Most People Miss This Eye Turn Sign

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]All right, so for the cover uncover test, all you need is this pen. And ideally, you're going to be screening somebody else doing this test on somebody else because when you're holding the pen yourself, it gives diff- different results. It's not the same.

[00:00:10]You get a better sense of where the pen is by holding it there. When you're having somebody look at something in space, much more accurate. So, you can hold the pen around 16 inches away from the person, ideally about arm's length.

[00:00:21]And if you can visualize a laser beam coming out of each eye representing a line of sight, if the eyes are pointing the same place, the laser beams are both pointing at the pen. So, you're going to cover one eye, and the eye that's open, you shouldn't see it move, and the person shouldn't see the pen move. Then you do same thing on the other side.

[00:00:34]Cover the eye, the eye shouldn't move, and the patient shouldn't see the pen move. If there is movement of the pen or the eye, that is diagnostic for an eye turn, meaning that eye was positioned in a different place and it had to reposition to come back to where it was.

[00:00:47]You can also do the same test in the distance on a distance target. Great way to screen for alignment or strabismus.