Eye Exercises for Hyperphorias

Hyperphoria is an eye condition in which one eye focuses higher than the other. This can cause difficulties in reading, the speed at which one can read and comprehend the written language, and even the ability to understand when others are speaking. If left untreated, this eye condition can affect a person's whole life. Luckily, this condition is treatable.

Getting a Diagnosis

• Many people aren't even aware that they are suffering from an eye condition because they don't link the symptoms with a possible eye condition. Some of the more common symptoms include but are not limited to:
  Poor depth perception
  Car sickness
  Headaches that cannot be explained
  Fatigue
  Backache
  Trouble understanding the spoken word
  Poor focusing ability
  The first thing to do before you start any treatment or exercise program is to get a diagnosis. The way that hyperphoria is treated is different than the way other eye conditions may be treated so a proper diagnosis by a qualified ophthalmologist is critical. Once the diagnosis is made, the right exercises for your specific eyesight problem must be initiated. Every patient responds differently to hyperphoria, and as a result individual exercise plans need to be created.

Vision Therapy

• After you are diagnosed you will begin vision therapy, which is a treatment program that has been developed to train your eyes to focus on objects the way that they are intended to. Vision therapy is a progressive type of treatment that will help to develop or reestablish normal vision skills. This will be taught through a series of exercises by a trained professional in a medical setting. In some instances therapeutic exercises and eyewear need to be combined to correct the hyperphoria and do away with the troubling symptoms.

Vision Therapy Exercises

• Doctors oversee the vision therapy exercises because the therapy needs to be refined for each patient individually. The extent of the problem is different for each person. Vision therapy sessions usually last for 30 to 45 minutes and the patient will usually have assigned homework, such as focusing on a card with numbers or dots or colors on it. Exercises may also include frowning to compensate for the uneven focus. Patients may also be instructed to tilt the head, which helps to shift the spine, often relieving lower back pain associated with the condition. The point of the exercises is to get both eyes to focus at the same level on the object in front of them. The reason that vision therapy has to be practiced and monitored in a medical setting is that bad habits can be easily result without proper guidance. The condition was largely developed in the first place by patients responding in an ineffective way to the initial problem, viewing the world through two eyes not properly working in unison.