Relieving Dizziness and Headaches with Neurovisual Medicine

There are many symptoms and issues that can be treated by your eye doctor, and in many cases, is actually better placed to diagnose and treat your condition. This is because eye doctors have undergone specific education and training in order to be able to specialize in the detection and treatment of conditions related to the eyes. Dizziness and headaches are two common neurological problems that an eye doctor can help with.

 

What is Dizziness?

Dizziness is a term that is used to describe a range of physical sensations, including feeling weak, unstable, or faint. In some cases, dizziness can also create the false impression that you or your surroundings are moving or spinning. In many instances, dizziness is temporary and passes in a matter of seconds or minutes. However, for some patients, recurrent dizziness is a problem that has a considerable impact on their quality of life.

Causes of dizziness

Dizziness can be caused by a range of different factors, from ear infections and low blood sugar levels to anxiety and even dehydration. You may be surprised to learn that many cases of dizziness are attributed to problems with the way that the eyes work together. In order to see a single, clear picture, our eyes have to be perfectly synchronized to work together. If they are not, patients can experience vision problems that can cause them to experience a range of symptoms, including dizziness. The severity of this dizziness will depend on the extent of the misalignment.

 

What are Headaches?

Headaches are very common, and most people will experience headaches many times during their lifetime. However, for some patients, headaches become a chronic problem that interferes with their usual day to day life. There are a variety of different types of headaches, and their severity can also vary between individuals and episodes.

 

Causes of headaches

Like dizziness, headaches can be caused by a variety of different things. Illness, stress, poor diet, and low blood sugar are all common contributors. Nevertheless, many headaches are actually caused by problems with our eyes and vision. Eyestrain and problems with the alignment of our eyes are two of the prevalent

triggers of persistent and chronic headaches.

 

How Can Neurovisual Medicine Help With Dizziness and Headaches?

Neurovisual medicine is the name given to the identification and treatment of patients with a condition known as binocular vision dysfunction or BVD. Patients with BVD experience issues with the way that their eyes work together. This misalignment can be horizontal or vertical, and even the smallest degree of misalignment can be sufficient to cause a range of unpleasant symptoms including dizziness and headaches. These symptoms may be accompanied by a range of others too, including:

• Clumsiness/feeling off-balance
• Nausea
• Poor depth perception
• Difficulty maintaining your place while reading
• Sensitivity to light
• Eye, jaw, neck, or shoulder pain
• Eye fatigue
• Anxiety, particularly in crowds of people or large spaces with high ceilings

If you are experiencing dizziness and/or headaches, particularly if you have any of the other symptoms listed above, you would benefit from a neurovisual assessment which will be used to evaluate the way in which your eyes work together and determine if it is this which is causing your symptoms. If binocular vision dysfunction is diagnosed, your eye doctor will be able to use their training and experience to recommend effective treatment to alleviate your symptoms and improve your quality of life.

 

Realigning prism is one of the most effective treatments for BVD and for relieving dizziness and headaches. This technique sees small amounts of ground prism being added to your glasses lenses which work by bringing the eyes into alignment and making it easier for them to work together. Exactly how much prism you’ll need will depend on your individual circumstances and your eye doctor may make incremental adjustments to the amount used in order to achieve optimal results.



 

For more information about dizziness and headaches and how they could be being caused by your vision, or to find out about binocular vision dysfunction, please contact our dedicated team in Cave Creek, AZ.