Success Of Vision Therapy In Treating Visual Challenges
Vision therapy can be used successfully to treat many kinds of eyesight problems. When speaking of vision problems, most people tend to think only of conditions such as myopia, presbyopia, amblyopia etc. However, such eyesight disorders are not the only types of vision challenges a person can face. Other vision problems include sight related learning disabilities, peripheral vision problems, difficulties in depth perception, and work related vision problems such as Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). Although different types of vision challenges can be treated in different ways such as with eyeglasses, contact lenses, eye surgery etc these can also be treated naturally by vision therapy.
Vision Therapy is a treatment program for your eyes and can be considered as physical therapy for the eyes. Visual therapy is not relegated to eye exercises alone, as is the popular belief. In fact, for any eye treatment program to be classified as visual therapy it has to be:
- A medical treatment program supervised by a qualified practitioner.
- Individualized to different people and their vision problems.
- Designed not just to correct eye disorders but also to enhance visual-motor skills and improve cognitive perception difficulties.
Vision therapy is divided into two broad classifications: Orthoptics and Behavioral Visual Therapy. Trained vision care professionals supervise vision therapy initially but with time may prescribe eye exercises to be done at home. Visual therapy is practiced by using various specialty medical devices and equipments such as therapeutic and prescription lenses, optical fillers, prisms, computer software, eye balancing equipment, and eye patches.
Success of vision therapy programs depends on various critical factors. These are:
- Eye exam: A comprehensive eye exam is an absolute must for the success of any kind of vision therapy. Once the eye doctor has examined your eyes properly, only then will he/she be able to determine whether or not you are a good candidate for vision therapy. An appropriate vision therapy program is also devised on the basis of such an examination.
- Commitment to the program: How committed you are to the program is another vital factor for its success. You have to diligently complete the homework (easy eye exercises to be performed at home) that your eye doctor prescribes. Vision therapy sessions should not be missed and should be attended regularly.
- Using specialty devices: Unless you use the specialty medical devices exactly as specified by your eye care practitioner; it may not be possible to restore proper eyesight through vision therapy.
Thus, when practiced under expert medical supervision and in a committed fashion, vision therapy programs can be very successful in improving your eyesight problems.
Criticism Against Success Of Vision Therapy
There are many ophthalmologists who do not endorse vision therapy, as they do not believe such programs to be useful. They claim that there is not much ¡®scientific¡¯ evidence that vision therapy can actually correct eyesight problems.
However, although a faction of the medical community does not believe that vision therapy can help to improve eyesight and other eye problems, a look at the results of different vision therapy research will prove otherwise. Add to that the fact that there are millions of anecdotal accounts of people seeing better after vision therapy, and it can undoubtedly be said that visual training can indeed help to overcome all kinds of eyesight challenges.
Vision training can be used to correct the following problems:
- Accommodation problems: Inability of the eye to focus properly on objects at different distances.
- Improper binocular vision: The inability to use both the eyes together as a team. Vision therapy can help to align your eyes properly and improve eye coordination so that your eyes can fuse different images as one and improve depth perception.
- Inaccurate occulo-motor skills: People with this vision problem cannot move their eyes swiftly and accurately. By enhancing occulo-motor skills you can move your eyes properly from one place to another and improve their tracking ability.
- Reduced peripheral eyesight: Not being able to see what is surrounding you without moving your head.
Vision therapy can thus be used to treat eye conditions such as myopia, amblyopia, presbyopia, CVS, strabismus, etc. In addition to these, visual therapy can also be very effective in treating eye problems such as double vision and reduced visual field that are a result of some kind of injury to your brain.
Vision therapy can thus be the perfect solution to all kinds of eyesight challenges. Apart from undergoing visual training with an optometrist, you can also use vision therapy kits to improve your eyesight. Vision therapy devices such as EyeRelax have proved to be immensely successful in treating myopia, amblyopia, and presbyopia. If you suffer from any of these conditions and have been told to learn to get used to your disability, do try out EyeRelax and you will soon realize that you need not live with your eyesight problems for life.
