Skip to main content
Home » Vision Therapy Glossary A-Z » Basic Exophoria

Basic Exophoria


A sensorimotor anomaly of the binocular visual system, characterized by a tendency for the eyes to diverge at distance and near relative to the normative data.


The signs and symptoms associated with exophoria may include, but are not limited to, the


  1. reduced efficiency and productivity/diminished accuracy/inconsistent work product
  2. diminished performance with time on task
  3. diplopia (ICD: H53.2)/tendency to close or cover one eye
  4. inaccurate/inconsistent depth judgment
  5. pain in or around the eye (ICD: H57.13)
  6. headaches (ICD: R51)
  7. difficulty sustaining near visual function
  8. avoidance of visually demanding tasks
  9. inaccurate eye-hand coordination
  10. asthenopia (ICD: H53.149)
  11. transient blurred vision
  12. loss of place, repetition, and/or omission of words &/or lines of print while reading
  13. transpositions when copying from one source document to another
  14. abnormal postural adaptation/abnormal working distance (ICD: R29.3)
  15. spatial disorientation
  16. photophobia (ICD: H53.149)
  17. inconsistent visual attention/concentration and/or awareness
  18. general fatigue (ICD: R53.83)
  19. dizziness/vertigo (ICD: R42); especially during/after sustained visually demanding tasks
  20. motion sickness (ICD: T75.3XXA)
  21. incoordination/clumsiness (ICD: R27.8)
  22. awareness of the need for volitional control of eyes


Exophoria encompasses one or more of the following diagnostic findings:

  1. higher than expected exophoria at distance and near
  2. low positive fusional vergence ranges/facility and/or flexibility
  3. poor vergence stability
  4. exo fixation disparity
  5. steep base-out component of forced vergence curve