Top 10 Ways Vision Therapy can Benefit Your Visual Health

Visual acuity is the measure of a person’s ability to see clearly and sharply. Visual acuity is an important aspect of overall visual health and can be affected by a variety of factors, including refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism), cataracts, macular degeneration, and other eye diseases.

Vision therapy can help improve visual acuity by specifically targeting the anatomical constructs of the visual system, that determines acuity. Vision therapy works by providing visual experiences that are different from what the brain is accustomed to, which in turn, helps to rewire neural connections, creating new pathways in the brain and strengthening existing ones.

For example, when a person has a refractive error, like nearsightedness, the brain has learned to process visual information in a certain way to compensate for the error. Vision therapy can help to retrain the brain to process visual information in a different way, which can lead to an improvement in visual acuity.

A study published in the Journal of Behavioral Optometry found that 74% of patients with amblyopia (lazy eye) who received vision therapy showed an improvement in visual acuity. 

Vision therapy can be used to treat strabismus and amblyopia by retraining the eyes and brain to work together more effectively.

For Strabismus, the therapy can include exercises to target the extraocular muscles, to help the eyes align properly, and improve the coordination between the two eyes, this can be done through eye patching, occlusion, or other vision therapy exercises that force the use of the affected eye.

For Amblyopia, the therapy can include exercises to improve the visual acuity of the affected eye, such as using traditional penalization techniques like eye patches or using lenses that blur the vision of the strong eye. Or, modern dichoptic therapy-based video-game vision therapies.

A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus found that vision therapy is effective in improving eye alignment in patients with strabismus, and it’s also more effective than patching alone in treating amblyopia.

Visual perception and processing refer to the brain’s ability to make sense of the information that the eyes take in, and vision therapy can help enhance this ability. Visual perception and processing involve several parts of the brain, including the primary visual cortex, the occipital lobes, and the parietal lobes.

During vision therapy, patients engage in a series of visual exercises that stimulate these areas of the brain to process visual information in a different way.

For example, visual perception exercises may involve identifying and matching patterns, tracking moving objects, or completing visual puzzles. These exercises can help to improve the brain’s ability to process visual information and can be beneficial for people with visual perception disorders such as dyslexia.

Visual-motor integration refers to the ability of the brain to coordinate visual information with the movement of the body. It involves the coordination of the eyes, the hands, and the body to perform tasks such as writing, drawing, and playing sports.

In vision therapy, patients engage in a series of visual exercises that stimulate the cerebellum, the brainstem, and the occipital lobes, which are all responsible for coordinating visual information with movement.

For example, visual-motor exercises may include activities such as tracing a line with a pencil, following a moving target, or playing sports-specific drills. These exercises help to improve the brain’s ability to process visual information and coordinate it with movement, which can be beneficial for people who struggle with writing or sports.

Also Read: Are Orthoptics and Vision Therapy the same?

Vision therapy can help to enhance learning and reading abilities by addressing underlying visual problems that may be affecting a person’s ability to process visual information. This type of therapy can improve visual skills such as visual acuity, visual attention, visual memory, and visual-spatial skills.

For example, visual acuity exercises can be used to improve the clarity of vision, which can be beneficial for people who struggle with reading small print. Visual attention exercises can be used to improve the ability to focus on a specific task, which can be beneficial for people who struggle with staying focused while reading. Visual memory exercises can be used to improve the ability to remember visual information, which can be beneficial for people who struggle with memorizing facts or information.

Visual-spatial exercises can be used to improve the ability to perceive and understand the spatial relationships between objects, which can be beneficial for people who struggle with understanding diagrams, maps, and charts.

Vision therapy can be used to treat the visual symptoms associated with traumatic brain injuries (TBI.) Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can cause damage to the brain, which can affect the visual system and result in visual symptoms such as double vision, visual field loss, and problems with visual attention and visual perception.

Vision therapy exercises targeting the primary visual cortex, located in the occipital lobes, are helpful in managing visual field loss symptoms. Exercises designed to stimulate the parietal lobes, located at the top and back of the brain, are helpful in dealing with visual attention and visual perception symptoms. Vision therapies targeting the cerebellum region can address symptoms such as hand-eye coordination.

A study published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development in 2016 found that vision therapy was effective in improving visual-motor coordination, visual attention, and visual-spatial abilities in individuals with TBI. The study included 20 individuals with TBI who underwent an average of 20 hours of vision therapy, and found that all participants demonstrated significant improvements in visual-motor coordination and visual attention.

Vision therapy can improve sports performance by addressing underlying visual problems that may be affecting an athlete’s visual processing abilities and motor coordination. These visual problems can occur as a result of various factors such as poor visual acuity, poor binocular vision, or visual perception disorders. 

A variety of vision therapy exercises including visual-motor coordination exercises, visual attention exercises, visual perception & memory exercises, and visual-spatial exercises are used in combination to enhance an athlete’s physical and mental abilities. 

Eyestrain and headaches can occur as a result of visual problems such as poor visual acuity, poor binocular vision, or visual perception disorders. These visual problems can cause the brain to work harder to process visual information, which can lead to fatigue and strain on the eyes, resulting in headaches and eyestrain.

Apart from the typical vision therapy exercises that stimulate, strengthen, and soothe the nerves and neural connections (between the eye and the brain,) it also addresses visual problems that cause the eyes to have to overcompensate, such as a convergence insufficiency, leading to eye fatigue and headaches.

A study published in the Journal of Behavioral Optometry in 2017 found that vision therapy was effective in reducing symptoms of eyestrain and headaches in individuals with convergence insufficiency. The study included 40 participants who underwent vision therapy, and found that 85% of the participants reported a reduction in symptoms of eyestrain and headaches.

Vision therapies can present themselves as non-invasive alternatives on several occasions such as treating amblyopia, strabismus, visual perception disorders, visual-motor integration disorders, visual processing disorders, and improving sports performance. They can be an alternative to eye patches, surgery, or medication. However, it’s important to consult with a medical professional specialized in the field to determine if vision therapy is the best alternative for a specific case.

Vision therapies are great benefactors of ocular and nervous health. Even if you are not suffering from any specific visual or neural condition—you can consider vision therapies to uplift your general wellness. Their unique ability to train specific areas of our brain, nervous system, and visual system, make them the ideal solution to—improve our visual and nervous abilities, and on occasion, even helps us destress!