Question on vision therapy?

Hi my nephew is 11 and seem to have eye turn sometimes, it's usually
right but sometimes it's left. He was previously diagnosed with lazy
eye by an older optometrist. all he did was giving him glasses to
wear. I just took him to another ptometrist who just graduated and he
says my nephew doesn't have lazy eye since both eyes see 20/20. he
says my nephew has exophoria, around 40 prism ??? He wants to do
vision therapy so his eye won't turn out as often. i have never heard
of that b/4. does vision therapy really help? is the eye turn fixable
with surgery? what about with glasses? by the way, my nephew is
moderately nearsight, about 4 dioptors each eye.
thanks
Tom

 

People use the term "lazy eye" to reference two different issues: eye
turn (called strabismus) and lower than expected *corrected* acuity
(ambylopia). So forget the term "lazy eye" and stick to the terms that
really mean something specific.

40 prism diopters of extropia (strabismus) is a lot to fix with vision
therapy, but depending upon the cause, it may well be worth a
try---especially considering that both eyes have normal acuity. Surgery
will likely be an easy remedy, but will likely require vision therapy in
addition to help the eyes work together. At the moment, they work
independently, aim them straight and the brain will have to learn how to
make them work together.

--LB

--
Dr. Larry Bickford, O.D.
Family Practice Eye Health & Vision Care

The Eyecare Connection
http//www.eyecarecontacts.com
larrydoc at m a c.c o m

 

**********

Dear Tom,

No one can give you exact answers.

I has SLIGHT strabismus as a child. The one
process that did work was "training" my
eyes with a steroscope. (Two images, when
fused create a 3 D effect.)

If you nephew can "fuse", and see 3D, then
there is hope.

I my case, if I did not pay attention, my left
eye would "drift out". After I worked
with the training, I became very aware that
I had "control" of this fusion process.

I also had muscles cut. I think it is a complete
waste of time. If you nephew lets that eye go
"out", and it stays out, he will lose completely
the ability to fuse. Only after that
happens should muscle cutting be considered.
The results are more cosmetic, that practical.

Each case is different, but the "force" put
into the "vision training", although frustrating
to ALL concerned -- payed off.

How does your nephew feel about and judge these issues?

Best,

Otis
Engineer

 

The first optometrist may not have been wrong about the lazy eye. It is
entirely possible that your nephew did have a lazy eye and that the glasses
he wore corrected it to the 20/20 level that the new OD is measuring.

40 exo is a lot to try to correct with VT; you may want to get a surgical
opinion as well. Surgery could decrease the exo to a much smaller amount
which could then be addressed by VT.

Dr Judy