Video Transcript:
Today we're going to talk about convergence insufficiency. At its core, convergence insufficiency is quite simply, you have two eyes and those eyes triangulate to a point. If your eyes are not strong enough to hold that point of fixation for a long period of time, you're going to have a lot of symptoms. Those symptoms are going to be headaches, it's going to be foggy vision, it's going to be all kinds of different symptoms.
The main thing to understand about convergence insufficiency is that it is a binocular vision disorder. When I talk about binocular that means it is an issue that affects your two eyes working together. What you are probably going to find as you go out in the world to try to get help, is that many optometrists consider themselves doctors of one eye at a time. They will refract one eye, they'll refract the other eye, they'll make sure that your two eyes see the same thing at 20ft; but they don't necessarily measure or spend a lot of time focusing on how your eyes actually work for you.
That's why it's important that if you are having functional issues such as headaches when you look at the computer and that kind of stuff, a new prescription in and of itself is probably not going to… let me back up… a new prescription from any optometrist, any old optometrist, like if you just pick an optometrist out of the Yellow Pages and go to that doctor and say, hey, I have headaches, they're probably not going to have the toolkit to help you.
What you want to look for is a binocular vision specialist. What they will do is in addition to the refraction that checks each eye individually, they'll also do some analysis and testing to see how your eyes work together, and then provide you some solutions for how your eyes can work better together.
So there's kind of a, I'm not even going to call it a standard eye exam, it's like a refraction. So if you are kind of going with what your insurance covers, you're probably going to get a very abbreviated refraction that is as quick as possible. And what they are doing is assessing the potential for perfect vision in each eye individually.
They're not doing a whole lot of binocular testing to uncover potential binocular vision issues. If you want to make sure that you are seeing a doctor who will address those kinds of issues, there's two groups that specialize in binocular vision and kind of the brain and eye connection. One is called OVDRA and they are a group of behavioral optometrists. They specialize in vision therapy, and they are highly focused on binocular vision. The other group is Nora which is neuro optometric rehabilitation, and they focus highly on the brain and concussion recovery and that kind of stuff.
Those two sets of doctors, doctors that are members of those groups are going to be focused on your binocular vision rather than your bi-ocular vision - so your two individual eyes.
Basically, these doctors that specialize in binocular vision are going to help you determine the best treatment, the best way to deal with your binocular vision. So there's a few common ways.
One is prism. Prism is a method of, kind of relieving the strength and the effort that your eyes use to converge. Another option is vision therapy, which is kind of like you bring your eyes to the gym for a little workout, and it's strengthening your ability to converge. Ideally, you would strengthen your eyes to converge; but, in the busy world we live in, sometimes that's not always an option, right?
You don't have time to dedicate 15-20 minutes a day to looking at a string or anything like that. If you're not able to do vision therapy, which would be the recommended and best way to go about helping with your convergence insufficiency, there are lens options and eyeglass options that can also help with that.
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this video is for educational purposes only and is based on our experience in optical solutions. We are not medical doctors. Consult with your ophthalmologist, neurologist, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your treatment plan. The solutions discussed are intended to support, not replace, professional medical advice.