VISUAL POSTURAL THERAPY
Why you might need your eyes assessed
Your eyes help you to interact with your environment. Over 70% of your brain connections are processing visual information to help you navigate the space around you. Your visual system guides gross motor movement. The information your brain takes in through your eyes helps you determine which muscles should be active to maintain upright balance. If the information is not coming in accurately or being processed correctly, you will get a faulty output. Sometimes you can alter this just through behavior of how we use our eyes through activities. For instance, your body will typically shift toward the direction of open visual space. Other times we need help from an optometrist who specializes in postural visual therapy to make adjustments to your lenses to help you perceive space differently so you can move better.
It is not about seeing more clearly; it is about processing the information of space around you differently
This allows for automatic processing of movement and posture to improve. For some patients, no matter what exercises they do, they simply do not have access to the movement they need. Their brain and visual system will not allow it until it is unlocked by a skilled postural visual optometrist working with Dr. Brian.
How to know
if you need
your eyes assessed
Every patient will be individually assessed for their need for visual integration. If your body is able to break free of its old pattern through retraining activities alone, visual postural therapy is often not needed.
If you have been consistent with your retraining program and it does not stick for your body, we need to determine what other influences in your body may be pulling you back into your old pattern. Frequently people with visual issues will increase their mobility after one of their activities but within seconds revert to their old patterning and positioning. They may be able to improve motion through their trunk and lower body but their neck is still tight. We assess balance and visual tests that may indicate vision is an issue. We may see other signs and objective tests such as excessive hamstring length, poor ability to center and balance over one leg, a tendency to look at the ground or close your eyes to help you sense your body, or fixation or staring to improve stability. We may see that when altering the way you use your vision your mobility improves or your neck tension clears up. We may use specific tests to compare what happens when your eyes are open versus closed. If we see significant differences we can do further screening assessments for the eyes to see if an integrated optometry appointment is indicated.
Common indicators for needing visual postural therapy include:
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Use of monovision contacts or history of surgery for monovision correction
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Use of bifocals, progressives, or multifocal contacts
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History of LASIK
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Chronic headaches
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Neck and shoulder tension
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Increased pain upon waking
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Symptoms associated with visual tasks (computer use, driving, reading, watching television)
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History of repeated ankle sprain/injury
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History of concussions
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Frequent changes required in visual prescription
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High levels of visual correction for power or astigmatism
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Dizziness or vertigo symptoms
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Brain fog
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Difficulty tracking while reading or difficulty with comprehension
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Poor coordination
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Eyes that are not working together: strabismus, esophoria, exophoria
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Asymmetrical facial development
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People who are not comfortable in their current prescription so they do not wear their glasses
How
visual postural therapy is different from a routine
optometry visit
Typically when you go to an optometrist they are assessing medical health of the eye and the ability to see clearly up close and at a distance. With visual postural therapy, you are working with an optometrist specifically trained to help identify appropriate adjustments that are needed to unlock your system. The goal is not to get you to see better, it is to get you to move better, without seeing significantly worse.
How visual postural therapy works
You do not need to see clearer to feel better. You need to process space around you better. Sometimes this means getting an overactive eye to do less, getting eyes to work better together, or getting eyes to relax.
Glasses can alter your perception of space in different ways: by changing what you focus your attention on or by opening or closing space in a specific direction (which creates a corrective action in your body to manage gravity and prevent you from falling). There can also be a physical correction of eye muscle position. Your eye muscles attach to your sphenoid and maxilla that may change your cranial bone alignment, your bite, and the position of your neck. When the eyes are not functioning properly, the extra muscle tension of the eye muscles can pull on cranial bones, change neck position, and increase neck muscle tension. This in turn can un-ground you and elevate your rib cage on one or both sides, which leads to further downward effects in the body.
What to expect at a visual postural appointment
Once Dr. Brian has determined you would benefit from postural visual therapy, he will help get you scheduled for a 40 minute co-treatment appointment with Dr. Brian and Dr. Andrea Morton, O.D., MEd/VFL, FCOVD, at the Vancouver Vision Clinic in Camas, Washington.
Most patients only require one visual postural therapy appointment to acquire the change needed for their body. Occasionally adjustment appointments may be required as your body changes or if the initial visual prescription that helps your body move the best is significantly different from the prescription that helps you see the best.
If a patient is able to maintain their movement options, activity no longer produces symptoms, and they have completed their therapy program, they may still see benefits from a wellness visit with your optometrist and physical therapist to make sure clarity of sight and movement options are being optimized over time.
**Note** Occasionally a patient will not have been wearing glasses prior to visual postural therapy. In some of these cases, they may have needed glasses and not yet had them. In other cases they will only be using glasses therapeutically for short durations to help their body learn how to move better before transitioning out of them.
Dr. Andrea Morton, O.D., MEd/VFL, FCOVD
How to wear
your new prescription glasses
This will ultimately be guided by Dr. Morton but the primary goal is to use the glasses with movement. You may be prescribed to wear them for only a short period of time (like 30-60 minutes a day) or to wear them consistently all day.
Trying to improve awareness of the ground and peripheral space are key features. Things to avoid might include looking at the ground, holding your breath, reading, or screen time with your movement glasses.