Vision Therapy for Amblyopia
Amblyopia, sometimes called lazy eye, is characterized by poor vision in an eye that did not develop normal sight during childhood. This condition affects approximately 2% to 3% of the population. There are three major causes of amblyopia: strabismus (misaligned or crossed eyes), unequal focus (a refractive error) and cloudiness in normally clear tissues (such as from cataracts). To correct amblyopia, the patient must be made to use the weak eye.
Garzia (1987) summarized findings of earlier studies on the effects of vision therapy for amblyopia in children who failed occlusion therapy. A variety of different vision therapy approaches were used ranging from eye-hand activities to tracing and coloring pictures.
While the reviewed reports suggest that active vision therapy can successfully treat a wide range of patients of all ages.
HELP Learning Center provides active vision therapy with our Board Certified Occupational Therapist. A variety of therapy modalities are combined and used; thus providing a more effective, active therapy environment.
Vision Therapy for Strabismus
Strabismus is a condition in which the two eyes are directed to different points when looking at an object in space. It is also known as tropia, heterotropia, squint, and manifest ocular deviation. The deviation of the eyes may cause diplopia or double vision as well as suppression of the vision in one eye. It is a visual abnormality in children between the ages of 6 and 17 years and affects an estimated 5.5% to 6.75% of the population. Therapeutic options include lenses, prisms, occlusion and/or eye muscle surgery (Hayes, 2002).
Hellerstein et al. (1994) completed a review of optometric management of strabismus patients and concluded that vision therapy studies showed better treatment success than surgical studies.
Flax and Duckman (1978) also completed a review 9 years before the Hellerstein article was published. They concluded that the cure rate for optometric treatment was 20% greater than the ophthalmologic and orthoptic studies. They also stated that the better results were due to a broader approach utilizing more treatment modalities, techniques and strategies.
HELP Learning Center provides active vision therapy with our Board Certified Occupational Therapist. A variety of therapy modalities are combined and used; thus providing a more effective, active therapy environment.
Vision Therapy for Convergence Insufficiency
In a randomized clinical trial, 221 children aged 9 to 17 years with symptomatic convergence insufficiency were assigned to 1 of 4 treatments (home-based pencil push-ups (HBPP), home-based computer vergence/accommodative therapy and pencil push-ups (HBCVAT+), office-based vergence/accommodative therapy with home reinforcement (OBVAT), and office-based placebo therapy with home reinforcement (OBPT)).
A successful or improved outcome was found in 73%, 43%, 33%, and 35% of patients in the OBVAT, HBPP, HBCVAT+, and OBPT groups, respectively. The investigators concluded that 12 weeks of OBVAT results in a significantly greater improvement in symptoms and clinical measures of near point of convergence and positive fusional vergence and a greater percentage of patients reaching the predetermined criteria of success compared with HBPP, HBCVAT+, and OBPT (Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial Study Group 2008)
The authors concluded that vision therapy is effective in eliminating asthenopia and improving convergence function in adult male patients, with in-office therapy combined with home therapy producing better results than home therapy alone.
HELP Learning Center provides active vision therapy with our Board Certified Occupational Therapist. A variety of therapy modalities are combined and used; thus providing a more effective, active therapy environment.
Vision Therapy for Exotropia
Coffey et al. (1992) compared the findings of 59 published studies over a 25-year period that evaluated the efficacy of 5 different treatment modalities used for intermittent exotropia: 1) overminus lens therapy to stimulate convergence, 2) prism therapy to compensate for exodeviation, 3) occlusion therapy to reduce suppression, 4) extra-ocular muscle surgery to surgically reduce the exodeviation, and 5) orthoptic vision therapy to increase fusional vergence ranges and normalize sensory function. Using the studies' success measures, pooled success rates were: overminus lens therapy, 28% (n=215); prism therapy, 28% (n=201); occlusion therapy, 37% (n=170); extraocular muscle surgery, 46% (n=2530); and orthoptic vision therapy, 59% (n=740).
There appears to be an agreement that the nonsurgical treatment, vision therapy, is more appropriate in small-angle deviations or as a supplement to surgery.
HELP Learning Center provides active vision therapy with our Board Certified Occupational Therapist. A variety of therapy modalities are combined and used; thus providing a more effective, active therapy environment.
Vision Therapy for Convergence Excess
To evaluate the effectiveness of vision therapy for convergence excess, a common nonstrabismic ocular motility disorder, Gallaway and Scheiman (1997) retrospectively reviewed the records of 83 consecutive patients with this condition, seen in two private practices over a 3-year period and treated with vision therapy. The mean age of subjects was 11.8 years, with a range of 7 to 32 years. Therapy consisted of once- or twice weekly 45-minute office visits, and home therapy for 15 minutes 3 to 4 times per week. The mean number of vision therapy sessions was 18.5, with a range of 9 to 32.
The investigators observed statistically and clinically significant changes in direct and indirect measures of negative fusional vergence, with 84% of patients reporting a total elimination of initial symptoms through vision therapy.
HELP Learning Center provides active vision therapy with our Board Certified Occupational Therapist. A variety of therapy modalities are combined and used; thus providing a more effective, active therapy environment.