Vision therapy, like physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy, is a customized set of non-surgical activities designed to improve or alleviate many common visual problems. These include, but are not limited to:
- Crossed eyes, also known as a strabismus or Eye Turn
- A lazy eye or amblyopia; when one eye is not able to be corrected with glasses, or contact lenses, to see as well as the fellow eye
- Eye teaming skills; scanning and tracking skills
- Double vision
- Convergence insufficiency or similar eye coordination problems
- Focusing or Accommodative difficulties
- Certain reading or academic problems
The symptoms we typically hear and address in vision therapy can be as mild as losing one’s place when reading, skipping or re-reading lines of text, trouble shifting focus from near to far or far to near, to as debilitating as headaches, double vision, or balance / dizziness problems. Other symptoms that may be indicative of a problem that vision therapy can possible help include, squinting / closing or covering an eye, getting sleepy when reading or using a computer, problems with motion sickness, words appear to move / jump or float on the page, eyestrain, trouble remembering something you just read and/or reduced reading comprehension. These symptoms are often made even worse when one is under stress, not getting enough sleep, sick, or after prolonged near work.
Unlike other forms of therapy, the goal is not to make the eye muscles stronger. VT uses various activities to develop the coordination needed to correct whatever underlying issue is the cause of one’s problem(s). In vision therapy (VT) you are actually retraining the brain’s ability to accurately control your eye muscles and focusing mechanism; similar to how practicing hitting a baseball trains you to track and make better contact and is not making your arms any stronger. When you schedule an evaluation at Eye Vision Associates, Dr. Meltzer or Dr. Tamburro will take the time to hear what your specific symptoms and problems are and then begin the process of properly determining what the underlying cause is for you and work towards developing a treatment plan that may include VT, prisms, tints, or glasses. Drs. Meltzer & Tamburro have completed residencies and fellowships in vision therapy and rehabilitation and will gladly answer any and all questions and concerns you may have!
Please give us a call at (631) 588-5100 to schedule an appointment with one of our doctors to see if vision therapy may be right for you or a family member!