Once you have to get glasses or contacts, it is even more important to watch the health of your eyes. You also need routine checks to ensure your prescription has not changed.
To ensure good eye health and vision, we are very proud to offer the following services:
Vision Therapy
Vision Therapy Q & A
What is vision therapy?
Vision therapy is a form of brain training through your eyes. It works by improving the efficiency of your eye movements. This improvement is achieved by strengthening the neurological connections from your eyes to your brain.
Our program starts at a foundational level, building the function one eye at a time, and as skills progress, we progress to more complex binocular tasks. The later portion of treatment aims to automate the skills into the system and improve visual processing and multitasking abilities.
Your eye doctor at Vision Performance Center of Minnesota tailors your vision therapy program to your needs. Vision therapy happens once per week in our office for 30-60 minutes, with at home daily exercises for approximately 15 minutes per day.
The treatment course for each patient is different and individualized. An average treatment plan is 20-25 weeks, with mild cases as little as 15 weeks and more advanced cases at 30 weeks or more. Every patient will have a final progress check with their same doctor once the vision therapy program is complete.
Who needs vision therapy?
Vision therapy can help patients of all ages. In previous years, it was most common to treat children, but adult cases are becoming more and more common. Currently, it is estimated that half of our vision therapy patients are adults, many of which are post-concussion or post- traumatic brain injury.
Vision is more than just 20/20 acuity. You can pass a basic vision screening but still experience struggles in the classroom, playing field or at work.
Sometimes, parents or teachers assume that a child simply needs eyeglasses if they are having trouble in school. If children have an issue such as visual processing, new glasses won’t correct the issue, but vision therapy can often do so quite effectively.
There are a common symptoms to look for that cannot be commonly corrected by just glasses. These symptoms include, but are not limited to:
- Chronic headaches
- Persistent eye strain/fatigue
- Diplopia (Double Vision)
- Problems focusing
- Car sickness
- Poor hand-eye coordination
- Homework takes longer to finish than it should
- Low comprehension
- Difficulty concentrating while reading
- Letters appearing to move while reading
If you notice any of the symptoms listed above, talk to your eye doctor at Vision Performance Center of Minnesota about whether or not vision therapy might be right for you.
How does the eye doctor determine if vision therapy is right for you?
These are the steps that need to be completed in order to determine if vision therapy is needed:
- Complete medical eye exam (with cycloplegic eye drops): This ensures we know your eyes are healthy and you have an up-to-date glasses or contact lens prescription if needed.
- If you have had an eye exam in the past year, you do not need to get another.
- Records faxed to Vision Performance Center of Minnesota: If your exam was completed elsewhere, please have your eye doctor fax these records to our office at contact us today at help@vpcmn.com! .
- Visual Efficiency Examination (VEE): A 21 point binocular vision examination to evaluate the function of your eyes. At this time, the doctor will determine your diagnoses and treatment plan.
- Schedule vision therapy: Scheduling will be discussed with vision therapist after your VEE.
Wondering whether vision therapy can help with your issues? Contact the office anytime at contact us today at help@vpcmn.com! to talk with a vision therapist to begin the process.
Concussions
The Concussion Management Team at Vision Performance Center of Minnesota has specialized training in binocular vision deficiencies associated with concussion management. We have years of experience treating athletes at the professional, college, and youth levels.
What is a CONCUSSION?
Concussion is defined as a traumatically induced transient disturbance of brain function and involves a complex pathophysiological process. Approximately ninety percent of concussions involve binocular vision dysfunction. While some resolve with rest and medical management over time; many do not.
Visual symptoms of a CONCUSSION:
- Poor tracking
- Decreased visual strength and endurance
- Change in visual posture
- Headache
- Reduced depth perception
- Difficulty concentrating
- Balance problems
- Light sensitivity
- Dizziness/Vertigo
Co-Management:
Once a concussion has been diagnosed by your concussion clinic specialists; a plan to reduce and/or eliminate your symptoms and manage your recovery is set in motion. Our doctors and therapists will determine the course of action through the Vision Efficiency Evaluation.
Visual Efficiency Evaluation:
Our doctors will conduct a comprehensive vision evaluation consisting of 21 different tests to identify binocular vision dysfunction. Collected information will be used to develop a personalized treatment plan. The treatment will be conducted by our Vision Therapists who specialize in vision deficiencies associated with concussion management. As part of the co-management process, our team works in conjunction with your concussion clinic; advising them of your treatment plan and your progress.
Vision Performance Center of Minnesota is the preferred referral source for the vision treatment of concussions by many Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, Psychologists, and Concussion Clinics in Minnesota.
Sports Vision
Sports Vision Q & A
What is sports vision training?
Sports vision is the process of training your visual system to relay information from your eyes through the brain to set the body in motion, in order to perform quickly and accurately. The term “Vision” applies to more that 20/20 eyesight. Vision involves many subtle and sophisticated links between your brain, muscles and eyes. In essence, sports vision training is weightlifting for your eyes.
What kind of skills can sports vision training give me?
It actually depends on your visual strengths and areas that need improvement. Each athlete will define their goals and the individualized training program will be devised by the doctor and implemented by the therapist.
Dynamic visual acuity
Better dynamic visual acuity means that you get improved ability to see the objects around you while they’re in motion. This can help you see the split-second movements that you may otherwise miss.
Depth perception
Improved depth perception means improved ability to quickly determine how fast others are moving and how far away they are from you.
Coordination
When you improve your hand-eye and eye-body coordination, you’re better able to respond to visual stimuli. This helps improve your timing and overall control of your body.
Visual pursuit
When you improve your visual pursuit ability, you can better follow an object with your eyes. For example, you’ll find it easier to track a basketball or hockey puck once your visual pursuit is better.
Visual acuity
It’s important to improve your visual acuity when you’re an athlete because better visual acuity means your vision is sharper and clearer overall.
Visual concentration
With better visual concentration, you’ll notice better general awareness and an improved ability to tune out distractions.
Visual reaction time
Improved visual reaction time means that your brain processes information faster, and this allows you to physically react faster, too.
Visualization
Visualization is something you can do at any time, but visualizing a positive outcome and making it happen may be easier after sports vision training.
Who can benefit?
Whether you are a youth in sports or a professional athlete, sports vision will help you train your brain to perform to the best of its abilities. It will also assist in preventative safety measures and recovery from Post-Concussion symptoms (TBI).
What Programs Are Available For Training?
It’s customized for your needs. One-on-one training happens at Vision Performance Center of Minnesota. You can also opt for team or group training. Off-site camp training is available as well.