BINOCULAR VISION DYSFUNCTION
TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT BINOCULAR VISION DYSFUNCTION(S)
Binocular vision dysfunction is a general name for a variety of conditions which make it difficult for a person to see their surrounding space and environment or their reading material accurately in a clear, single, three dimensional fashion as most people do. Some of these conditions include amblyopia (one or both eyes see less than 20/25 even wearing glasses with best correction), strabismus (commonly known as cross-eye), eso- or exo- phoria (called by some as poor eye teaming or straining which can cause double vision - either momentarily or frequently, whereby the person's eyes have to make extra effort than is typical to zero in on words or objects in order to keep these words or objects single and clear), accommodative infacility (difficulty maintaining focus and sometimes referred to commonly as eye strain), and suppression (commonly referred to as turning one eye off and relying on one eye more or relying on only one eye).
There are effective treatments for these ailments. These treatments do not require drugs nor surgery. They require the person becoming aware of these deficiencies and having a coach show them how to overcome them; how to strengthen their vision system; how to practice these skills which other people take for granted. This coach is an optometric physician like Dr. Rogers, who is trained in and understands binocular vision dysfunction therapy (vision therapy for short). There is no magic in vision therapy. It is all common sense. Just as a pianist must learn how to use their brain in conjunction with their hands and ears and eyes on a methodical practice schedule or as a baseball pitcher needs to learn the careful motions to pitch accurately with the help of a coach, or as some people need to learn to hone their listening skills so that they do better in class when the teacher is speaking, some people need help in gaining control over their eye movements to make them smoother, or their focusing to make it more accurate, or their eye hand and general balance to make their vision system locate objects more accurately. Sometimes a coach such as Dr. Rogers, can utilize a special type of lens called a prism lens to either alleviate the deficiency or to help train and strengthen the person's own natural vision system. There are other tools and devices which sometimes can be employed by the coach and student such as polarized filters, strings and visual games, and flashlighting. The vision system is more than the eye itself. The eye is a sort of camera which creates sight. Vision is created by the brain coordinating the use of two individual cameras (eyes) and accuracy is influenced by other sensory systems (eg, touch/balance and hearing) attached to and integrated by the brain, both on a conscious as well as subconscious level. The term biofeedback is commonly used to describe how the conscious level can be used to sort of recalibrate automatic or subconscious function. Binocular vision dysfunction therapy often employs techniques which yield biofeedback information to the patient so that they can recalibrate, for instance, their focusing accuracy. There is plenty more to read and learn at a website named children-special-needs.org check it out or send Dr. Rogers an email with a question.
GLAUCOMA
TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT GLAUCOMA CARE
Glaucoma is a disease that causes blindness. There are different types of glaucoma, including one type that can happen suddenly and painfully. Usually glaucoma happens very slowly, first by taking away the side vision and then can progress to take the central vision as well. Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve or nerve fibers in the retina of the eye. The one million nerve fibers slowly die off and blind spots develop. This process can be identified early if you come in to see your eye doctor regularly through the use of computers and different examination techniques and careful analysis. Diabetics have special risk for this disease. It can be passed on through the generations as well. The percentage of people that actually get glaucoma is small but certainly not rare. It is often written that half the actual cases of glaucoma in the general population have not yet been identified. Dr. Rogers has diagnosed many cases of glaucoma each year often in people who never suspected it themselves and a significant number of these new patients were already wearing glasses and had occasional eye exams in the past.
Recently, Dr. Rogers, an optometric physician, saw a patient who had eye drops at one time long ago but at present was not using eye drops. He was not exactly sure which drop it was and he was not so sure he had glaucoma. He had not been to an eye doctor for a long time. Dr. Rogers found that the eye pressure had climbed to 27 mm hg. This was too high for this patient. Blind spots had developed. New drops were prescribed for the patient by Dr. Rogers.
Dr. Rogers finds that sometimes patients go to a hospital and when they are discharged, a medicine list is issued and glaucoma drops are overlooked. Sometimes, pharmacies run out of refills and do not call Dr. Rogers’ cell phone to ask for extensions. This is another reason patients might find themselves without drops and soon forget they should be taking them.
Glaucoma drops should not be discontinued unless your optometric physician has found a necessary reason to discontinue, such as allergy or drop ineffectiveness. Occasionally, a drop could be become ineffective after prolonged use. The doctor might change to a different eye drop. This is a reason to keep rechecking glaucoma patients periodically. Another reason is to review instructions and methods of installation. It does not do much good for a patient to have an eye drop if the patient is having trouble actually instilling the eye drop consistently.
Good glaucoma care requires careful analysis over time, considering different tests and factors to determine whether eye drops should be used or surgery pursued. Sometimes simple observation might be appropriate for some cases which may simply be glaucoma suspicion and not "active" glaucoma.
Cataracts
THE REAL CULPRIT
A geriatric patient had been feeling discomfort in his eye. He knew he had cataracts and thought the discomfort was the cataract.
Dr. Mark E. Rogers, an optometric physician ( optometrist ) , stopped by a home to see this bed ridden patient. Using his hand held BioMicroscope, Dr. Rogers observed the real culprit that caused the discomfort; it was an inflammation. There was an area of whiteness on this patient’s peripheral cornea. The neighboring conjunctiva, or white part of the eye, was faintly red, too small for his caretaker to notice. Usually corneal infections hurt and are very red. However, some inflammations and infections like this one can persist for a long while, as the body keeps it in check but cannot resolve it completely. Dr. Rogers prescribed an antibiotic called ciloxan, in this case. In other cases, Dr. Rogers selects an antibiotic combined with a steroid when the eye is very red and there are no contra-indications to the steroid. This patient's eye returned to normal and the discomfort went away. Now that the patient felt better, the patient felt cataract surgery could wait until later.