If you are one of the 45 million Americans who suffer from frequent headaches, there may be help available for you at Vision For Life! We are having success with relieving headaches through vision therapy in conjunction with a new light therapy program we now offer.
Headaches are generally categorized as either primary, which includes migraines, or secondary, which includes tension, the most common type of headache. Tension headaches can be caused by any number of factors, including:
- Stress
- Poor posture
- Medication
- Illness or infection
- Caffeine
- Obesity
- Lack of sleep
- Dehydration
However, a vast number of tension headaches are caused by visual issues such as eyestrain, focusing difficulties, poor eye teamwork, and the ever-growing problem of computer vision syndrome. An estimated 50-90% of people using computers, cell phones and other small electronic media devices will experience eye troubles, particularly eyestrain and headaches. Moreover, our eyes tend naturally to compromise or make improper adjustments to handle the stresses of everyday vision demands, forming the basis for routine headaches as well.
Vision and light therapy can treat headache pain of a visual origin. The first step is to discover the root of the matter. Some eye problems go undiagnosed because they are not tested for in a routine eye examination. Poor eye teamwork, focusing and convergence difficulties are commonly undetected problems, as well as lazy eye and misaligned eyes, all of which can contribute to daily headaches. An in-depth vision evaluation will reveal these and other problems by testing near vision skills needed for reading and computer usage.
After a vision evaluation and diagnosis, we design a program of vision therapy (VT) based on your particular needs. VT is similar to physical therapy, except for the eyes. It includes eye activities using special equipment such as lenses and computers. VT is done over a period of time to train your eyes to work together properly to improve and enhance your vision, as well as relieve your headaches and other vision-related symptoms.
We now offer VT in conjunction with Syntonic Phototherapy used for over 90 years in the field of optometry to treat eye conditions. Phototherapy balances the autonomic nervous system, which controls the perceptual visual field. Children with learning disabilities and adults under visual stress often have a reduced perceptual visual field. Light entering the eyes joins together brain centers to allow normal visual processing to occur.
In phototherapy, depending on the patient’s diagnosis, various colored lenses are worn alternately for approximately 20 minutes several times a week. Lens colors range from yellow, lime green and aqua green to dark blue, purple, red and magenta. Each color is used to treat an assortment of visual problems.
Issues that can be improved with vision and light therapies include:
- Short attention span
- Poor memory
- Poor coordination or balance
- Reduced concentration and comprehension
- Dizziness
- Motion sickness
- Poor depth judgment
- Emotional fatigue
The following conditions can cause headaches:
- Eyestrain and fatigue
- Dry, red, watery or itchy eyes
- Blurry vision
- Lazy eye (overusing one eye)
- Focusing and tracking difficulties
- Light sensitivity
- Double vision
- Brain injuries, such as concussion
For more information about syntonics or any questions you have, feel free to contact us!