Vision Specialists of Michigan
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Neck Pain and
Head Tilt

Have you been experiencing severe neck pain that has not responded to traditional treatments? Soreness, stiffness, and decreased range of motion in your neck can be debilitating, making it difficult to perform daily tasks and routines.

It may be your eyes:

Neck Pain and Head Tilt

Have you been experiencing severe neck pain that has not responded to traditional treatments? Soreness, stiffness, and decreased range of motion in your neck can be debilitating, making it difficult to perform daily tasks and routines.

It may be your eyes:

panic attack

At Vision Specialists of Michigan, we help patients who have been previously diagnosed with neck strain, neck muscle spasms, torticollis (or wry neck), and scoliosis. It can be overwhelming when you have attempted to get help from countless treatments, medications, and have seen multiple doctors, yet are still unable to experience neck pain relief. The reason standard treatments may not be helping your neck ache is because it may actually be caused by Binocular Vision Dysfunction.

Binocular Vision Dysfunction & Neck Pain

Your eyes have to work in sync with one another to see clearly and to be effective. To be completely synchronized they have to be perfectly aligned. Binocular Vision Dysfunction is a condition where there is a subtle misalignment of the eyes. Some of our patients compensate for their misalignment by tilting the head towards one shoulder, which may help to realign the images vertically, but, can lead to chronic neck pain. For many patients, the symptoms they are experiencing with their neck pain is common in conditions for which they have been previously diagnosed, including:

Do you have Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

Neck Strain:

With the overuse of your neck muscles and tendons comes the risk of neck strain or injury. This results in neck pain, tenderness, and a decreased range of motion. Our Binocular Vision Dysfunction patients have additional stress on their neck muscles as they often tilt their head to realign the image. Our specialized aligning lenses allow your eyes to work together to align the image, eliminating the need to tilt your head, and provide neck pain relief.

Neck Muscle Spasm:

When the muscles in your neck involuntarily tighten, causing a sharp or sudden pain, this condition is referred to as a muscle spasm. As a sufferer you could experience the muscle spasm for minutes, hours, or even days and they are usually a result of overuse of the muscles. Constantly tilting your head to one side to realign your vision can cause overuse and strain on the neck muscles, which could result in a neck muscle spasm. By treating the vision misalignment, we can relieve the pressure on your neck muscles and reduce or eliminate your spasms.

Torticollis (wry neck):

With torticollis you are likely to have a head tilt and feel a combination of neck pain, neck muscle tenderness and stiffness. When your neck discomfort becomes chronic and does not heal within a few days it may be due to a vision misalignment. Our specialized aligning lenses eliminate the need for the head to tilt, allowing the head to be held upright and providing you with neck pain relief.

Scoliosis:

When you suffer from scoliosis, a misalignment of the spine, you have a sideways curvature to your spine. In some patients, this can result in a neck tilt and neck pain. However, with Binocular Vision Dysfunction, neck tilts are caused by a vision misalignment. If you are not responding to traditional treatments for your scoliosis neck pain, you may also have a vision misalignment. Our specialized aligning lenses allow your eyes to work together to align the image, eliminating the need to tilt your head and providing you with significant neck pain relief.

At Vision Specialists of Michigan, we are dedicated to our patients. Our compassionate doctors will complete a thorough NeuroVisual Examination to determine the precise extent of your vision misalignment and to prescribe for you specialized aligning lenses. Unlike your standard eyeglass prescription, our lenses treat your Binocular Vision Dysfunction along with any additional vision impairments, to allow your eyes to work together. Our lenses will compensate for your misalignment so that you will not have to rely on tilting your head to align the images to see clearly. Without the need to realign the images, the head remains upright, providing you with substantial neck pain relief.

Having severe and chronic neck pain can make life difficult. It can prevent you from performing tasks at home or at work, exercising, and even take you away from activities you love. Let us, at Vision Specialists of Michigan, help you with your Binocular Vision Dysfunction. Complete the screening questionnaire or contact us today to determine if we can help you experience neck pain relief.

give us a call today at

248-258-9000

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BVD questionnaire
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Want to learn more about Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

Watch these videos of BVD patient experiences:

https://youtu.be/Z69NSaKK6zU

Child with Binocular Vision Dysfunction Finds Balance with Glasses

https://youtu.be/auLrPQqf-AM

5 Minute Cover Test for Binocular Vision Dysfunction

https://youtu.be/T0DlXCB5XDo

Professional Colleagues Discuss Binocular Vision Dysfunction

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It may be your eyes
  • American Academy Optometry
  • American Optometric Association
  • Michigan Optometric Association
  • VEDA
  • Neuro Optometry Rehabilitation Association
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Dr. Sandy DiPonio earned her optometry degree from Illinois College of Optometry in 1996. She is a highly skilled and experienced eye care professional dedicated to giving her patients of all ages excellent and compassionate care. She has a wide variety of experience in binocular vision, pediatric and adult eye care, ocular disease and contact lens fitting. She strives to provide each of her patients the best quality of life they can achieve with their vision through knowledge and education of treatment options.

Dr. DiPonio is a member of the American Optometric Society and Michigan Optometric Society.

Dr. Sally Hoey has been practicing optometry since graduating from Michigan College of Optometry in 2001. During her time in optometry school, she developed an interest in binocular vision, culminating in a senior thesis involving binocular vision.

Prior to joining Vision Specialists of Michigan, Dr. Hoey specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of vision-related learning problems as well as other binocular vision disorders. Her other areas of interest include specialty contact lens fittings and treating dry eye. Dr. Hoey strives to provide her patients with clear, comfortable vision while meeting their individual needs at the same time.

Dr. Hoey had the opportunity to provide eye care on an optometric mission trip to Guyana, South America and vision screenings at a local medical clinic. She is a member of the American Optometric Association, Michigan Optometric Association, Metropolitan Detroit Optometric Society and the College of Optometrists in Vision Development.

Dr. Jennifer Place graduated with honors from Michigan College of Optometry in 2001.

Before joining Vision Specialists of Michigan, she specialized in treating pediatric and adult patients with binocular vision disorders and vision-related learning problems, as well as fitting specialty contact lenses and managing various types of ocular disease. She enjoys working with patients with unique visual needs, and she takes great pride in providing all patients with highly customized care.

Dr. Place has volunteered for Opening Eyes, a program that provides eye exams to the athletes of the Michigan Special Olympics, and she participated in an international mission to St. Lucia to provide eye care to those in need. Dr. Place is a member of the Detroit Optometric Society, the Michigan Optometric Association, the American Optometric Association, the College of Vision Development, and the Optometric Extension Program Foundation.

Dr. Mary Jo Ference has been practicing optometry since 1990 upon graduating from Ferris State University- Michigan College of Optometry, and is certified in Low Vision Rehabilitation. She has worked at Sinai-Grace Hospital systems for over 20 years before joining Vision Specialists of Michigan in 2013 to work with binocular vision disorders. Her clinical areas of expertise include visual rehabilitation of pediatric and adult patients who have suffered from brain trauma, injury or disease. She has taught both optometry and ophthalmology residents at Sinai Grace Hospital. Dr. Ference has sat on numerous boards, including Sinai Grace Hospital, Berry Out-Patient Surgical Center, and Seedlings Braille Books for the Blind. She is actively involved in area school districts to provide education, training and access for students, teachers, OT’s and PT’s to eye care service rehabilitation information. Dr. Ference has lectured extensively nationally and internationally.

Dr. Debby Feinberg began practicing Optometry in Oakland County in 1983, upon graduating from Illinois College of Optometry. She joined her father, Dr. Paul C. Feinberg, at Mall Optical Center, which was located in Summit Place Mall.

Since 1995 Dr. Feinberg has been developing the field of NeuroVisual Medicine which is the optometric subspecialty that identifies and treats neurological / medical symptoms that originate directly or indirectly in the visual system.

Dr. Feinberg has been performing pioneering work with Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD), a condition where a vision misalignment (frequently subtle) creates difficulties with the two eyes working together to create a single 3-dimensional image, and difficulties with the two eyes following that image as it moves.

The symptoms caused by BVD are not usually associated with problems with the visual system, and include headache, dizziness, anxiety and panic, persistent post-concussive symptoms, gait instability and balance problems, frequent falls, neck pain, motion sickness, nausea, and reading and learning problems.

In 2004. Dr. Feinberg established Vision Specialists of Birmingham, specifically designing the practice to accommodate the needs of the NeuroVisual Medicine patient.

In 2011, the office moved to its current location in Bloomfield Hills and updated its name to Vision Specialists of Michigan.