Esophoria is a tendency of the eyes to want to turn more inward than necessary when an individual is viewing an object at near or at distance which may cause the individual to experience eyestrain and other symptoms.
Symptoms of basic esophoria include:
- eyestrain, headaches, blurred or double vision, apparent movement of print
- difficulty concentrating on and comprehending reading material.
Treatment options: Sometimes esophoria is caused by a refractive error such as hyperopia (farsightedness), and glasses or contacts can correct the problem alone. However, sometimes vision therapy is needed to help re-train the eyes to function more appropriately. One example of vision therapy for esophoria is the use of a Brock’s string mentioned in this blog a few weeks ago, or other exercises, as well as glasses for reading up-close to take the strain off the eyes.
Exophoria is a tendency of the eyes to want to turn more outward than necessary when an individual is viewing an object at near or at distance, which may cause the individual to experience eyestrain and other symptoms.
Similar to esophoria, symptoms of basic exophoria include:
- eyestrain, headaches, blurred or double vision, apparent movement of print
- difficulty concentrating on and comprehending reading material.
Treatment options: Vision therapy is an effective treatment option. One example of vision therapy for exophoria is pencil pushups: Get a pencil and focus intently on the its tip bringing it back slowly towards your eyes until it touches your nose. You should notice that your eyes move inward. Slowly move the pencil away to the arm’s length again. Look away for a few seconds and focus back on the tip again. Repeat the sequence. Try to avoid blinking when focusing on the pencil tip performing the exercise up to five times before resting.