Many people suffer eye problems despite having 20/20 clarity. This may be the result of having weak eye muscles or perceptual difficulties.

At times, both children and adults may suffer eye problems due to weak or inefficient eye muscles. The muscles that control focusing and eye movements behave like other muscles in the body. When placed under a load from excessive use, they can fatigue, twitch, cramp, and even be inflexible. As a result, a person could experience eye pain, eye strain, headaches, blurred vision, double vision, loss of place while reading, or reduced depth perception. If these symptoms are mild and rarely occur, relief could be obtained by resting the eyes. Just like someone might rest after carrying a heavy package or running a long distance. When symptoms are more persistent and occur frequently, additional treatment is necessary.

Treatments for eye muscle problems include corrective eyewear and eye exercises. In most cases, prescription glasses or contact lenses cure the problem. However, in other cases, special eye exercises (Vision Therapy) are necessary. Just like a muscle performance in a person’s arm, leg, chest or back can be improved with exercise, so can muscles of the eye. With eye exercises, a person can build strength, flexibility, stamina, speed and accuracy of their eye muscles. They will be able to see clearer, focus longer, and track better. In some instances, they may even be able to get rid of their glasses.

Eye exercises are prescribed according to a person’s specific needs and capabilities. During an eye examination, the doctor can measure the strength and flexibility of the eye muscles and then assign which exercises will be most beneficial. The exercises are usually accomplished with lenses, prisms, and filters which come in different strengths. When participating in vision therapy, a person begins with a lower strength exercise and move up to a higher strength exercise until their eyes work at full capacity. Some exercises are done at the doctor’s office and some are done at home. Each person’s program has to be monitored and altered as they make improvement. Like other exercise programs, end results vary depending on the severity of the condition and compliance with the program.

Occasionally, children have problems in school, not because of blurred vision or weak eye muscle, but because they have difficulty perceiving or processing what they are seeing (Vision Perception). Vision Perception problems include the inability to sort, store, and recall by size, shape, colors, texture, directions, sequences, and spatial orientation. A student having trouble with any of these skills they will confuse things and make errors. In school, this can be exhibited as poor copying skills, sloppy writing, letter or word reversals, confusing left from right, misalignment of number columns when doing math, poor memorization, reduced comprehension, and adding, omitting, or substituting unrelated material. Students with perceptual difficulties can be tested for their areas of weakness. Once diagnosed, programs can be implemented that train the student to pay attention to the right details and to better organize the information they have seen.