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Bee Hyperphoria Article
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Concern About Hyperphoria
"Why
didn't all the doctors I have seen been able to solve my
headaches? I have suffered for years and spent fortune in
useless tests, therapy, and medication." is often heard
in my office.
Students
unable to bridge the gap between non-reading and reading
are labeled Dyslexic, AD or plain dumb. Once corrected for
HYPERPHORIA, in a matter of a couple of months, are out
of Special Ed, speech, and other special classes, and performing
well in school. They are much happier and enjoying school
instead of hating to go to school. The most gratifying thing
is their improvement in self-esteem as well as respect from
their classmates and teachers.
What
is Hyperphoria? It is a tendency for one eye to look higher
than the other. Why don't eye doctors whether O.D. or M.D.
correct for hyperphoria on a routine basis? The reason is
the training they receive in school. The O.D.'s are told
to ignore any hyperphoria less that 2 prism diopters. The
M.D.'s were told to ignore anything less than 3 Prism diopters.
They are told that the patient can adapt to that much difference
to keep from seeing double so there is no reason to correct
anything less than their criteria.
They
fail to realize that it is this of very adaptation of head
tilt and uneven frowning that causes a host of problems.
The majority of vertical prism that I prescribe is well
below the schools criteria. The most common prism I prescribe
is ¾ prism diopters.
The hyperphoria syndrome:
The compensation for hyperphoria is to frown unevenly and
to tilt the head. Tilting the head causes a compensatory
lateral shift in the spine which often causes lower back
problems. If you use your eyes critically as you do in reading
a long time, using the computer a long time or driving a
long distance and maintain this precise head tilt in order
to keep from seeing double, the neck and shoulder muscles
get tight and sore. This in turn causes a headache that
starts at the back of the head continues forward.
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Often even the eye muscles get sore. Some patients say, "My
head hurts all over."
The
worst effect of this is its effect on reading. If one eye
is tending to look higher than the other and each eye is momentarily
taking over all the time (Retinal-Rivalry) the tendency is
to lose your place.
The
result is that you read more slowly or use your thumb or a
marker. Even so you lose your place, but what is even worse
is that what you read and what registers in the mind doesn't
agree, so you reread it until it does make sense or you simply
give up.
This
is the reason obviously bright kids do poorly in the classroom.
Their grades do not reflect their true ability.
Other
symptoms of uncorrected hyperphoria:
Poor physical coordination, vertigo, dizziness, poor depth
perception, poor tracking as in playing baseball or shotgun
shooting, carsickness, mysterious headaches, abnormally tired
and cranky at the end of the day, and confusion in talking
to others unless you look away.
What
is the procedure?
The 1st visit is a careful case history, then a very thorough
vision examination.
The
2nd visit the patient arrives with an eye patch over one eye
which he has worn for 2 days and nights. The special hyperphoria
testing is done to determine the exact amount of prism to
level the eyes.
The
fee for the special hyperphoria test visit is $150.
Call
(559) 638-2246 for an appointment that will change your life.
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