What is visual therapy, what does it involve and who can benefit from it?
Visual therapy begins with a perfect optical correction, otherwise you cannot restore visual acuity!
In short, visual therapy is a type of physical therapy for the eyes and brain, an individualized, supervised treatment designed to correct visual-motor and / or perceptual-cognitive deficiencies.
It is a highly effective non-surgical treatment for multiple common visual problems, such as monocular amblyopia (lazy eye or poor eyesight in one eye), strabismus, double vision, insufficient convergence and some reading and learning impairments.
In the case of learning disabilities(dyslexia), visual therapy is specifically oriented towards solving visual problems that interfere with reading, learning and educational instruction.
What does a visual therapy program involve?
Visual therapy is a progressive program of “exercises” or visual procedures performed under the supervision of the specialist, individualized to suit the visual needs of each patient.
It is carried out in the optometry cabinet, in sessions once or twice a week, for 30 minutes to an hour, occasionally supplemented with procedures performed at home between visits from the specialist.
Visual therapy sessions include procedures designed to enhance the brain’s ability to control alignment, tracking and “teamwork” of the eyes, focusing skills, eye movements, and visual processing.
Depending on the case, the prescribed procedures help patients to develop or improve fundamental visual skills. It improves the comfort, ease and efficiency of the visual act and changes the way a patient processes or interprets visual information.
Visual therapy is not just a complex of eye exercises!
Unlike other forms of exercise, the purpose of visual therapy is not to strengthen the eye muscles but to coordinate them as effectively as possible to improve the visual act.
Visual therapy is supervised in the office by the optometrist, and the medical act itself is supported by many types of specialized equipment: corrective lenses, therapeutic lenses, prismatic lenses, optical filters, occluder, computer programs and rocking plates (visual-motor-sensory devices), etc.
Who can benefit from visual therapy?
Children or adults with a lazy eye, strabismus, insufficient convergence, double vision,
People with problems focusing on different directions,
Children or adults who have certain reading and learning disabilities,
Those with binocularity problems, depth perception and problems with the teamwork of the eyes,
In certain cases, the rehabilitation of vision for traumatic brain injuries, including stroke, birth injury, brain injury, etc.
Rehabilitation of vision after concussions,
Special needs – attention deficit disorder, sensory processing disorder.
Visual therapy for sports
Strong visual skills are essential to sporting success. Not much happens in sports until your eyes instruct your hands and body to do what you want them to.
We can successfully measure and improve eye-hand coordination (feet, body – coordination in space), visual reaction time, peripheral vision, eye focus, eye tracking and teamwork, visualization skills and much more.
