Understanding Vision Therapy
by Dr. Merrill J. Allen, Dr. Steven M. Beresford, Dr. Francis A. Young.
HELPING THE EYES HEAL THEMSELVES
Vision therapy is to the eyes what physical therapy is to the body – a system of natural techniques intended to restore the injured organ to normal. Vision Therapy is based on the principle that since the eyes are part of the body and the body can heal itself, the eyes can also heal themselves.
There are two branches of vision therapy: vision therapy eye exercises and optometric vision therapy, which is also known as orthoptic vision therapy or optometric visual training.
VISION THERAPY EYE EXERCISES
The first recorded use of a vision therapy eye exercise is the treatment of crossed eyes with an eyepatch by the physician Erasmus Darwin around 1790. By blocking the good eye, the eyepatch forced the crossed eye to become stronger.
The next advance was a system of relaxation techniques devised by the ophthalmologist William Bates around 1920. Although not strictly vision therapy eye exercises, the Bates Method encourages the eyes to heal themselves by reducing eyestrain and relaxing the entire visual system.
The limited success of the Bates Method inspired other eye doctors including Arthur Skeffington and Edward Alexander to develop more dynamic techniques in the 1930s, coining the term vision therapy and giving birth to what is known as behavioral optometry.
Vision therapy then split into two branches: optometric vision therapy, which is done in an optometrist’s office – and vision therapy eye exercises, which are done at home with or without the supervision of an optometrist.
HOW VISION THERAPY EYE EXERCISES WORK
Less than 2% of babies have deformed eyeballs, which means that poor vision is usually not inherited. In fact, most visual problems are caused by nearpoint stress or the aging process. Vision therapy eye exercises reduce nearpoint stress, increase the range and accuracy of the focusing system, and improve the nutrient flow inside the eyes.
Vision therapy eye exercises are effective against a wide range of common problems such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism, presbyopia (aging eyes), amblyopia (lazy eye) and cataracts. The goal is to cure bad eyesight naturally and eliminate the need for corrective lenses. The question is, what results are realistically possible?
Clinical studies of vision therapy eye exercises show that although some people regain normal vision, most people go from full-time dependency on corrective lenses to only using them for a few activities such as driving or movies. Vision therapy eye exercises make the eyes stronger so it’s usually possible to wear weaker glasses from previous years.
Here are the results of a recent clinical study of the Power Vision Program of vision therapy eye exercises that was submitted to the Journal of the American Optometric Association:
“21 subjects with common visual problems including myopia, presbyopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism completed a 6 week course of vision therapy eye exercises. 19 subjects obtained improvements in refractive error, 19 subjects obtained improvements in visual acuity, and 16 subjects reduced their dependency on corrective lenses so they no longer needed them or only wore them part of the time.”
TRY THIS VISION THERAPY EYE EXERCISE
This exercise is known as Conducting. Make a relaxed fist and look at your thumbnail. Now slowly wave your arm in front of you in time to your breathing, like a conductor waving a baton. Up, down, forward, backward, side to side, circles, figure eights, spirals, waves, and complex patterns like writing in the air.
Keep your head still and slowly vary the distance from arm’s length to the tip of your nose. Look at your thumbnail at all times, and when your arm gets tired, use the other arm. Do the exercise for several minutes without stopping.
OPTOMETRIC VISION THERAPY
These are procedures performed in an optometrist’s office using special lenses, prisms, and optometric equipment. In contrast to vision therapy eye exercises, optometric vision therapy mostly deals with eye tracking, crossed eyes, and reading disabilities.
Not surprisingly, many eye doctors are opposed to vision therapy eye exercises because they eliminate or reduce dependency on corrective lenses, which are the eye doctor’s main source of income. Nevertheless, behavioral optometrists usually offer vision therapy eye exercises in addition to optometric vision therapy.
WILL VISION THERAPY WORK FOR YOU?
Most vision therapy programs will give you positive results. However, beware of claims typical of the Bates Method that promise to help you “throw away your glasses and regain perfect 20/20 eyesight.” Such claims are not supported by the clinical evidence and are misleading.