6 Common Misconceptions About Vision Therapy

Vision therapy can be an excellent asset for improving vision among children and adults. It’s a personalized way of building the communication between your eyes. While VT is a very helpful tool, there are a number of misconceptions surrounding its effectiveness that prevent many from getting the help that they deserve. Below, Accent Eye Care debunks 6 myths surrounding vision therapy in order to advocate more common application of the treatment.

6 Common Misconceptions About Vision Therapy

There is no Science Involved

Visual therapy is backed by hard facts based on neuroscience. There are hundreds of studies that support its effectiveness in treating developmental deficiencies. The myth that there is no research to back up vision therapy is perpetuated by those who aren’t specialists on the subject.

I’m Too Old for Vision Therapy

Anybody can take advantage of the amazing opportunities vision therapy provides. Many adults improve faster than children, since they are more motivated to succeed. That’s because there is no magical age for vision therapy. The brain never stops learning, and some studies even report growth as late as 70 years old.

Only Surgery Can Correct Alignment Deficiency

Surgery can correct misaligned eyes at an appearance level. Vision therapy, however, is required to train the eyes to work as a team. Even if you have surgery to realign your eyes, the brain still has to learn how to use them together.

You Don’t Need VT if You Have 20/20 Vision

Vision therapy is more than just improving your sight. You can have 20/20 sight and still have vision problems. Vision therapy aims to improve how your eyes focus, work together, and follow their targets. 20/20 simply means you can identify letters at 20 feet away that the average person could. Professional athletes strive to see better than 20/20.

Vision Therapy is Just Eye Exercises

While exercises are certainly a very important part of the vision therapy process, they don’t make up the majority of what we have to offer. Our optometrists are trained to diagnose a wide variety of optical deficiencies and develop strategies around them to improve your vision.

Ophthalmologists are the Authority on Vision Care

Although ophthalmologists are excellent surgeons and very knowledgeable about eye disease, they are under-informed of the benefits of vision therapy. Many will state that ‘vision therapy does not work’ simply because they don’t understand it. If you are considering vision therapy, then talk to one of our optometrists that specialize in developmental vision deficiencies like convergence, coordination, and visual processing.