Strabismus, more popularly known as crossed eyes, is a condition when both eyes do not look in the same place at the same time. Vision therapy exercises for strabismus cures the state where one eye looks straight ahead while the other looks in another direction. Mostly observed in infants and children, but the condition can arise in adults too.
The condition of strabismus can be treated – the earlier, the better. If patients do not get the state of convergence insufficiency causes treated, it can result in vision damage, double vision, reduced vision, and amblyopia, also known as lazy eye.
What Kind of Eye Exercised are Prescribed as Strabismus Therapy?
Six muscles control eyes. These muscles usually work together in coordination to look in the same place. In conditions of strabismus, these muscles do not work as a team. Treatment in vision therapy commonly ranges from eyeglasses to patches to surgery and exercises.
A professional ophthalmologist generally suggests exercises that improve muscle control, and brain-eye coordination helps eyes to focus correctly. People can perform some of these exercises at home while the others need to be practised at the doctor’s office as they require special pieces of equipment – prisms, occluders, computer programs, filters, lenses to name a few.
· Brock String – Such exercises require five feet of string and three beads of different colours. Ophthalmologists place the beads on the string at equal lengths from each other. Practitioners tie one end of the string to an immovable object while the other end rests on the patient’s nose. Patients are made to focus on the bead closest to their nose, and it appears like a single object at X where the strings meet. Then the patient shifts focus on the next bead and repeat it.
· Pencil Push-ups – Certified opticians often call these exercises as a near point of convergence exercise. It can be done easily and cost-effectively anywhere. Practitioners hold the pencil at arm’s length and slowly move it closer to the nose while following the pencil with eyes and keeping it in focus. When the patient starts seeing two pencils, the process should begin again.
Several pieces of research have proved the pencil push-up treatment alone to help strabismus. While these exercises can be practised at home, the one involving computer programs cannot be done at home.