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What Conditions Can Vision Therapy Treat?

What Conditions Can Vision Therapy Treat

If you are struggling with eye strain, focus issues, lack of eye coordination, or any other visual problem, vision therapy might be the solution you need. This treatment offers a non-invasive approach to improving your vision and overall eye health.

There is a long list of conditions that vision therapy can effectively treat. From improving reading difficulties to correcting lazy eyes and reducing double vision, the benefits are extensive. 

In this blog, we will dive deeper into vision therapy, explore the specific conditions it can treat, and explain how it works to improve your visual skills.

What Is Vision Therapy?

Vision therapy is a treatment designed to improve vision through the use of specialized lenses, prisms, diagnostic tests, and eye exercises. Its goal is to enhance the coordination between the brain and eyes, addressing various vision problems. In addition to improving eye alignment, vision therapy helps enhance visual skills and supports recovery from vision impairments caused by head injuries or strokes.

Eye therapists typically prescribe exercises tailored to specific visual issues, such as strabismus (crossed eyes), amblyopia (lazy eye), and visual fatigue.

Conditions That Vision Therapy Can Treat

Conditions That Vision Therapy Can Treat

Now that you know what vision therapy is, let’s explore some specific conditions that it can easily treat.

  • Strabismus

This is the most common condition in which both eyes do not align in the same direction. This means that if one eye looks straight, the other can look inward, upward, or in any other direction. Vision therapy helps to improve this condition by training the eyes to work together. Different exercises, such as fusion exercises, prism therapy, and binocular integration exercises, strengthen the eye muscles and reduce the eye turn to function properly in the same direction.

  • Amblyopia

Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, is a condition in which one eye does not function properly, even with corrective lenses. Visual therapy helps to improve this condition by strengthening the weaker eye with different exercises like eye patching. In this exercise, you cover the stronger eye with a patch and force the weak eye to focus hard. This is how it becomes more active. Also, with targeted exercises in this therapy, you can improve your eye-brain connection, which improves your overall vision.

  • Myopia

Myopia is a condition in which distant objects seem blurry, whereas you can see near objects clearly. It can cause eye strain and headaches, but the good news is that vision therapy has some great benefits for this condition. It improves vision flexibility and enhances binocular function. 

  • Vision Problems From Down Syndrome

As people with Down syndrome have different developmental and visual issues that affect their motor skills, vision therapy helps to combat them all by improving eye tracking and focusing. It also helps individuals with Down syndrome navigate their surroundings and perform better life activities.

  • Binocular Dysfunction

In binocular dysfunction, the eyes do not work together as a team. You can not follow moving objects smoothly. Also, looking at distant objects can cause severe headaches and eye strain. Performance vision therapy is a specialized approach that significantly benefits individuals with such visual challenges. It works by strengthening eye coordination and improving visual tracking. As a result, it enhances the ability to perform high-level tasks. Additionally, this therapy improves depth perception, which is essential for various activities. These include catching a ball, driving, reading, and other tasks requiring precise visual-motor integration.

  • Convergence Insufficiency

Convergence insufficiency is a condition in which eyes can not focus properly on nearby objects. According to a report, this condition affects 5-15% of children and adults and is one of the biggest reasons for difficult reading. Vision therapy intends to improve the ability of eye muscles to converge and increase your coordination between visual input and motor responses. In this way, you can improve your focus on reading and similar other tasks.

  • Eye Movement Dysfunction

Eye movement dysfunction occurs when one can not control one’s eye movements, which can interrupt visual tasks. The eyes do not make accurate jumps from one target to another, and there are different tracking problems. Vision therapy treats this condition by increasing the speed of saccadic eye movements and maintaining visual attention during high-intensity tasks.

However, for eye movement dysfunction, it is always better to consult an eye care professional as they properly assess your existing eye condition and then provide a targeted therapy plan.

  • Visual Processing Disorders

This is a condition in which eyes function properly, but the brain can not understand what you see. It becomes difficult to distinguish between similar objects, letters, and shapes. It can also impact your navigation, organization, handwriting, and other motor skills.

Eyesight therapy helps you deal with this situation by involving exercises like sorting, matching, and identifying the differences between objects. The therapy sessions encourage you to follow visual directions, which improves your performance in daily activities.

  • Focusing Difficulties

Focusing difficulties are caused by the eyes’ problem maintaining a single image of objects from different distances. This causes eye strain in close-up tasks and leads to blurred vision. Vision therapy involves different focus flexibility activities, near-far focus shifts, and lens-based activities that train the eyes to shift focus smoothly without interruption. These activities strengthen the eye’s focusing muscles and minimize visual stress and fatigue.

  • Digital Eye Strain

It is also known as computer vision syndrome and results from prolonged exposure to computers, tablets, and mobile phones. In this condition, you will notice blurred vision, headaches, eye discomfort, dry eyes, and many other visual problems. Vision therapy trains you to increase blinking frequency, improve tear production, and reduce the eyes’ dryness. It also involves accommodative exercises that minimize the strain from constant near work.

Conclusion

To conclude, vision therapy is a practical, non-invasive solution for various visual challenges, ranging from strabismus and amblyopia to myopia and visual processing disorders. It not only strengthens eye coordination but also enhances visual skills crucial for daily activities, especially for individuals with conditions like Down syndrome or digital eye strain. 

If you’re looking to improve your vision and overall quality of life, consider the tailored eye care available through the best eye care center like Cedar Park Vision.

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