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5 Ways Vision Therapy Helps With Nystagmus

If someone said to you, “Oh you have dancing eyes,” you might think it was a compliment. It sounds lovely doesn’t it?! But in reality, it is a very challenging eye disorder that brings visual frustrations. 

“Dancing eyes” or nystagmus is an involuntary rhythmic motion of the eyes. The movement can be side-to-side (horizontal), up and down (vertical), or circular (rotary). Nystagmus can occur at birth (congenital) or it can occur later in life (acquired). Congenital nystagmus patients report more blurry vision rather than the shaky or “dancing” vision with those who’ve acquired it. It is a spectrum condition; meaning it can have varying levels of visual impact – to a slight nuisance to extremely debilitating. No matter where one falls on the spectrum, the underlying thread for all cases of nystagmus is the inability to stop the eye movements, have proper fixation or functional binocularity.  

Can someone with nystagmus find relief and/or correct this vision disorder to gain sight with clarity and distinction? At Vision For Life and Success, we can offer various remedial tools along side of Syntonics light therapy to facilitate healing in order to “hang up” those “dancing eyes!” 

After a consultation, a tailored vision therapy program will be created to target individualized needs. Syntonics, or photosyntonics light therapy, is an essential component used in conjunction with all our vision therapy protocols to yield faster results to calm down what is happening in the brain after trauma or problems associated with binocular vision issues. 

Syntonics is an extremely effective, non invasive intervention which employs different colored goggles (that resemble 3D glasses) to filter a light through. And because Syntonics is a personalized treatment, each filter used is based on the specific need of the patient and/or eye condition. You don’t even have to a two step shuffle to reap the benefits of this therapy. You can simply put on the prescribed filters and sit this one out! 

The goal of Syntonics, no matter the type of visual disturbance, is to reprogram the system; i.e. to assist in reestablishing communication between and/or rewiring of the brain and eye network.

Let’s look at 5 ways vision therapy can help remediate nystagmus:

  1. Slows down the ‘dancing’ and properly fixate. Maximizing the powerful impact  Syntonics has on visual/brain trauma to encourage the brain/eyes to reboot itself. This helps to slow down/stop that involuntary rhythmic motion of the eyes in order to regain proper fixation. 
  2. Focus and see more clearly. Syntonics, with over 25 different colored filters, can target specific areas that need rewiring assistance. With regards to nystagmus, certain colors will encourage the brain/eye systems to slow down and stop motions so improvements with focus and a more clear visual field can begin to occur.
  3. Restore the electrical connection and foster improved communication between the brain and the eyes. Syntonics provides a way to send coded signals directly to the brain just by placing a colored filter over the eyes and gazing at a light. The coded messages received by the brain and eye systems will be dependent upon the color of the filter. These coded messages assist in the restoration of the electrical connections and stimulate communication. 
  4. Improve binocularity and alignment. The reprogramming that is initialed through utilizing Syntonics helps facilitate proper eye alignment, aiding in functional binocularity. 
  5. Establish stereopsis (depth perception). And as the 4 mentioned above are targeted and improved upon, a patient struggling with nystagmus will begin to establish depth perception. Then, with retired “dancing eyes,” one can clearly and distinctly see that all the world’s a stage, and the feet can do the dancing! 

Check out this success story on Nystagmus!

I’m 24 and have congenital nystagmus. I finished my seven weeks of therapy with Vision for Life. I can already tell that my vision is improving. I didn’t used to go around the house or go for a walk without my glasses but now I feel comfortable walking without my glasses. Before when I used to see the stuff that is closer to me, it was blurry but now it’s more clear. I didn’t enjoy reading books because of headaches and eye strain after 20 minutes of reading but now I can read for hours without any problems and now I enjoy reading. I am really happy that I can at least read now learn something new every day and build my confidence. All my life, I thought there was no hope but when I found out about Vision for Life I was so happy. A massive thank you to Vision for Life!!  I am excited to continue my therapy and cannot wait to see the end result. — Asma

 

If you are interested in learning more about or know someone who could benefit from our customized vision therapy programs, please visit our website at visionforlifeworks.com or contact us directly at (618) 288-1489. Schedule a consultation and get started on the healing journey today!