AskDefine | Define eyepatch

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Dictionary Definition

eyepatch n : a protective cloth covering for an injured eye [syn: patch]

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Noun

eyepatch
  1. a small cloth patch, usually black, that is worn in front of one eye. It is worn by people who have lost an eye, and do not want the damaged area of their face to be seen or exposed.

Translations

Extensive Definition

An eyepatch is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, or an adhesive bandage. It is often worn by people to cover a lost or injured eye, but it also has a therapeutic use in children for the treatment of amblyopia. (See orthoptics and vision therapy.)

History

In the years before advanced medicine and surgery, eyepatches were common. They were particularly prevalent among members of dangerous occupations, such as pirates and blacksmiths. Today, with prosthetic eyes increasingly accessible, eyepatches are no longer common.

Sailors

Eye patches may have had a more practical purpose for sailors and pilots. Sailors (stereotyped by the eye-patch-wearing pirate) who often went above and below deck, used eye patches to have one eye adjusted for the top deck and the other eye already adjusted for the darkness when suddenly going below deck. The strong sunlight while above deck on an oceangoing vessel could require minutes of adjustment to the dim lighting below deck. With virtually no light sources below deck, sailors would have to rely heavily upon their eyes to adjust. In the critical moments of modifying the rigging, navigating, and especially during battle, those minutes were too precious. A simple switch of the patch from one eye to the other saved time and was more convenient than being temporarily blinded when going between decks. This was deemed plausible on the January 17, 2007 episode of MythBusters.

Pilots

Similarly, pilots at one time would also do the same, when flying at night over brightly lit cities, so that one eye could look out, and the other would be adjusted for the dim lighting of the cockpit to read unlit instruments and maps. When flashlights with red bulbs, backlit instruments, and other modern instruments came along, that no longer was necessary, just as boats and ships evolving into being well lit made eye patches a thing of the past for most boating.

Amblyopia

Eye patching is used in management of children at risk of amblyopia (lazy eye), especially strabismic or anisometropic amblyopia. These conditions can cause visual suppression of the dissimilar images by the brain, resulting in blindness in an otherwise functional eye. By patching the good eye, the amblyopic eye is forced to function, causing vision to be retained.

Famous eyepatch-wearers

Fictional eyepatch-wearers

Miss Astrid, from the burlesque show The Va Va Voom Room (actrss Katherine Valentine)
eyepatch in German: Augenklappe
eyepatch in Spanish: Parche para el ojo
eyepatch in Japanese: 眼帯
eyepatch in Portuguese: Tapa-olho
eyepatch in Swedish: Ögonlapp
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