On The Beat 9/16/20 - Columbus Vision Therapy

Video Credit: WCBI
Published on September 16, 2020 -

On The Beat 9/16/20 - Columbus Vision Therapy

Today on On The Beat, Dr. Anna Claire Spradling from Columbus Vision Therapy joins us to tell us all about optic vision therapy.


On The Beat 9/16/20 - Columbus Vision Therapy

Live onset midday slate troy thompson: welcome to on the beat, everyone.

I'm troy thompson.

Joining me in the studio today is dr. anna claire spradling from columbus vision therapy.

And today we're talking all about optic vision therapy, and boy, do we have some fun coming up.

How are you my friend?

Dr. spradling: good.

How are you?

Troy thompson: i'm fantastic.

Okay.

You've been open for about a month now and how's it all going?

You're loving the location?

Dr. spradling: yes, i am.

I'm very thankful to be near home, and to be in a community i love.

Troy thompson: isn't it great?

Dr. spradling: yeah.

Troy thompson: it's a good feeling to be home- dr. spradling: it is.

Troy thompson: ... and have a place called home.

Dr. spradling: absolutely.

Troy thompson: all right, let's talk a little bit about vision therapy.

Dr. spradling: okay.

Troy thompson: what is it and who needs it?

Dr. spradling: okay, so vision therapy is a treatment for visual efficiency issues.

So, may it be a child with an eye turn or a lazy eye, you may have heard it be called.

Troy thompson: yeah.

Dr. spradling: those children need to strengthen their eye muscles.

They need to learn to control those muscles, and they may have a weak eye that we can also have it perform better.

So that's our goal with vision therapy.

Troy thompson: interesting you say that, because i didn't know that it was called a lazy eye, right?

One of the symptoms. now i have a friend that has a lazy eye, and he has had surgery.

Dr. spradling: yes.

Troy thompson: and i think they pull it back in, or.

Dr. spradling: that's correct.

Troy thompson: am i correct in saying that?

Dr. spradling: yes, you're right.

Uh-huhuh-huh.

Troy thompson: but what everyone's going to see me doing in a little moment is nonsurgical.

Dr. spradling: correct.

Troy thompson: so the different treatments for this.

Dr. spradling: yes, that's correct.

In many cases, children will still need surgery to correct their eye turn.

But a few surgeons that i've worked with in the past like to have a vision therapy before and after, because it prepares those muscles for the change that they're about to endure.

And not all children need the surgery, because the eye turn is not significant enough, or it's not there all the time.

Troy thompson: but this is corrective.

We can fix the problem, correct?

Dr. spradling: yes.

Troy thompson: that's our hope.

Dr. spradling: yes.

That's our hope.

Troy thompson: okay.

Now we're going to bring up something we prerecorded of you and me- dr. spradling: okay.

Troy thompson: ... teaching me what was actually going on.

So first of all, let's explain to everyone at home.

I've got the three bean bags in my hand and the red bucket.

What's the purpose of me throwing these into the bucket.

Dr. spradling: so our goal is to show your eyes and brain how they're able to work together as a team.

Troy thompson: okay.

Dr. spradling: and everyone will notice that your eyes are shifted, right?

Troy thompson: right.

Dr. spradling: so we have shifted your visual world.

So we want to see how you're able to respond.

And can we correct how you're able to respond?

Troy thompson: okay.

I'm putting the glasses on now, and i'm feeling like i'm a little drunk.

Dr. spradling: yes.

Troy thompson: okay.

Why is that?

Dr. spradling: that's due to the prisms. your eyes are looking straight ahead, but prisms change the image, where it's coming from.

And so you feel as if your world is to the left- troy thompson: yeah.

Dr. spradling: ... when in reality, it's directly in front of you.

Troy thompson: well, as you can see, i'm throwing them, and all you see is the bean bags going to the left, but you're telling me to look straight ahead at this stage.

Dr. spradling: that's correct.

Troy thompson: and then i think i got one in.

Dr. spradling: yes, you did.

Troy thompson: yeah.

Dr. spradling: very good.

Troy thompson: yeah.

Dr. spradling: and why did you get it in?

Troy thompson: i don't know.

I've forgotten, because i'm good?

Dr. spradling: because you knew that, or we talked about that you could shift your gaze and not only shift your gaze, but shift your mind to think i need to throw further to the right, because i keep missing.

Troy thompson: oh, of course.

Dr. spradling: yes.

Troy thompson: yeah.

Is this just for children?

Dr. spradling: absolutely not.

Troy thompson: okay.

Dr. spradling: i've had adult patients in the past, up to the age of 70.

Troy thompson: really?

Dr. spradling: many of the adults that i see have traumatic brain injury or stroke.

Troy thompson: right.

Dr. spradling: and they absolutely have visual needs after these incidents, all of them present differently.

Some of them come in and struggle with reading issues, or scanning eye movements.

Troy thompson: got you.

Dr. spradling: yep.

Troy thompson: is this therapy that we're doing, part of our medical insurance.

Dr. spradling: it isn't, unfortunately.

Some medical insurances cover part of it.

Troy thompson: right.

Dr. spradling: but they usually don't cover all of it.

We wish they would.

Troy thompson: so that's something we would need to check out with our- dr. spradling: yes.

Troy thompson: ... provider or also call your offices.

Dr. spradling: yes.

Absolutely.

Troy thompson: and they would talk us through the program.

Dr. spradling: yes.

Absolutely.

Troy thompson: i think it's fantastic.

One or two treatments.

How many treatments in total to try and correct what we need?

Dr. spradling: yes.

That's a great question.

It depends on what their diagnosis are- troy thompson: how severe?

Dr. spradling: ... up to three months, possibly.

Troy thompson: okay.

Perfect.

We appreciate you.

Thank you for coming in.

Dr. spradling: yes.

Uh-huh.

Troy thompson: if you were to find out more information, there it all is up on the screen for you columbus vision therapy.

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