We want to share with you the story of one of our patients who came to us with a strabismus or eye turn. Dr. Shirley Ha worked with her to help solve her eye turn and improve her vision.
The patient is an 8-year-old girl who came to us for vision therapy. She had major amblyopia, which is a condition that affects visual acuity because the brain and the eye are not working together properly. She was also experiencing an eye turn or strabismus. Her initial acuity pre-vision therapy was very poor, barely able to see the giant D at the end of the chart. Even the lazy eye was only able to see 20/25 with a lot of effort.
We worked with the patient on a treatment plan that focused on post-motor and primitive reflex integration. We spent 10 sessions just working on gross motor skill development. Our focus was on helping her build her gross motor foundation, which is essential for small muscle development in the eyes.
After the 10 sessions, we saw significant improvement in the patient’s vision. Her acuity in her right eye improved from 2400 to 2100, and her left eye was able to see things faster with less effort. The patient reported that her eyes hurt less, and she had better balance. Her mom even reported that the patient was experiencing fewer headaches.
As the patient’s vision improved, we also saw a significant improvement in her depth perception. She was finally able to get her eyes to work together, which often proves to be a challenge for strabismus patients. Initially, she saw things in two dimensions, but after the sessions, she was able to see three-dimensional images.
While the patient is no longer strabismic, she has become phoric versus esophoric. This means that her eyes are no longer turning inwards, but there is still room for improvement. Our goal is to help the patient’s eyes work in fusion and improve her depth perception even further. We want to ensure that the right eye can help with vision, and not just the left eye dominating her vision.
This patient’s success story is a testament to the importance of getting your children active and developing their gross motor skills. As developmental optometrists, we understand that vision is much more than just seeing clearly. It’s about having healthy eyes that work together to give you a better quality of life. We are committed to helping all of our patients achieve their vision goals and improve their overall quality of life.