Normally, your two eyes work as a well-coordinated team to help you focus on objects that are nearby and far away. Convergence insufficiency is a vision problem that occurs when your eyes do not work well together to focus on a nearby object. This vision problem can cause several symptoms when you are reading or doing other work at a close distance. Fortunately, vision therapy as provided by developmental optometrists and vision therapists relieves symptoms associated with convergence insufficiency.

Our Yakima and Richland Developmental Optometrists Discuss Convergence Insufficiency

When you look at an object close to your face, both of your eyes should turn inwards to focus on that object. In patients with convergence insufficiency, it is difficult for them to pull their eyes inward to focus on things up close such as words in a book.

Symptoms of convergence insufficiency include blurred vision, words that seem to move off the page when reading, double vision, headaches and difficulty concentrating. A person with this condition may squint or close one eye to read or focus on nearby objects.  This may occur even if the patient has 20/20 vision.

Convergence insufficiency is almost always not caught in a normal school vision screening or the vision screening done at a pediatrician or other medical office.  Even in a routine vision exam by an eye doctor, it is often missed.  Vision Therapy Clinics have eye doctors that specialize in convergence insufficiency and other binocular disorders, called developmental optometrists.  At Washington Vision Therapy Center, we are a referral center that over 100 doctors in the area refer to for convergence insufficiency and other vision conditions needing vision therapy. If you are concerned that you or your child may have a vision problem that is interfering with performance, please call us to schedule an evaluation. You do not need a referral. Please feel free to call us with any questions you may have.

Vision Therapy is Effective Treatment for Convergence Insufficiency

Vision therapy for convergence insufficiency helps ensure that both eyes turn inward when you look at near items. This therapy is done by trained vision therapists under the direction of specially trained developmental optometrist, and may include the use of glasses, prisms, and exercises aimed at helping the individual improve the coordination of the eyes so that they can effortlessly focus the eyes at near.

The American Optometric Association and the College of Optometrists in Vision Development recommend vision therapy to treat convergence insufficiency. Results from the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial, a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, show that 75 percent of pediatric participants who received vision therapy by a trained vision therapist had fewer and less severe symptoms associated with reading and doing other near work.  At Washington Vision Therapy Center, we have a history of even higher rates of success, most likely because we can tailor the therapy to the patient and not have to deal with the rigors of a double-blind, placebo-based, multi-center treatment trial.

To learn more about convergence insufficiency and to learn how vision therapy can help you relieve your symptoms, contact the Washington Vision Therapy Center today at 509-654-9256. Our developmental optometrists are eager to help patients from Yakima, Ellensburg, Wenatchee, Kennewick, Pasco, Spokane, and Richland, WA area, overcome this condition and improve your quality of life.

Convergence Insufficiency FAQ

What is Convergence Insufficiency?

Convergence insufficiency is a common vision disorder involving the inability of both eyes to focus up close simultaneously and often causes blurry or double vision due to tendency of the eyes to drift outward. When the brain receives these distorted images via the optic nerve, it then directs the eye muscles to converge (turn inward) the eyes to improve image clarity. Unfortunately, this works against what the eyes want to do (turn outward), which can cause a variety of symptoms that reduce quality of life. Your Yakima doctor of optometry offers a clinical diagnosis of convergence insufficiency by testing your vision, eye motions, and general eye health.

What are Symptoms of Convergence Insufficiency?

Eyestrain, blurry vision, double vision, headaches, problems concentrating and difficulty reading and understanding printed text are classic signs of convergence insufficiency. For those with CI, doing up close work presents the most obstacles because the eyes find it harder to focus on things held at arm’s length or less. Children with undiagnosed convergence insufficiency may seem to have short attention spans, squint and rub their eyes frequently, cover one eye with their hand to see better and complain of nausea or dizziness. In some cases, children with CI may be misdiagnosed with ADD or other behavioral disorder and given inappropriate treatment. Other signs of possible convergence insufficiency in children include avoiding physical activity requiring depth perception (playing ball, riding bikes), tripping on uneven surfaces, refusing to make eye contact and tilting the head for no apparent reason.