If you’re battling with eyesight or blurry images, you may need vision therapy. This process, used by optometrists, can help you to develop better visual skills and improve eye comfort by helping your eyes interpret visual information differently.
People that use glasses or contact lenses can also benefit from vision therapy, and it can help to ease the symptoms experienced by bad eyesight, such as headaches or motion sickness. There are a few common signs that you may need vision therapy, so read on.
You Skip Lines When You Read
If you regularly have to go back to reread lines because you skipped a few or lost your place, you could have a visual processing problem that needs to be checked. Your eye isn’t tracking the words properly and a common issue is that letters or words seem to jump off the page. This distortion can be easily corrected with vision therapy exercises to strengthen your eyes.
This sign is seen often in children with ADHD and misdiagnosed as a disinterest in what they are reading. It can cause dyslexia if not treated early on, as well as motion sickness if you read for too long.
Your Finger Moves with Your Eyes
Some people don’t realize they have a problem that needs vision therapy because a lot of people use their fingers to read along lines. This common symptom may stay with you into adulthood before you notice that you may need help. If your eyes feel strained, you may use your fingers to maintain focus. This could be caused by the ciliary muscle which controls focus in the eye. If your eyes try to focus too much, you can get blurry vision or dizziness.
Get regular eye examinations to check the condition of your eyes as you age. How to know if you need vision therapy can be easily spotted by going to an optometrist and it could save you in the future.
Handwriting is Slanted
We all learn to write at a very young age. We are taught to stay on the line and write neatly, but it can be more difficult for some people. This isn’t due to bad handwriting; it could be that your eyes are causing the problem. Similarly, when skipping lines, your eyes are not focusing properly to get the spacing and alignment right. It may be something that you can only control by closing one eye, which is another tell-tale sign that you need vision therapy.
Everyone has a unique handwriting style, but if yours is messier than most and you battle to stay horizontal when writing, you should get your vision checked out by a professional.
Vision therapy is a behavioral process that works to improve your ability to process visual information through hand-eye coordination and strengthening exercises. It can be highly effective for lazy eyes, ocular muscle dysfunction, and teary eyes. If you observe any of these common signs or other symptoms like headaches and nausea while reading and writing, you could benefit from vision therapy practices.
