| Unfortunately, few people have ever heard of vision | | | | participant's balance and found significant |
| therapy. It is the best kept secret in eye care. The | | | | improvement. |
| few people who know anything about it think it is | | | | 4. Crossed Eyes, Lazy Eyes And Binocular Disorder |
| the Bates Method. But Bates is outdated. This | | | | In addition to causing cosmetic problems - the eyes |
| method only focus on the eye muscles. Today, we | | | | look funny - these disorders interfere with reading |
| know, in addition, vision therapy works by retraining | | | | and close-focus work and may lead to blindness of |
| the way the brain processes visual imagery. It is | | | | the weaker eye. They are also surprisingly common. |
| more like visual biofeedback than vision callisthenics. | | | | According to a report in the Journal of the American |
| Using today's methods, we get better, more | | | | Optometric Association, about 5 percent of |
| permanent results than Bates did. Today's vision | | | | schoolchildren have strabismic eyes, and up to 8 |
| therapy helps treat many vision-impairing eye | | | | percent have some degree of amblyopia. Each year |
| conditions. Here are some of the tips you can | | | | in United States, the National Society to Prevent |
| consider to treat your eye conditions. | | | | Blindness estimates 127,000 new diagnoses of |
| 1. Traumatic Brain Injury | | | | amblyopia. Six months of vision therapy produces |
| Some people who sustain head injuries in auto or | | | | substantial, long-lasting improvements of these |
| other accidents largely recover, except that they | | | | conditions in about 75 percent of cases. |
| experience blurred or double vision. They are often | | | | 5. Learning Disabilities |
| told they have to live with it, but vision therapy can | | | | Many children diagnosed with learning disabilities or |
| often help them see better. | | | | dyslexia does not really have them. They often have |
| 2. Athletic Performance | | | | learning-related vision problems, and vision therapy |
| Keep your eye on the ball is standard advice in | | | | can help them - if they are diagnosed and treated by |
| baseball, basketball, tennis, volleyball and many other | | | | a behavioural optometrist. Unfortunately, many are |
| sports. The problem is that sometimes even | | | | not. In a study, with three children, two age eight |
| world-class athletes can't do it well enough to remain | | | | and one ten, who had severe problems with reading. |
| competitive. With the help of vision therapy, they | | | | One had been diagnosed as dyslexic. After two |
| can. In a study, vision therapy was conducted on a | | | | months of vision therapy, the children's reading |
| group of professional tennis players. Lights were | | | | abilities improved dramatically |
| flashed at them and time how long it takes them to | | | | 6. Focusing Problems |
| respond. At first it may take them one-tenth a | | | | Normal eyes hold objects in focus and automatically |
| second. But after a while, they start responding in | | | | refocus when they shift from one object to another |
| one one-hundredth of a second, ten times faster. | | | | that is closer or farther away. People with focusing |
| The difference between a tenth and a hundredth of | | | | problems cannot do this, and their constant struggle |
| a second may not sound like much, but when you | | | | to keep their eyes focused leads to chronic eyes |
| are playing a professional tennis, it is the difference | | | | stress that often causes headaches, fatigue, double |
| between seeing the ball leave your opponent's | | | | or blurry vision and a burning sensation in the eyes. In |
| racquet and not seeing it until it is already on your | | | | a study, 96 people with focusing problems were |
| side of the court. | | | | treated with vision therapy. Fifty-three percent were |
| 3. Balance | | | | cured. Symptoms were significantly reduced, though |
| Good vision is critical for good balance because vision, | | | | not eliminated, in 43 percent. Only 4 percent showed |
| our dominant sense, provides the brain with a great | | | | no benefit. |
| deal of information about the body's position. A group | | | | 7. Jerking Eye |
| of 20 male and female students were tested on their | | | | This condition interferes with smooth eye |
| balance and then trained them in Eyerobics, a | | | | movement, causing the eyes to jerk from point to |
| visual-skills training program that uses vision therapy | | | | point. It impairs reading ability and anything else that |
| exercises to improve depth perception, peripheral | | | | requires fluid eye movements. Vision therapy usually |
| vision, reaction time and spatial judgement. After | | | | can cure ocular-motor problems. |
| Eyerobics training, the researchers retested the | | | | |