Accommodation:

The Key to Focusing on Near Objects

Understanding Accommodation: Your Eyes' Natural Focusing Ability

Accommodation is your eyes' remarkable ability to adjust focus on objects that are close to you. This process involves the movement of the lens inside your eye, controlled by eye muscles. For distant vision, these muscles relax; for near vision, they contract. While accommodation is different from refractive errors (the need for glasses to see distant objects), uncorrected refractive errors can affect this focusing system.

Typically, accommodation develops fully by the age of four months and functions efficiently until around age 40. After this age, the lens becomes less flexible, often leading to the need for reading glasses or bifocals.

Accommodative Dysfunction: When Focusing Becomes a Challenge

Accommodative Dysfunction occurs when the eyes' focusing system doesn't work properly. Here are some common types:

- Accommodative Insufficiency: Difficulty maintaining focus on close objects, affecting near tasks.

- Ill-Sustained Accommodation: Normal accommodation becomes fatigued with repeated focus adjustments.

- Accommodative Paralysis: The focusing system fails to respond to stimuli, potentially due to certain drugs, trauma, disease, or toxicity.

- Accommodative Infacility: Difficulty in swiftly shifting focus between near and distant objects.

- Accommodative Spasm: Focusing muscles spasm, making it difficult to fully relax, leading to blurred vision at all distances.

Diagnosing Accommodative Dysfunction at Vivid Visions Optometry

At Vivid Visions Optometry, Dr. David Antonyan, O.D., our lead optometrist, employs advanced technology for precise diagnosis of Accommodative Dysfunction. Alongside a comprehensive eye exam, a thorough Binocular Vision Evaluation is essential for accurate diagnosis.

Treating Accommodative Dysfunction: Personalized and Effective

Treatment typically involves specialized lenses and/or vision therapy. Following a detailed Binocular Vision Evaluation, Dr. Antonyan may prescribe prismatic lenses to alleviate eye strain. Personalized vision therapy is also a key part of treatment.

At Vivid Visions Optometry, our approach to optometric vision therapy boasts a high success rate of over 90%. Treatment duration varies but generally requires 12 to 24 weeks of therapy, supplemented by home activities. Those with additional visual diagnoses, autism, developmental delays, or a history of traumatic brain injury may need a more extended treatment plan.

Our team at Vivid Visions Optometry is dedicated to providing personalized and effective care, ensuring that every patient receives the best possible treatment for their visual needs.