Have you ever ever questioned if treating your imaginative and prescient may assist with the frequency and severity of migraine assaults? As a long-time glasses wearer, that is one thing I’ve usually thought of. Like most individuals, I see an ophthalmologist recurrently. At my appointment every year I inform my physician about my migraine, eye fatigue, and visible aura signs. And every year I’m instructed my eyes are wholesome, and with maybe a slight change in my glasses prescription, I’m despatched on my approach. Okay, I feel my head has nothing to do with my imaginative and prescient. Or does it?
Simply over a yr in the past my adolescent daughter suffered a light traumatic mind harm after getting hit within the head with a softball. When her day by day headache and migraine signs didn’t subside after a number of months, she was recognized with post-concussion syndrome and persistent migraine. After months of persistent day by day complications and frequent migraine assaults, her concussion specialist despatched her to see a neuro-optometrist. This, he defined, is totally different than a daily optometrist or ophthalmologist in that they have a look at not solely the well being of the eyes and the way nicely they’re seeing, but in addition at how the mind and eyes are speaking and functioning collectively.
After a complete eye examination and testing, the neuro-optometrist recognized my daughter with a number of imaginative and prescient points. These had been made worse on account of her head harm, however had been additionally doubtless genetic and had been quietly inflicting her points all alongside.
The Analysis
My daughter was recognized with binocular imaginative and prescient dysfunction—which is when the mind and eyes don’t work collectively appropriately. Moderately than having the ability to see a single image, they wrestle to work collectively as a staff, which may trigger imaginative and prescient misalignment and double imaginative and prescient. This will result in a number of visible and non-visual signs together with:
- Extra frequent complications and migraine assaults
Fatigue- Blurred imaginative and prescient
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Vertigo
- Hassle with studying and focusing
- Eye fatigue
- Gentle sensitivity
- Sensory points
- Anxiousness and panic
- Movement illness
- Nausea
- Poor hand-eye coordination
- Hassle driving at evening
She was additionally recognized with convergence insufficiency, which is a watch coordination downside brought on by an absence of communication between the nerves and the muscle tissue that management the attention actions. Convergence insufficiency may cause most of the above signs as nicely. Due to genetics, my daughter already had a historical past of complications and migraine previous to her concussion. However her physician defined that the harm additional knocked her imaginative and prescient out of alignment, and this was making her signs worse in addition to inflicting her restoration to take longer. He mentioned this will additionally occur on account of a stroke, sure viruses and ailments, and even bodily and/or emotional trauma.
This had me interested in my very own imaginative and prescient points. I made an appointment with the identical physician, and the testing confirmed that I even have convergence insufficiency and astigmatism, which may very doubtless be triggering extra complications and migraine assaults.
The Remedy
The therapy plan included particular prescription glasses with prisms lenses that appropriate misalignment by altering how mild hits your eyes. This may help to calm the mind down and relieve rigidity. For my daughter, therapy additionally included imaginative and prescient remedy, which analysis reveals to be extensively identified and efficient.
The imaginative and prescient remedy program was tailor-made to my daughter’s particular imaginative and prescient points. It included each in-office classes led by a educated imaginative and prescient therapist, and at-home workout routines. The workout routines are supposed to strengthen the attention muscle tissue and retrain the eyes and mind to see in unison. Typically they had been video games or puzzles that helped with visible and psychological acuity. Others instances, they had been extra vestibular in nature, comparable to a strolling in a straight line whereas shifting her head back and forth and studying aloud. Progress was tracked after every train.
The remedy was taxing at instances, particularly to start with, and would depart her feeling extra symptomatic and exhausted. However over time, her eyes strengthened, and we started to see outcomes. Every appointment bought simpler and after a number of months, my daughter began having fewer headache days and migraine assaults. Her dizziness, fatigue, steadiness, and lightweight sensitivity have additionally drastically improved.
The Takeaway
As is true with all migraine remedies, nothing is a magic bullet. My daughter and I nonetheless have migraine illness. We are going to nonetheless have migraine assaults. We nonetheless have to observe our triggers, preserve wholesome life, take preventive migraine drugs and use migraine gadgets. However general, the prism glasses have helped to scale back our variety of headache days, and imaginative and prescient remedy has helped my daughter come a good distance since her harm.
Let Us Know!
Do you may have comorbid imaginative and prescient points and migraine? May imaginative and prescient remedy be proper to your therapy toolbox?
The above data is academic and shouldn’t be thought-about medical recommendation; please seek the advice of together with your healthcare skilled earlier than making any adjustments to your migraine therapy plan.