Vision Therapy in Edina
Don’t worry if you aren’t sure what vision therapy is or how it works. Our Edina clinic staff will ensure you know what the process is and the intended results before you get started. Vision therapy is a highly effective treatment that doesn’t involve surgery but will increase how effectively your eyes work with the brain and the accuracy with which your brain perceives images. An optometric vision therapy program is a supervised and individualized treatment program available for adults and children. The aim is to correct visual-motor and perceptual-cognitive deficiencies. During each session at our Edina clinic, participants will complete various procedures and exercises designed to strengthen your brain’s ability to control the following:
- Eye Alignment
- Eye Tracking and Teaming
- Eye Focusing Abilities
- Eye Movements
- Visual Processing
Many people in the world today have found vision therapy to be highly beneficial if they’re struggling in school, work, or sports. Additionally, vision therapy has proven to help individuals with special needs requiring vision rehabilitation.
Exercises
Our Edina doctors will ask you to complete a variety of exercises during your supervised in-house appointments. They will also likely provide activities to complete on your own at home to continue strengthening and improving your vision. Listed below are a few exercises you may complete during vision therapy sessions or prescribed for home therapy.
Computer Programs
Various computer-assisted vision therapy activities will be completed to stress vergence, accommodation, eye movements, and visual information processing. There are several different activities available for patients to complete virtually while still following traditional vision therapy practices.
Prism or Lens Fixation
During prism or lens fixation, you will be asked to view an object while looking into differing lenses or prisms with selected orientations. This exercise teaches your eyes to see people and happenings that are at a close or nearby distance.
Patching
If you are experiencing trouble from amblyopia or a lazy eye, your brain will likely ignore image signals from your weaker eye. Patching will help reduce the signals coming from the stronger eye and encourage your brain to engage with the weaker eye, resulting in increased functioning for both eyes.
Vision Rest
Individuals that spend prolonged periods focusing on computer screens at work or school will benefit from this exercise. Our doctors will encourage you to follow the 20/20/20 rule to see if any improvements occur. You’ll be expected to rest your eyes after 20 minutes of computer use for at least 20 seconds while looking at an object 20 feet away. This exercise reduces eye strain or fatigue and may help relieve headaches and problems focusing.
How to Tell if Vision Therapy is Needed
Glasses or contacts cannot simply correct many symptoms, making vision therapy beneficial for patients of all ages. It is most commonly known, however, to treat children. But, vision therapy is becoming more common in adults if they’ve experienced a concussion or traumatic brain injury. Even if someone passes a primary vision screening at our Edina clinic, there may often be underlying issues that make sports, work, or learning difficult. If this is the case, vision therapy might be right for you. There are many symptoms to be aware of that commonly cannot be resolved by a simple correction:
- Car Sickness
- Problems Focusing
- Chronic Headaches
- Poor Hand-Eye Coordination
- Low Comprehension
- Double Vision
- Persistent Eye Strain or Fatigue
- Prolonged Homework Completion
- Troubles Focusing When Reading
- Letters Moving
- Rubbing of Eyes
- Avoids Certain Activities
- Eyes Watering When Reading
- Reduced Attention Span
- Reverses Letters or Words
- Behind in Reading Skills
We encourage you to contact one of our Edina doctors if you or a loved one are experiencing any of these symptoms. We will schedule you a comprehensive or pediatric eye exam with one of our experienced doctors to determine whether vision therapy would be beneficial.
Is Vision Therapy Right for You?
Making an appointment for a comprehensive or pediatric eye exam is an essential part of resolving existing issues if you notice any of the symptoms above. Our Edina doctors will perform an eye exam to check your visual and neurological structures and their respective functions. There will be additional tests to see how well the structures work together, so our doctors can identify any weak areas. Prescription eyewear may also be provided to verify that a simple correction won’t resolve the existing issues. Our doctors will utilize their findings after pre-screening is completed to decide if vision therapy is right for you. We will then create a personalized vision therapy plan to fit your unique requirements.
Locations & Doctors
We have brought together an outstanding team of doctors that work together to provide each patient, child, or adult, with optical expertise and care that cannot be compared. Our award-winning doctors cultivate lifelong relationships with every patient by maintaining clear communication and transparency. We guarantee that every patient’s experience will be unique to their optical needs and be incredibly educational. With precision and convenience, Art of Optiks assures your visit will be unique to you.
Our affiliate, Twin Cities Vision Therapy, is located at our Edina location with Dr. Whitman overseeing the Vision Therapy program. She is an outstanding professional that enjoys making a difference in the lives of her patients, both young and old. She specializes in working with children and patients with special needs but is eager to see patients of any age for routine eye care, contact lenses, and disease management. Art of Optiks currently has two locations that provide a variety of services we encourage you to explore. Our doctors, Timothy Haupert and Victoria Whitman, are located at offices in Wayzata and Edina, Minnesota..
