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Vision Therapy

Vision Therapy

The first step is a comprehensive eye examination with Shannon at Outlook Eye Centre to assess your vision, your binocular vision system and your eye health. In some cases glasses will be prescribed so that you are able to see more clearly as well as providing you with comfortable vision. Alternatively or in addition to glasses, vision therapy or eye exercises are needed to develop the muscle coordination necessary for good binocular vision or to train visual perception and tracking skills. We have computerised vision programs available specially designed to help in these areas.

Do you suffer from Headaches? Blurred vision? Eyestrain while reading?

Do you feel tired after working on the computer or reading?

Is your child not doing as well in school as you know they could be doing?

Do these problems sound familiar?

You may be surprised to know that as many as 1 in 6 people have eye problems that can lead to these and other symptoms such as motion sickness, loss of concentration and double vision. Many people don’t even mention this as they have been happening for so long they seem normal.

Why does this happen?

Near vision tasks require long periods of maintaining constant focus and aiming the eyes without rest. The muscles of the eyes fatigue or undergo changes similar to a cramp, much like your arm muscles would experience, if you had to carry a heavy weight all day. Our eye muscles were never designed to work in our high-tech world. Today we spend hours reading books, looking at computer screens and electronic devices. Many children and adults have good long distance vision (6/6 vision) but still have vision symptoms due to fatigue and strain.

When you do near tasks there are three different systems that need to work well in order for you to have clear and comfortable vision. These skills use both eyes together as a team and is known as binocular vision. This includes:

Eye teaming – both eyes must turn in by the same amount so that the image that you are looking at is single and not double.

Eye focusing – the eyes must change focus by different amounts depending on whether you are looking up close or far away so that things are clear and not blurry.

The eyes must move as a team to follow a line of print across a page and then jump to the next line.

Just as many of us do not have good vision for distance, many have poor binocular vision for near. Even a slight muscle imbalance in your visual system requires extra effort to keep both eyes aligned and focused. This effort may fatigue your visual system, causing headaches, a pulling sensation in the eyes, blurred vision, a loss of concentration – or other symptoms of eyestrain.

What can you do about this?

Obviously the first step is a comprehensive eye examination with Shannon at Outlook Eye Centre to assess your vision, your binocular vision system and your eye health. In some cases glasses will be prescribed so that you are able to see more clearly as well as providing you with comfortable vision. Alternatively or in addition to glasses, vision therapy or eye exercises are needed to develop the muscle coordination necessary for good binocular vision or to train visual perception and tracking skills. We have computerised vision programs available specially designed to help in these areas.

Eye strain self test for adults

N = Never S = Sometimes O = Often A = Always

1. I get blurred vision. N S O A
2. I fall asleep while reading. N S O A
3. I lose my concentration when reading. N S O A
4. My vision seems worse in the afternoon/evening than in the morning. N S O A
5. I have double vision. N S O A
6. Working at a computer for a few hours gives me a headache. N S O A
7. I close one eye when reading. N S O A
8. My eyes feel tired at the end of the day. N S O A
9. Words seem to run together when I read. N S O A
10. I skip or repeat lines when reading. N S O A
11. Objects in the room are briefly blurry when I look up from reading. N S O A
12. I get tired when reading. N S O A
13. I feel that my eyes are not working together N S O A
14. Prolonged reading or other close work gives me a headache. N S O A
15. I get car sick. N S O A
16. I get tired when I work at a computer. N S O A
17. Reading in a car or on a bus is difficult. N S O A
18. My eyes don’t work equally well. N S O A
19. Print starts to look blurry after I read for awhile. N S O A
20. I have eyestrain. N S O A

Eye strain self test for adults

N = Never S = Sometimes O = Often A = Always

1. I get blurred vision. N S O A
2. I fall asleep while reading. N S O A
3. I lose my concentration when reading. N S O A
4. My vision seems worse in the afternoon/evening than in the morning. N S O A
5. I have double vision. N S O A
6. Working at a computer for a few hours gives me a headache. N S O A
7. I close one eye when reading. N S O A
8. My eyes feel tired at the end of the day. N S O A
9. Words seem to run together when I read. N S O A
10. I skip or repeat lines when reading. N S O A
11. Objects in the room are briefly blurry when I look up from reading. N S O A
12. I get tired when reading. N S O A
13. I feel that my eyes are not working together N S O A
14. Prolonged reading or other close work gives me a headache. N S O A
15. I get car sick. N S O A
16. I get tired when I work at a computer. N S O A
17. Reading in a car or on a bus is difficult. N S O A
18. My eyes don’t work equally well. N S O A
19. Print starts to look blurry after I read for awhile. N S O A
20. I have eyestrain. N S O A

Even one or two “always” or “often” answers -- or clusters of “sometimes” answers -- may signal that yourself or your child has an eye muscle problem causing asthenopia. Asthenopia is the medical term for eyestrain. Even irritability when reading or using a computer can be a vision-related symptom. Using sophisticated equipment, Shannon can measure binocular vision skills – test for convergence, accommodation, eye alignment and teamwork. If testing indicates irregularities, Shannon may recommend a vision therapy program.

Source: www.htsvision.com

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