Introduction to Vision and Brain Injury Thomas Politzer, OD, Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association Page 2 of 2

In this population of patients, patching has frequently been used to eliminate the diplopia. Although patching is effective in eliminating diplopia it causes the patient to become monocular. Monocular as opposed to binocular vision will affect the individual primarily in two ways; absence of stereopsis and reduction of the peripheral field of vision. These limitations will directly cause problems in eye hand coordination, depth judgments, orientation, balance, mobility, and activities of daily living such as playing sports, driving, climbing stairs, crossing the street, threading a needle etc.

A new method of treating diplopia that does not have these limitations has been successfully evaluated. It is called the "spot patch" (invented and named by this author) and is a method to eliminate intractable diplopia without compromising peripheral vision. It is a small, usually round or oval, patch made of dermacil tape, 3-M blurring film (or another such translucent tape). It is placed on the inside of the lenses of glasses and directly in the line of sight contributing to the diplopia. The diameter is generally about one centimeter, but will vary on the individual angular subtense required for the particular strabismus, or gaze palsy.

Visual Balance Disorders

Visual balance disorders can be caused by a Visual Midline Shift Syndrome (VMSS), oculo-motor dysfunction in fixations, nystagmus, and disruptions of central and peripheral visual processing. A full description of these disorders is beyond the scope of this paper. The treatment will depend on the visual diagnosis and etiology. Lenses, prisms and visual rehabilitation activities are used in the remediation of these disorders.

Reprinted with permission from Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association. www.nora.cc.

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