More to Vision Therapy Than Meets the Eye
Posted on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
As a writer for The Vision Therapy Center, one of my jobs is to act as kind of a translator/layman for Dr. Knueppel and Dr. Begotka. I often have to dive deep into research papers and technical studies, the likes of which often do not make for very enjoyable, or even understandable reading. Thus, it’s no surprise that we’re constantly asked “What is vision therapy?”
I like to keep our definition relatively simple. Basically, it’s a series of activities that are used to improve the visual system. My simple answer is a good start, and it usually gives people a sense of what’s involved. But the more they learn, the more amazed they become at what vision therapy truly involves.
As we state on our website “Vision therapy helps the patient develop the visual skills necessary for good vision. Optical devices and exercises are used to retrain the brain-eye connection in order to make eye movements easier and more efficient.”
Vision therapy involves more than just a patient’s eyes. To work effectively, your visual system needs to correctly process the information the brain receives from the eye. And that’s where I think we lose people.
The Visual System is More than Just Your Eyes
I would imagine that a podiatrist makes his diagnosis based on more than just the foot, and a chiropractor considers more than just your spine. Nothing in our bodies is a stand-alone function. As the song goes, the legbone is connected to the, hip bone, and the hip bone is connected to the…well, you get the point.
I think that’s why the concept of vision therapy tends to surprise and amaze people, because so much of what developmental optometrists do is related to brain function and visual pathways. The testing alone is extremely comprehensive, and moves far beyond eye health.
While I try and keep my definition of vision therapy as simplistic as possible, improving someone’s vision is an extremely complex undertaking. It involves a variety of neurological and physical actions, all intertwined at a scope that is positively breathtaking.
Every day, we take our bodies for granted, and that’s nothing new. It’s been that way since the cavemen did their thing. But as you learn more and more about vision therapy, you begin to appreciate how miraculous our sense of vision truly is – and that we have doctors with the skills to help us improve it.
(Photo by notsogoodphotography)
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The Vision Therapy Center has helped over 2,000 people overcome vision problems since 1995, and has Wisconsin vision therapy offices in Brookfield and Madison.