Struggling with Reading Fatigue or Double Vision? Vision Therapy Could Transform Your Daily Life

Many adults dismiss eye strain, headaches, and difficulty concentrating as normal signs of aging or stress. However, these symptoms could indicate underlying eye movement disorders that significantly impact quality of life. Convergence insufficiency (CI) is the most common binocular vision problem, associated with blurred/double vision, headaches, and sore eyes that are exacerbated when doing prolonged near work, such as reading. Fortunately, vision therapy offers effective, non-surgical treatment options that can restore comfortable vision for adults experiencing these challenges.

Understanding Eye Movement Disorders in Adults

Also known as oculomotor dysfunction, ocular motor disorders means that the eyes do not accurately track or move where you intend them to move. This occurs when the six muscles around the eye are not properly coordinated to move your eye. These conditions affect millions of adults and can develop at any age, often worsening with increased screen time and near work demands.

Common eye movement disorders include:

• Convergence Insufficiency: Convergence insufficiency is a vision disorder in which your eyes can’t point inward together when looking at close-up objects, like tablets and smartphones. While it commonly starts in childhood, it can affect adults as well.
• Oculomotor Dysfunction: Oculomotor Dysfunction occurs when there is the absence or defect of controlled, voluntary, and purposeful eye movement. As you might imagine, accurate and well established oculomotor skills are critical when reading, writing, copying information, working on art projects, finding an object in a background, playing sports and many other activities we perform in our highly visual world.
• Accommodative Dysfunction: Problems with the eye’s ability to change focus between near and far objects

Recognizing the Symptoms

Adults with eye movement disorders often experience a range of symptoms that can significantly impact their professional and personal lives. People with convergence insufficiency may experience several symptoms when reading or looking at objects close-up, like books or smartphones. Double vision (diplopia). Tired or sore eyes. Blurry vision. Difficulty concentrating.

Additional symptoms may include:

• Frequent loss of place while reading
• Words appearing to move, jump, or float on the page
• Headaches after computer work or reading
• Eye strain and fatigue
• Difficulty with sports or activities requiring hand-eye coordination
• Avoiding reading or close work tasks

The Science Behind Vision Therapy for Adults

However, current research suggests visual skills can be improved even into adulthood. If you’re an adult patient looking to improve visual skills or address vision concerns, vision therapy can be part of an effective treatment plan. This breakthrough understanding of neuroplasticity has revolutionized treatment approaches for adult vision problems.

Vision therapy is a customized, nonsurgical program of visual activities designed to correct specific vision problems and improve visual skills. By incorporating a variety of tailored exercises, vision therapy works to enhance the connection between the eyes and the brain, leading to improved visual function and overall eye health.

According to Journal of Vision in November, 2010, confirms that vision therapy for adults is effective. Perceptual training (including vision therapy) can improve visual performance among older adults and the elderly.

How Vision Therapy Works

During vision therapy, your therapist will use a variety of therapeutic lenses, prisms, games, filters and more to help train your eyes. Typically, you’ll visit your optometrist for regular vision therapy appointments as well as practicing various exercises at home.

Treatment typically focuses on:

• Eye Movement Training: Through targeted eye exercises, adults can gain better control of their eye movements. This can be particularly beneficial for those who experience double vision or difficulty in focusing.
• Binocular Vision Development: Vision therapy helps individuals develop normal coordination and teamwork of the two eyes (binocular vision). When the two eyes fail to work together as an effective team, performance in many areas can suffer (reading, sports, depth perception, eye contact, etc.).
• Visual Processing Enhancement: Improving the brain’s ability to interpret and respond to visual information

Benefits for Working Adults

Vision therapy offers significant advantages for adults dealing with demanding work environments. Enhanced performance at work: Visual demands in the workplace, especially for adults who spend long hours in front of a computer, can lead to eye strain and discomfort. Vision therapy helps to treat these symptoms, leading to better productivity and reduced fatigue.

Relief from eye strain and headaches: Many adults suffer from chronic eye strain and headaches due to uncorrected vision problems. Adult vision therapy addresses the root causes of these issues, providing long-term relief and improving overall quality of life.

Professional Vision Therapy in Port Jefferson Station

For residents of Suffolk County seeking expert care, finding the right optometrist port jefferson station is crucial for successful treatment outcomes. North Shore Advanced Eye Care has been serving the Port Jefferson Station community for over 25 years, providing comprehensive eye care services including specialized vision therapy programs.

Part of quality eye care is having the knowledge and experience that goes with serving the community for many years. That’s why North Shore Advanced Eye Care is proud of our over 25 years of service in the Suffolk, County area, we’ve grown to know the people and the community and to understand their cares and concerns.

The practice offers individualized treatment plans designed to address specific eye movement disorders affecting adults. They also provide eye therapy when it is necessary. These eye doctors can treat a wide variety of eye conditions.

What to Expect During Treatment

Vision therapy typically consists of a weekly 45-minute in-office appointment and approximately 15-minutes of assigned daily exercises. The vision therapy program can range from a few weeks to several months, depending on the severity of the diagnosis, eye health and compliance level.

Convergence insufficiency treatment involves eye movement exercises that retrain your nerves to aim your eyes properly. These convergence insufficiency exercises improve your eyes’ ability to move inward together by focusing on objects at different distances.

You may not notice an improvement right away. It can take three months or more to notice a change in your vision. However, most patients experience significant symptom relief and improved visual function with consistent treatment.

Evidence-Based Treatment Success

Research consistently supports the effectiveness of vision therapy for adult eye movement disorders. The second found similar results for adults 19 to 30 years of age. A later study of 2012 confirmed that orthoptic exercises led to longstanding improvements of the asthenopic symptoms of convergence sufficiency both in adults and in children.

Vision therapy can help children and adults develop or recover single binocular vision with depth perception at any age. Age is not a barrier to successful treatment. It is possible to change the brain at any age, thanks to something called “neuroplasticity”.

Taking the First Step

If you’re experiencing symptoms of eye movement disorders, comprehensive evaluation is essential. The absolute best first step is to have a thorough eye examination. An eye doctor will look at visual skills (such as stereopsis, convergence and divergence, and eye teaming) and also eye health. An eye doctor that specializes in vision therapy can help create a treatment plan for you that is tailored to your visual needs.

Don’t let eye movement disorders limit your potential. With proper diagnosis and treatment, vision therapy can restore comfortable, efficient vision and significantly improve your quality of life. Contact a qualified vision therapy provider today to begin your journey toward better visual health and enhanced daily performance.