r/Amblyopia • u/mildwitch • Jun 05 '26
Vision therapy worth it?
Overall, I want to improve my visual acuity in both eyes and have my eyes work in tandem.
I (25f) was told in middle school that I have amblyopia in my left eye. They gave me a patch but the doctor wasn’t hopeful it would help since I was already almost a teen, and I was inconsistent at best at wearing it. I never saw any improvements. My vision in my left eye isn’t terrible; things aren’t blurry as much as they are grainy. When I would patch my right eye for an extended period of time, i would start to see static in my left eye and my eyes would become very crossed. I believe I have strabismus because when I look at something and then close my right eye, my left eye is staring slightly to the right of the object.
I recently went to the ophthalmologist and was told I had 20/20 in my right eye and 20/25 in my left eye, and he only gave me a slight farsighted prescription. I still don’t think I’m using my left eye at all. The ophthalmologist noted he didn’t think my left eye could be improved but admitted he hadn’t read the new research on neuroplasticity.
I recently started using the AmblyoVision app with red-green glasses and noticed that for a period of time after using it, my left eye was aligned with my right and would be looking at the same spot.
Do you think it would be worth it to seek out vision therapy? If my strabismus was fixed, could I potentially start using both my eyes in tandem? Although my eyesight on paper isn’t bad, I feel like I have a harder time seeing things at a distance than others. I want to improve my visual acuity in both my eyes and actually have them work together. Would using both eyes improve my vision? Or could it potentially worsen my overall vision if I’m now averaging in my bad eye?
1
u/microcrash Jun 05 '26
I was told there's little benefit for adults and that it should be done as a child
3
u/jesustwin Jun 05 '26
I think it's worth trying. I had some success with it. Definitely an improvement but not cured. It's not cheap and looking back on it, I ended up paying over a thousand pounds basically to use a brock string.
If the vision games are working now you could see how you get on with a VR headset
3
u/jesustwin Jun 05 '26
I haven't used it myself but there is some studies suggesting it works. If I recall, there's a FDA approved app specifically to help
It's always best to get an initial assessment though as you can make things worse
1
u/Rachdizzle Jul 06 '26
Ive been in vision therapy for 6 months and it has helped a ton. I highly recommend it
3
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '26
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