In today’s technology centered world, we are constantly using our eyes. We go to work or school and stare at a computer screen for eight hours. We message family and like or comment on friends’ statuses on our phones. We come home and relax in front of the TV, playing video games or watching a sport or a movie.
“All that screen time can add up,” Juliet Machado, Certified Optometric VIsion Therapist, said. “The visual system was never designed to operate at 16 inches.”
Machado explained that the constant bombardment of our eyes is like lifting weights without taking a break.
“Our eyes can easily get exhausted and overwhelmed by the amount of information they’re constantly processing,” Machado said.
Dr. Bruce Wojciechowski, Doctor of Optometry and Founding Partner of Northwest Eye Care Professionals in Oregon, said that prescribing lenses can sometimes be the bare minimum treatment available for those who experience serious eye fatigue.
“So often, people have a visual issue and they’re given glasses. I do that and have done that for many years, there’s no problem with that. But what can really be helpful for those patients for whom glasses are insufficient is Vision Therapy,” Wojciechowski said. “Vision Therapy is the world’s best kept secret”
According to Dr. Wojciechowski’s website, Vision Therapy is “a program devoted to developing, improving and enhancing visual performance when lenses alone are insufficient.”
Through a sequence of visual perceptual activities, Vision Therapy can help treat symptoms such as headaches, double vision, falling asleep while reading, trouble with reading, poor comprehension, dyslexia, eye fatigue, dizziness, inability to focus, crossed eyes, wall eyes, or Amblyopia (mistakenly referred to as lazy eye).
Machado said she hopes those struggling with eye-related problems will highly consider Visual Therapy because therapy can actually help patients develop their skills and improve their vision.
“The best part about these struggles is that they can be learned. The visual system is developed, so if there is a gap in the process, vision therapy can give someone the opportunity to discover and learn these visual abilities,” Machado said.
Praxi is Vision Therapy experience in VR and on mobile devices designed to relax your eyes and neuro-visual pathways to restore you to a rested and relaxed state of focus. Through various exercises, you will train your visual system, learning skills such as improving your focus, improving your reaction time, opening up your depth of vision, and increasing your peripheral vision.
