Headache, anxiety, dizziness .... Does this describe you?

If you suffer from headache, dizziness, anxiety, neckache, difficulty while reading, please take some time to visit our new website.. Neurovisualcenterofny.com.  Take a few moments to take our questionnaire. I promise to review your results as soon as possible.
Reach out. There is help.
Dr. Cheryl

Vision, ADHD, and other Learning Disabilies

It is well documented that children with ADHD and other learning disabilities have problems with binocular vision. Unfortunately, these issues are undiagnosed in these kids simply because they are sent to a doctor who doesn't test for binocular vision problems.These problems can include accommodative problems where the eyes can not focus or maintain focus at near, convergence problems, where the eyes can not maintain the proper posture at near, and tracking issues.  All of these problems impact reading and therefore learning. To make matters worse, many of the medications that children take for ADHD affect the functioning of the eye muscles to a great degree.

Part of the focus at The Neuro Visual Center of NY is the diagnosis and treatment of this underserved population. Parents, practitioners, and educators need to be aware that these binocular vision problems are not picked up on a routine eye exam.  If the whole visual system is working in harmony, learning can take place at a much greater level.

Headache relief with Prism

An update on a case I wrote about a couple of weeks back.  This young woman was suffering from headaches which were increasing in intensity everyday.  She is a very good student and an athlete.  This all began with a bout of mononucleosis.  She went through every test, but not one of her doctors thought to have her eyes checked! Thank goodness, her Mom is a patient of mine.  Diagnosis --- Vertical Heterophoria

I believe her illness put an extra stress on her eye muscles and they just couldn't work as efficiently as before.  The mono just brought out  the underlying binocular vision disorder. I am happy to report that since she received her prism glasses, she has not had a headache.

Please remember, each person is different. Someone with a binocular dysfunction can experience headache, another person with the same problem may feel dizzy, sometimes it is a combination. Each patient is unique and many of the symptoms can be made worse by an inner ear problem.

If you suspect you have Vertical Heterophoria, or another binocular vision problem. Please reach out ,   there is help.  You can email me at drcbisraeloff@gmail.com

In good health,
Dr. Cheryl

Lets Be Clear, Your Headache Could be Coming From Your Eyes!

I have been doing a lot of networking and research this week in anticipation of my new practice opening.  It amazes me that not one, (and I mean not one), headache speciality clinic's website mentions vision at all. One would think a basic focusing problem at least would be addressed at the minimum.  No, not mentioned, not vision, not focusing, not binocular vision of course at all.  Medicine today is so segmented that the whole patient is not looked at.  This is sad and scary.

Trust that if  I ever have the pleasure to see you as a patient, not only will I examine your whole visual system but I will listen to all of your symptoms. I may be able to only treat your vision but I believe part of my job is to direct the patient to the person who can help their other aliments.

And lets be clear, your headaches could be stemming from a problems with your eyes! Please investigate this before you start on the vicious cycle of  serious medication.

Balance and Vision

I wanted to share a story of a patient of mine with balance issues and dizziness.  This man was a lively older gentleman enjoying his life. He was in his 7th decade, but was very hearty and physically fit. He remembers exactly the day over 3 years ago when the dizziness started. He was getting ready to meet friends for brunch, as he did every Sunday.  His life changed that day. The dizziness got progressively worse over the next few weeks until he could not walk without the use of a cane. He went to various doctors and began vestibular rehabilitation.  He found only slight relief from the vestibular exercises. Then about 2 years ago he heard about Dr. Debby Feinberg.  He spoke to Dr. Debby but he couldn't travel to Michigan. A year later, still suffering he looked up Dr. Debby again. This time she was able to send this wonderful man to me, in New York, driving distance for the patient. Yes, he clearly had vertical heterophoria contributing to his dizziness. When he started wearing his prism glasses, he started to feel much more stable on the first day. I believe as he adjusts to his new glasses, that feeling will increase. Three years of dizziness ruining this man's life because his binocular vision was never tested.

I spoke with him this morning. I could hear the smile over the phone. He was starting to feel so much better! My hope is that he will be able to walk without the cane and enjoy  Sunday brunch with his friends again.

All I Want to do is Read

As we get older, the little pleasures in life become more and more important. Whether you love to run, sew, hike, dance, listen to music, or read.  These activities can increase in importance to us as time marches on. I am not sure if that is because we realize life is too short or we find the true meaning of our own individual happiness.  Last week, I was able to help a man enjoy reading again, his one true pleasure.  I simply had to listen to his problems and needs and directly address his symptoms. Not one eye doctor ever evaluated his fragile binocular system. The gentleman has a host of health issues that were being cared for by many doctors,  so his binocular vision difficulties got lost in the shuffle. His  two eyes were struggling to work together while reading.  He was skipping lines, going out of focus and getting frustruated.  No one else bothered to ask what he enjoyed most in life and if he was still able to pursue that activity.  If  Doctors don't ask about our patients needs, how can we ever heal them?

The good news is that this wonderful gentleman found his way to me.  I evaluated and treated his binocular dysfunction.  He can now enjoy reading again.... That is the true power of prism!!!!
If you feel you suffer from a binocular vision dysfunction, headaches, dizziness, anxiety, double vision,.... Please reach out to me at drcbisraeloff@gmail.com.  There is help.

Children, learning disabilities, and Binocular Vision

Children are often placed in remedial reading groups or labeled as having learning problems without a proper visual assessment.  I don't mean a routine eye exam where each eye is tested to determine if it is focusing clearly.  While that exam is very important, along with making sure the eyes are healthy,   equally important is a full binocular vision assessment.  Our eyes do not work in isolation.  They must focus clearly, maintain that focus, and point to the same location in place, in order to see a clear single image.  Then those images get transported to the brain where all that information needs to get processed. Our visual system helps orient us in space, keeps us balanced, provides motion cues and provides us with information to learn, all at the same time. It is such a complex and exquisite system, I am often in awe of how the human binocular visual system evolved.

In today's highly visual world, we often ask children to maintain that focus for long periods of time and process complex information while dealing with a lot of distractions.  If a child has to work so hard just to process that visual information, and keep a clear, single focused image,  you can see how this would interfere with learning.  I can't stress how important a complete binocular vision assessment is in this population of  children. No child should be diagnosis with a learning problem until a complete binocular vision assessment is performed by a doctor who understands binocular vision. Treating an underlying binocular vision disorder can make one of the most profound impacts on a child's ability to learn up to their true potential.