Eyepatch

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 (lazy eye). (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. According to the myth, 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

 * Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (Russian Field Marshal)
 * Moshe Dayan (Israeli military leader and politician)
 * Jan Zizka (Czech general and Hussite leader)
 * Jan Syrový (Czechoslovak general and polictian)
 * Bushwick Bill (Rap singer with the Ghetto Boys)
 * Gabrielle
 * Momus
 * John Ford
 * Santiago Pavlovic
 * Kid Blink (newsboy strike leader; may or may not have been blind in his left eye)
 * Raoul Walsh
 * André De Toth
 * James Joyce (he was known to wear one even though he never lost an eye)
 * Wiley Post
 * Andrew Vachss
 * Sonia Velasquez
 * Adriana Eslava
 * Slick Rick
 * Yagyu Jubei
 * Connor Slattery (Poet from the Bronx)
 * Melissa Rojas
 * Marie Colvin - Reporter
 * Dale Chihuly
 * Date Masamune
 * Mother Angelica
 * Xiahou Dun
 * José Millán Astray
 * Jamey Sheridan (temporarily, during treatment for Bell's palsy)
 * Mike Silverstone
 * Ray Sawyer, lead vocalist for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
 * Claus von Stauffenberg
 * Rich Williams, Kansas guitarist
 * Peter Connolly
 * Sammy Davis Jr. (singer, entertainer, member of the infamous "Rat Pack", lost eye in a auto accident 1954)
 * Nivek Ogre, singer of Skinny Puppy

Fictional eyepatch-wearers

 * Hortense Toomey (Earthly Powers sister of main character)
 * The Wicked Witch of the West (Land of Oz villain)
 * Demian Martinez Guerra (Mundo de Fieras villain)
 * Bazooka Joe (Bazooka (chewing gum) comic strip main character)
 * Beatrix (Final Fantasy IX character)
 * Captain Pip Bernadette of the Hellsing manga
 * Big Boss, aka Naked Snake (Metal Gear hero/villain)
 * Sally Brown in Peanuts wore one to treat amblyopia.
 * Fuhrer King Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist character)
 * General Chang (played by Christopher Plummer in Star Trek VI)
 * Gotrek Gurnisson (main character in the Gotrek and Felix novels)
 * Chris the Ninja Pirate - from Weebl and Bob
 * Rooster Cogburn (played by John Wayne in True Grit and Rooster Cogburn)
 * Captain Francesca 'Franky' Cook (played by Angelina Jolie in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
 * Fancy Crane (Passions; following a 2006 eye injury)
 * Jesse Custer (Preacher main character)
 * Dalton (Chrono Trigger)
 * Dangermouse
 * Dee (Preacher character)
 * Elle Driver (Kill Bill villainess)
 * Nick Fury (Marvel Comics superhero)
 * Monica Geller (Friends, "The One with Chandler in a Box")
 * Gippal (Final Fantasy X-2 character)
 * The "Man in the Hathaway Shirt" [advertising campaign of the 1950s]
 * "Wildcat" Chris Harris (currently wearing an eyepatch in kayfabe as part of his character in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling)
 * Jarlaxle (Forgotten Realms dark elf rogue)
 * Steve "Patch" Johnson (Days of our Lives)
 * Katsuichi (Usagi Yojimbo character)
 * Deunan Knute (Appleseed Main Character)
 * Emilio Largo (James Bond villain)
 * Maddox- (when in his Pirate picture, and his drawings)
 * Mikhail Bakunin (A character on the TV show Lost)
 * Zakuro Mitsukai (Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan)
 * Wolf O'Donnell (Star Fox villain)
 * Patchy the Pirate (Spongebob Squarepants)
 * Seamus (Family Guy character)
 * Snake Plissken (Escape from New York protagonist)
 * Random Hero (Haggard: The Movie character)
 * Rabi/Ravi (D.Gray-man character)
 * Commander Red (Dragon Ball character)
 * Yagyu Retsudo (Lone Wolf and Cub main villain)
 * Sagat (Street Fighter character)
 * Saito (Ghost in the Shell character)
 * Ramon (King of Fighters character)
 * Phil Ken Sebben (Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law character)
 * Piotr Skut – Estonian aeroplane pilot in The Adventures of Tintin
 * Solidus Snake (Metal Gear villain)
 * Lans Tartare (Tactics Ogre villain)
 * Big Dan Teague (O Brother, Where Art Thou? character)
 * Col. Saul Tigh (Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series))
 * Captain Typho (Star Wars character)
 * Umanosuke (Samurai Champloo character)
 * Akito/Agito Wanijima (from "Air Gear")
 * Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts II)
 * Kenpachi Zaraki (Bleach character)
 * Zatch (Surf Ninjas Character)
 * Molotov Cocktease and Master Billy Quizboy (from The Venture Bros.)
 * Number Two (Austin Powers movies)
 * Captain Ron (Kurt Russell in the movie Captain Ron)
 * Xander Harris (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
 * Rose Wilson,Ravager (Teen Titans)
 * Takuma Fudo (GetbackerS)
 * Commandant Spangler (Malcolm in the Middle)
 * Sven Vollfied from Black Cat
 * Matthew from The Law of Ueki
 * Nadine Hurley (Twin Peaks)
 * Lily Charles from Pushing Daisies