photophobia: looking for causes and solutions.Brown GC, Brown MM, Fischer DH.Photopsias: a key to diagnosis.Ophthalmology.2015;122(10):2084‐2094. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.06.025
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Jones W, Silkworth W, Dusto N, Pelak VS, Berliner J, Buard I, Kluger B.Central visual oscillopsia: case report and review of the literature.Cogn Behav Neurol.2018;31(2):86-95. doi:10.1097/WNN.0000000000000151Dizzy and Vertigo Institute of Los Angeles.Intro to oscillopsia: the balance disorder of the eyes.Hande V, Jain S, Ranjan A, et al.Vestibular, central, and non-vestibular etiologies of vertigo and disequilibrium: a rural hospital-based cross-sectional comparative analysis.Cureus.2023;15(3):e36262. doi:10.7759/cureus.36262lsalaheen B, Carender W, Grzesiak M, et al.Changes in vestibular/ocular-motor screen scores in adolescents treated with vestibular therapy after concussion.Pediatr Phys Ther. 2020;32(4):331-337. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000729Anson ER, Gimmon Y, Kiemel T, Jeka J, Carey JP.A tool to quantify the functional impact of oscillopsia.Front Neurol.2018;9:142. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.00142Yaramothu C, Morris CJ, d’Antonio-Bertagnolli JV, Alvarez TL.OculoMotor assessment tool (OMAT) test procedure and normative data.Optom Vis Sci.2021;98(6):636–643. doi:10.1097/OPX.0000000000001698Wallace B, Lifshitz J.Traumatic brain injury and vestibulo-ocular function: current challenges and future prospects.Eye Brain. 2016;8:153-164. doi:10.2147/EB.S82670Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Current treatment of nystagmus.American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is Charles Bonnet syndrome?.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Basic approach to diplopia.MedlinePlus.Hallucinations.Goodwin D.Homonymous hemianopia: challenges and solutions.Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;22(8):1919-1927. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S59452American Academy of Ophthalmology.Floaters and flashes treatment.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Photophobia: looking for causes and solutions.Brown GC, Brown MM, Fischer DH.Photopsias: a key to diagnosis.Ophthalmology.2015;122(10):2084‐2094. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.06.025
Jones W, Silkworth W, Dusto N, Pelak VS, Berliner J, Buard I, Kluger B.Central visual oscillopsia: case report and review of the literature.Cogn Behav Neurol.2018;31(2):86-95. doi:10.1097/WNN.0000000000000151
Dizzy and Vertigo Institute of Los Angeles.Intro to oscillopsia: the balance disorder of the eyes.
Hande V, Jain S, Ranjan A, et al.Vestibular, central, and non-vestibular etiologies of vertigo and disequilibrium: a rural hospital-based cross-sectional comparative analysis.Cureus.2023;15(3):e36262. doi:10.7759/cureus.36262
lsalaheen B, Carender W, Grzesiak M, et al.Changes in vestibular/ocular-motor screen scores in adolescents treated with vestibular therapy after concussion.Pediatr Phys Ther. 2020;32(4):331-337. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000729
Anson ER, Gimmon Y, Kiemel T, Jeka J, Carey JP.A tool to quantify the functional impact of oscillopsia.Front Neurol.2018;9:142. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.00142
Yaramothu C, Morris CJ, d’Antonio-Bertagnolli JV, Alvarez TL.OculoMotor assessment tool (OMAT) test procedure and normative data.Optom Vis Sci.2021;98(6):636–643. doi:10.1097/OPX.0000000000001698
Wallace B, Lifshitz J.Traumatic brain injury and vestibulo-ocular function: current challenges and future prospects.Eye Brain. 2016;8:153-164. doi:10.2147/EB.S82670
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Current treatment of nystagmus.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is Charles Bonnet syndrome?.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Basic approach to diplopia.
MedlinePlus.Hallucinations.
Goodwin D.Homonymous hemianopia: challenges and solutions.Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;22(8):1919-1927. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S59452
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Floaters and flashes treatment.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Photophobia: looking for causes and solutions.
Brown GC, Brown MM, Fischer DH.Photopsias: a key to diagnosis.Ophthalmology.2015;122(10):2084‐2094. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.06.025
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