MOST parents, after observing their school-aged child encounter difficulties in reading or seeing things even at an optimum distance, tend to buy eyeglasses that they think would fit their child's eye grade without seeking an expert's advice.
Or they, more often than not, have their kids undergo a normal eye checkup which only lets their children fit into lenses with different eye grades without knowing the underlying conditions of their kid’s eyes.
But for meticulous parents, buying eyeglasses that fit their kids' eye grade is not enough.
They seek to know the underlying causes of their child’s vision problems and explore more advanced options to treat their child's vision problem aside from standard eyeglasses. They go to eye doctors and clinics that offer comprehensive eye exams because ordinary eye exams can only give limited examinations and management options to prevent or treat the eye problem.
And among the measures to treat or at least halt the progression of eye problems is vision therapy which is only available in limited eye clinics in the country.
And lucky for us, Eyecare Deluxe located at the 2nd Floor, Expansion Wing, Abreeza Mall, JP Laurel Avenue, Davao City offers vision therapy for adult and pediatric patients whose eye problems who may have amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (squint), learning difficulties (caused by uncorrected vision problems), pathological myopia (rapidly progressive nearsightedness), or from visual problems caused by neurological conditions, head injuries, or head trauma.
Let's get to know some of the feedback of the parents of Eyecare Deluxe's patients on vision therapy:
Xander Du
His parents recalled that they had visited a few eye doctors before they reached Dr. Lareen Dawn Tan's clinic, Eyecare Deluxe, and they already noted the big difference not just in the equipment.
"Dr. Tan’s procedure is more advanced than the other clinic we went to," Xander's mother Ruby said.
Xander was suffering from strabismus or the eyes do not line up with one another.
"When he came to us, his strabismus was at 25prism. I prescribed him with clinic-based vision therapy and vision therapy eyeglasses with prism," Dr. Tan revealed.
Xander's mother said she decided to let him undergo vision therapy to lessen or correct the abnormalities of his eyes.
However, Dr. Tan also revealed that she noticed that Xander had difficulties with his speech so she advised Xander's mom to visit a speech pathologist for diagnosis and therapy and instructed Xander's yaya to limit his exposure to gadgets.
His mom immediately enrolled Xander for speech therapy but he has not yet started since he was still on the waitlist.
After eight sessions of clinic-based vision therapy, Xander's strabismus has reduced to 11 prisms and by the time he completed the full cycle of vision therapy sessions his eyes have already improved and no longer have any eye deviation with his eyeglasses.
Xander's mother and Dr. Tan also observed that Xander’s speech improved dramatically.
With this, Xander’s mother strongly recommends the clinic "to help other kids with the same condition as Xander's."
Kenjie Masuko
Kenjie's parents went to a few eye clinics in Japan since Kenjie is half-Japanese and half-Filipino and although eye clinics in Japan are advanced in terms of equipment, they do not have eye therapy.
"They recommended eye surgery for my child and I am not in favor of eye surgery" Kenjie Masuko's mom, Goldie, said.
Dr. Tan said Kenjie has very high eye grades in both eyes but what is more mysterious about his case is that under normal eye exam, his real eye grade won't show.
"Because normally for kids, they can compensate their eyesight, unlike sa adult kung maghanap atong panan-aw, hanap gyud siya; dili nato mapugos nga maklaro ang atong panan-aw. Sa kids, flexible pa ilang mata, so if things are blurry they can will their eyes to see things clearly," Dr. Tan said.
She said through a comprehensive eye exam with complete binocular vision assessment, they learned that Kenjie's eyes have a 9.00/12.00 grade and this is the reason why his eyes crossed.
"Here in my clinic, or as a doctor I won't stop until I don't see the reason why my patient's eyes are crossed. I won't stop even if they test 20/20. I need to understand the underlying cause so that I can improve the patient’s eye alignment," Dr. Tan said.
Now, Kenjie's parents are happy to share that he can now look straight. "Although not so perfect but about 80% improvement. And yes, we sure will recommend Dr. Tan because she is a good eye doctor," Kenjie's father said.
Stanley Cruz
Just the same with the others, Stanley's parents consulted with several optometrists, yet it was Dr. Tan's eye examination procedures that are "far more diverse, accurate and measurable and most importantly, well-explained," they said.
Dr. Tan revealed that even if Stanley has already visited other eye doctors, his previous doctors did not detect any vision problem, even if Stanley’s parents have frequently observed that he unintentionally crosses his eyes. Most of the optometrists only performed routine eye checkups which could not easily detect Stanley’s eye problem since he has no refractive errors or eye grade, according to them.
Mr. and Mrs. Cruz said they decided to have Stanley undergo vision therapy because they wanted a natural remedy that is "convenient and easy for our child."
At Eyecare Deluxe, Dr. Tan performed more thorough tests because she observed that Stanley's case is strabismus, specifically intermittent esophoria or occasional crossing of the eyes, which can lead to a full blown esotropia, a permanent eye deviation, when left uncorrected.
Dr. Tan also gave Stanley home-based vision therapy exercises since his parents were busy with their business in Calinan and there was no one who could bring him to the clinic twice-a-week for clinic-based vision therapy. Although the vision therapy was home-based, the patient needed to visit Dr. Tan's clinic once in a while for a follow up check up to see improvements.
Stanley's case, however, still needed to be observed until six months to see whether he needs to be upgraded to clinic-based vision therapy, but his parents have already noted major developments on his eyes.
"Squinting and similar complaints are greatly reduced. Our son is happier now and has adapted well with his glasses too!" they shared, adding that "Dr. Tan is indeed a brilliant optometrist who knows her field well and is willing to help her clients."
Dr. Tan said at Eyecare Deluxe, they don't stop until the 20 sessions are reached even if the goal has already been achieved to prevent relapse from happening.
"People tend to think that vision therapy is all about exercising the extraocular muscles to help align the eyes together, but in fact it also stimulates the nerves that control the extraocular muscles, as well as the intraocular muscles that are responsible for the dilation, constriction, and focusing of the eye. Vision therapy also helps stimulate and re-wire problematic visual pathways (the nerve pathway from the retina to the visual cortex of the brain) to improve binocular vision function, that's the essence of vision therapy," she said.
Eyecare Deluxe can be contacted through the following numbers: landline (082)225-9538, Globe 09954632319, Smart 09292279908.