Prism Glasses Relieved Headaches!

I would like to share a wonderful testimonial that I just received from a young patient.

When I was younger, I never had headaches but my balance felt off, I felt crooked. Then I started to get headaches at the end of the last school year. We went to a lot of doctors until my pediatrician said to come to the eye doctor. I was suffering academically and socially because the headaches got worse and they were constant. They rarely let up. The morning was the worst, I woke up nauseous every morning. This went on for about 3 months. Then I went to Dr. Israeloff. We never thought it was my eyes because my eye site was always fine!

What a wonderful surprise to find out there is a name (Vertical Heterophoria) and a cure -- A pair of prism glasses. No more headaches. I see better in general. My hand eye coordination improved. I don't feel sick anymore. The glasses are great - I love my new look.
Thank you,
Dr. Israeloff

These stories are why I enjoy this work so much!

Vertical Heterophoria, ADHD, and Success

Tomorrow, I have the pleasure of examining a wonderful patient of mine. He has ADHD and in spite of that he is a brilliant computer programmer. When I first saw him, he told me that the words always move on the screen and that he could feel his eyes pulling.  These are of course classic symptoms of Vertical Heterophoria. The many medications he is one probably contribute to his poor binocular vision.  His prism glasses immediately made his eyes feel better.

Why am I so excited to see this particular patient tomorrow? He told me that I was the first eye doctor to listen and take his complaints seriously. That make me feel really good.

Neck Pain

Neck pain is always on the top of the list for my patients with Vertical Heterophoria. In fact, most of my patients go to the chiropractor for weekly adjustments or the massage therapist. The relief after these treatments  is always temporary. This is because of the constant head tilt. Someone with VH will tilt their head to try to align the retinal images. This happens subconsciously. It is one of the mechanisms our brain uses so as not to have double vision. Double vision is just not functional.  The constant head tilt puts strain on the neck and upper back muscles, plus throws the spine out of alignment. Once we align the eyes, the head tilt resolves.  The treatments for the neck and back pain now can work since the neck muscles are not in a constant state of contraction.  Once again, we see that the symptoms of Vertical Heterophoria are more than meets the eye!

Post Concussion Syndrome and Vertical Heterophoria

Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury. (TBI) You don't have to have a loss of consciousness or pass out to have a concussion, as is commonly thought. Usually, concussive symptoms such as headache, dizziness, loss of balance, brain fog, get better between 2 weeks to 3 months time. However, a large percentage of patients  up to 30%, have post concussive symptoms after 3 months time. What my colleagues in Michigan, (Dr. Debby Feinberg), have discovered is that a significant number of these patients have an uncorrected binocular vision problem that has been caused or made worse by the TBI.

We believe this happens due to a faulty signal being sent to the eyes from the brain. This causes the eyes to become misaligned. The main problem is that this misalignment causes double vision. The brain does not like to see double. This leads to the eye muscles stressing and straining to move the eyes into alignment and a headache results. The stress and strain on these muscles causes them to quiver, which in turn causes the eyes to quiver. This sensation of movement is now in conflict with the vestibular system which is sensing no movement. Dizziness is the result.

Proper prismatic correction in a pair of eyeglasses, moves the images back into alignment. The eye muscles relax. The headache and dizziness symptoms resolve or significantly decrease. We can get an 80% reduction of symptoms at the first office visit.  If you or someone you know has post concussive syndrome, has seen many doctors with no relief, please visit our website www.nvcofny.com. Take the questionnaire. It may be your eyes!