Strabismus and Neuroplasticity

Hello @avmcbellar,

By any chance, would you be thinking about VestibularTherapy or something different? Vestibular therapy is especially good if you are having balance, vertigo, or other dizziness issues. I have had Vestibular Therapy and found it very helpful. Here is a YouTube video that helps describe the process,

Hi Teresa @hopeful33250 thank you for thinking of me. Sorry for the confusion. I was looking for vision therapy to help with strabismus. I have diplopia caused by eye misalignment. Each eye sees a different picture. The nerves of one eye do not function correctly with the muscles of the eye to control the movement. There is evidence of neuroplasticity helping some people with correcting the misalignment. True, vestibular therapy offers relief to sufferers of dizziness and balance issues. There are crystals inside the ears responsible for balance. Somehow for whatever reason these crystals get moved, causing the imbalance and dizziness. Vestibular exercises move the head in hopes of moving the crystals back into place to resolve the dizziness and imbalance. Thank you for the suggestion. I have tried vestibular exercises with a physical therapist. Unfortunately, the crystals in my ears were not the cause of my dizziness and balance problems. Toni

@avmcbellar Hi Toni,
I certainly hope that you find an answer! What other treatments and/or therapies have you tried? Does any ophthalmologist offer any other suggestions to help you?

Hi Teresa @hopeful33250 I have been to 2 neuro ophthalmologists. The first I saw twice to get my diagnosis and explanation of my symptoms. He then referred me to the second neuro ophthalmologist for a possible treatment. The problem is that not many exist that can offer help to aneurism or stroke victims. For the first few visits, I felt not much was known by ophthalmology. I was told to either cover my bad eye(right) with a patch or use frosty tape to cover the right lens of my eye glasses. This would prevent a second image and eliminate the double vision. I was told to wait for the bad eye to settle. Since the ophthalmologist did not have many answers, I began to learn ways to help myself. I saw him again 1 1/2 years later in June 2020. This time he used a tool to measure how far off the right eye image was from the left eye image. We discussed the cost and procedures of the strabismus surgery and the risks. A friend who had double vision reported after seeing a vision therapist for eye exercises her double vision went away. She lives in Pennsylvania. Not many vision therapists in Tampa. I decided to do my own exercises on a daily basis. It has been now over 3 months and I have seen improvements. Only trouble is that the bad eye slowly tries to align with the other eye. Since it is not an instantaneous adjustment my motion sickness has gotten worse. I have less than 1 1/2 years before my secondary medical insurance kicks in. So until then I will continue with eye exercises as long as I see improvements. I was hoping for strabismus surgery feedback on Connect. Overall, strabismus surgery has a high percentage rate of positive outcomes. Thank you for asking. The Mayo Clinic Connect has been very helpful with my research and decision making. I am gladly open to any suggestions or advice. Thanks again, Toni 🤓

@avmcbellar Hi Toni, Thanks for that detailed explanation. Any rare disorder is frustrating but this affects so much of your life that it must seem doubly frustrating. Have you ever tried the eye patch as a temporary fix until you can have the surgery? While I'm sure it wouldn't be the most stylish look, if it would help with the motion sickness it might be worth a try. Just a thought.

Hi Teresa @hopeful33250. Thanks for the suggestion. I did try both( patch and frosty tape). With the patch, after a month, my bad eye was seeing “snow”. When I took off the patch, the image on the bad eye was very dark. It was so uncomfortable that I removed the patch and started using the frosty tape on my glasses. At least the frosty tape allowed the light into the eye. Slowly the darkness went away. My motion sickness was still there but manageable. When I saw the neuro ophthalmologist he had asked me if my bad eye had adjusted. The answer was NO because I still had the double vision. I thought to myself how would the bad eye adjust to the other eye when it is always covered. So, as soon as I went home I took of the frosty tape on my glasses. I dealt with the double vision in hopes of it getting better. Little by little I developed photophobia. I couldn’t figure out where this was coming from. I tried the eye moisturizers and dimming the lights at home and digital devices. Nothing seemed to make a significant difference until I thought to update my eye glass prescription. I bought new eye glasses with the proper strength in June 2020. As a result, the photophobia decreased considerably. My eyes became even more accustomed to one another. That is when I began researching eye exercises and neuroplasticity. My neuro ophthalmologist who will also be my surgeon agreed with me that the motion sickness is largely due to the strabismus. I did not know about neuroplasticity at the time to ask him but I later thought there is no harm in trying. I certainly have the time so WHY NOT. If the eye exercises eliminate the double vision, great! If not, I have the option for strabismus surgery. Toni

Hi Lori @lorirenee1 apparently VR can help those with strabismus by correcting the alignment of the eyes. Here is some information I found. https://youtu.be/HJ4AtzQaGiw and https://www.facebook.com/verge/videos/a-clinic-is-using-virtual-reality-to-treat-lazy-eye/1750289931678846/ Perhaps it will offer relief in your case. Toni

@avmcbellar Hi Toni, thanks for sharing! I have had so many exercises for depth perception and lazy eye that did not help much, but I will check this out. Thanks! LoriRenee1

Lori, you’re welcome! Amazing to find out how new technology can help us. People can use the VR goggles at home and not have to go to an office for the exercises. I believe VR goggles will become more popular in the future. It is a new way to watch movies or shows. Who needs theaters any more? This is a better experience because your brain gets fooled into thinking you are there in the image. One can even have others join into an event and feel the experience of a group get together. I have tried daily exercises without VR. I saw some improvements with my sight but the motion sickness got worse. I believe I was aggravating the eye muscles to align but the reaction time was too slow. The VR glasses won’t help me with my diplopia but I will use them after my surgical correction. The VR experience is awesome. Toni

@lorirenee1. Hi there, Lori. I didn't realize you had a lazy eye. Sounds like there is not much that helped. My father and his monozygotic twin had lazy eye.....one in the right the other in the left I believe. And then my brother had it and did the exercises at the optomologist's office on his way home from school. And my mom worked for the optomologist's sister who was a judge.....the only one in the woman judge in the county at that time just down the street. Isn't it amazing how these connections appear after years of being buried in my memory. How do they use the VR goggles for dry eye? G'night.....hope I spelled things correctly.....it is late.

Be safe and protected from inner and outer harm.
Chris