There are times when even prismatic lenses aren’t enough to eliminate a patient’s symptoms of Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD). This is because some patients not only experience problems with their vision, but are sensitive to light and sound as well. When prismatic lenses alone don’t cut it, the doctors at Vision Specialists of Michigan often incorporate two additional components into the treatment plan of these patients: lens tints and noise-cancelling devices.
Dr. Debby’s Trifecta Treatment
The optometric field has expanded in terms of how eye doctors and specialists are approaching binocular vision problems. There’s a strong connection between the visual system and the hearing/balance centers of the inner ear. At Vision Specialists of Michigan, we not only work with prism lenses, but also add tint and sound reduction devices when necessary. Dr. Debby likes to refer to this as the Trifecta: she works with prism, she works with tinted lenses and she’s beginning to work with sound reduction devices to fully help patients heal.
Light & Sound Sensitivity
When we work with people who have had head injuries or were born with BVD, we first look at their eye alignment to see if they can be helped with special aligning lenses. But in addition to visual symptoms such as headaches and dizziness, there’s also often a sensitivity to light that’s a common thread among these patients. In these cases, we use tinted lenses that are specially designed to be incorporated into the glasses.
Another symptom of which we’ve recently become aware is sound sensitivity. BVD patients can easily become overwhelmed in restaurants and other busy, noisy places. They can even have issues in a quiet room with loud noises such as those made by typing on a keyboard or the furnace or air conditioner kicking on. When noise-cancelling headphones are used, the feeling of being overwhelmed is greatly reduced. Consider the experience of Ellie, one of our patients who recently described her symptoms of sound sensitivity and her experience using noise-cancelling headphones for the first time.
Ellie’s Story
“It goes as far back as I can remember, ‘cause I can remember being two or three years old, getting a patch on my eye and getting vision therapy and feeling dizzy and feeling nauseous.
“I just remember everything being loud; it’s always been that way for me, so I didn’t know any different.
“When you put the headphones on [me], it was a complete release from my head to my toes. It was like every nerve in my body, I could feel it just release. It was like getting a hundred massages at the same time. It was complete peacefulness, I felt like my brain could finally shut off.
“It’s beautiful, this is beautiful. I don’t ever want to take these off. This is wonderful. It’s almost like finally being able to rest.”
Learn More About the Trifecta Treatment
To learn more about Dr. Debby’s Trifecta treatment and whether it can help you, contact Vision Specialists of Michigan today at (248) 258-9000.
