I have had diabetes my entire life, and I am very thankful for the fact that modern medical discoveries have helped me live a happy, healthy life despite my disease. I have had to watch what I eat and take medications daily for most of my life, and while i used to feel like I was "missing out" when other children were able to eat sugary candy and I wasn't, I eventually learned that sugar-free candy tastes great. I am always keeping up on the latest diabetes research, and while researching, I have also learned about many other diseases and ailments and how they are treated and controlled. I know others are too busy to browse a bunch of medical websites, like I like to do, so I decided to start a blog that others can visit that contains information on a variety of medical topics all in one place!
Modern Medicine Saves Lives Every Day
Weak Eyes? Crossed Eyes? Convergence Insufficiency?: How Vision Therapy Can Help Each Of These
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There are several conditions that cause a person's eyes to move on their own, become crossed, remain stuck in one position, etc. Almost all of these conditions involve weakened muscles in the eye or paralyzed parts of the eye. Of these, strabismus and amblyopia are probably the most common, resulting in about two to three percent of the total population. If you have an eye doctor that has told you that nothing can be done, get a second opinion. While you are at it, ask the second optometrist about vision therapy. Vision therapy can help in all of the following ways.
Correcting Weak Eyes (Amblyopia)
Vision therapy was developed with the idea that the eyes needed to be exercised just like any other body part that is surrounded with muscle tissue. Eyes that are weak lack the ability to look at things with both eyes at the same time and one eye may not be able to move in conjunction with where the other eye is looking. The weakness is often in one eye, but it can exist in both. (This is also referred to as amblyopia.)
Additionally, vision therapy can strengthen the muscles in your eye sockets to increase your ability to focus, thereby eliminating any unnecessary prescription medication (unless you have a comorbid diagnosis of strabismus or amblyopia). Your optometrist or vision therapist can design your treatment program, tailored specifically to your needs. I may include exercises, corrective lenses, eye patches, computer programs for visual acuity, etc.
Correcting Crossed Eyes (Strabismus)
People with crossed eyes (also known as strabismus) are often born with it. A child's eyes are not aligned, and often converge towards their noses, away from each other, roll about separately and/or wander even though the person may be looking at something right in front of him/her. Quite often, the result is double vision. The brain may also perceive two separate images via the two eyes looking in two different directions. The brain, which tries to meld the images together to resolve the incongruence, can produce some frightening images for children who have no point of reference for what is real and what is not. While this disorder cannot be cured, vision therapy can help the patient by using glasses to make the eyes focus together. Eye drops can help weaken the muscles in the stronger eye while the weaker eye is exercised to strengthen it.
Correcting Convergence Insufficiency
Convergence insufficiency sounds similar to crossed eyes, since a patient with either of these has trouble focusing on objects. However, convergence insufficiency has more to do with the optic nerves and the lenses in the eye than with the placement or alignment of the eyeballs themselves. Visual exercises, rather than physical exercises, can retrain the eyes and the optic nerves to work together to focus on objects that are closer to the patient's face and then work together to diverge the perceived vision field when looking at things far away. Computers with special software as well as visual/motor sensory integration devices help with the visual retraining your eyes will need.
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