It Is Never Too Late: Adult Strabismus and Vision Therapy
I will be uncharacteristically brief. I would like to share with you a video posted on You Tube by a colleague, Dr. Lynn Marran of Yorba Linda, California. Dr. Marran interviews her patient Christina (in her late 50s) who shares her experiences with vision therapy.It's pretty easy to tell how happy this woman is and why.
I work with people over 50 all the time, many with strabismus. One woman with whom I am currently working is Maria who has strabismus and is in her late 80s. She was 85 when we began working together. Nobody really knows how long she has had the problem, but she had been treated with stronger and stronger prisms over a five year period before we met. There was never any improvement with the previous treatment, and the medical community finally threw up its hands saying that they could not give her stronger prisms anymore and that surgery was the only solution. Three different doctors told her this.This was absolutely untrue.
Eye muscle surgery of course is often unsuccessful, even when repeated because the previous attempt did not last. Most surgeons believe that if the eyes are straight for even a short time, the surgery was successful. It is very common for the straight eyes to stop being straight after some period of time - especially after five years. I have seen people with up to ten eye muscle surgeries – each surgery diminishes the ability of the eye muscle that is operated on to move or send important signals to the brain.
Vision therapy is a much safer, more successful and longer lasting approach to treating strabismus at any age.That is why I wrote A Parent Guide to Strabismus, Eye Muscle Surgery and Vision Therapy...and it's not just for adults with children.