hpst We are in the dark, what seems plausible means 0. That what it is.

The inner workings of the eye and brain are too complex for us to say what is plausible, what is logic. That's nothing.

We have to try experiment, and hopefully stumble in something.

    tfouto I did the exercises wrong in the beginning for about two months and yes, it got even worse. You absolutely have to do the specific ones that balance out yout deviation, otherwise nothing will happen or in worst case youll strenghten it even.

    It has to be led and adjusted by a specialist with checkups. Finding one seems most difficult to most. Even among optometrists many dont believe in heterophoria and only want to get involved when it develops into visible strabismus or diplopia.
    If your doctors examination doesnt last longer than one hour, its probably bad and you should go elsewhere. Mine took 2.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterophoria

    Id like to share all the exercises I did so far and also some Im about to do, to show you how complex such issues can be and that pencil pushups you found on the internet probably wont really do it justice:

    -tranaglyphs with 3d (red, green) glasses - images that go futher and further apart (red and green image respectively) and I am trying to keep them fused, see peripheral points and checking for depth perception on each step, my vision being separated by the colored glasses. That is done by small steps timed by a metronome to keep a steady tempo and increasing difficulty. This trains endurance.

    -tranaglyhps like in the previous description, but now only two steps a lot further apart, you jump back and forth. These train explosive power in the eye muscles and usually lead to better results in the endurance exercise before

    -brock string (now completed), following a string from near to far point, keeping fusion, checking if I have input in both eyes, trying to fuse the point where the string crosses with the point where I accomodate

    -accomodation on each eye separately, with the other one covered - switching two lenses in front of one eye for a minute at a time, refocusing through the lens on a text of specific size and specific distance. Future exercise is to do this binocularly, so to use both eyes at the same time.

    -transparent card - the most recent and most fun, as it doesnt require any computer and makes me realize what Im trying to achieve. Card with images progressively further apart that you try to connect with depth perception first by converging your eyes in front of the card, and then behind (that for me is the problem, not enough divergence power and convergence overpowered). Then when the images fuse, you should also see them sharp (accomodate binocularly) and with depth perception (keeping proper eye vergence).

    There is more exercises to come and Im about halfway done at best. As you can see, its a lot more complex than anything youll find on youtube or on the net, unfortunately. This is very neglected field but work is being done on it being more available.

    Ive been using my new iphone 7 without glasses all day yesterday, got a bit of tension in the evening which went away quite quickly once I laid it down. I dont wanna get ahead of myself, but it seems to be improving day by day. Previously this would result in a migraine that I would still have while writing this.
    I recommend you ask your specialist if they even know about these exercises, and if they dont, move on to someone else.

      martin Thats good news. How long can you look at iPhone7 for a period of time without feeling symptoms?

        martin Do you find that doing these exercises can sometimes bring on the very symptoms you are trying to relieve?

          tfouto It improves every day now and depends on the activity - pictures and videos least difficult, reading most difficult. Now today it was 2-3 hours in total and I feel no symptoms, or just slight tension. Its also a bit taxing and tiring as it requires effort still. Im not there yet completely, the idea is to not feel any problems at all with a larger display (computer).

          ryans not yet but we might get to it, he mentioned using some tech possibly down the way.

          MagnuM yes but thats the point. In the exercises I know whats causing the issue and I can train it, then if it overlaps with what the tech is causing, I can compensate for it. The idea is basically to find the pain and train in that area. It was previously impossible with the tech, because it was too much at once, an overload. I believe people who gotten used to it but had same symptoms as us had similar deviancy with they eyes, just less severe and the tech served as a training in itself, so they managed to adjust in couple weeks.

          hpst This is just plain wrong. Not everybody has some degree of convergence issues.

          5 days later

          Update in case anyone cares, my insurance will cover a portion of vision therapy, so I will be starting once the new year rolls in. I am not going to get my hopes up that it will cure everything (e.g. muscle twitch from smartphone), but I am hoping it will at least help.

            JTL Thanks, will do!

            martin Definitely! Do you have weekly sessions with daily homework exercises?

            After "graduating" from vision therapy 5 years ago, and doing maintenance exercises at home ever since, I'm starting to think I might have to book another binocular vision session and see if I've regressed again. I've had a strain in my right eye since December 11th that has unfortunately put a damper on my holidays so far (I took this week off). It's strained, blurry, and my vision is often "jumpy", which is a symptom of suppression. What that means is that my brain is actually cancelling out the vision from one eye for a split-second before it pops back every so often. I might have to buy myself a Brock string and try those exercises again.

            Another thing I never understood much is that my right eye will strain really bad within the 30 - 90 seconds it takes for me to get wicked behind-the-eye pain and sharp headaches whenever looking at LED backlit monitors. This might just be because my right eye is often more strained than my left eye because it's my dominant eye and I do a lot of reading.

            Just curious, the people here that complain about eye strain, is the strain equal in both eyes, or worse in one eye?

              MagnuM is the strain equal in both eyes, or worse in one eye?

              Usually I got strain in both eyes, but on certain days I felt that one eye was strained to much bigger extent. It may be related to -0.5 difference between my eyes which occasionally gets bigger or lower as I get tired.

              MagnuM Both eyes, but right eye is usually twitching more and more muscle tiring. But the pain behind the eyes Is the same.

                tfouto but right eye is usually twitching more

                Have you tried magnesium? A good supplement like Magnesium Glycinate that will have high absorption. In people without our problem, this seems to be a recommendation for them to try. It might at least cut down on symptoms in people like us.

                MagnuM and my vision is often "jumpy", which is a symptom of suppression

                I wonder if this is "alternating suppression"? https://www.ontrackreading.com/dyslexia-puzzle/alternating-suppression

                  ryans Likely, although it's very brief. The last time it happened was about 10 minutes ago while reading an email. For a split second, we're talking half a second or even a quarter of a second, it felt like my vision shifted while reading a line in the email. It almost felt as if my eyeballs spasmed to the corner or something for a brief moment, but what I think happened instead is my brain "shut off" the vision from one eye very briefly before recalibrating it and turning it back on again.

                  I don't have strabismus or amblyopia and have never had anyone point out that my eyes don't line up properly, but when doing vision therapy back in 2013, my vision therapist did suggest that my eyes seem to work pretty hard to maintain fusion when reading. Could a hard to detect flicker be making it harder than it should be? I'm not sure. I should really do more testing again reading print long term to rule out flickering and backlights and what not to see if the symptoms are the same as doing a lot of reading on a phone or computer screen.

                  6 days later

                  @martin I'm curious if you've ever identified PWM as a cause for your eye strain ? Does your optometrist have an idea for how long your vision therapy will last?

                  Yes I did, on external asus pb298q monitor, when lowered below 100% brightness theres pwm of 2000 Hz. That triggered similar symptoms as other tech. But it also triggered them when connected via HDMI instead of VGA, maybe VGA disables FRC dithering. I dont know, too many variables, but confirmed in this single case that clearly PWM is to blame.

                    martin At some point I remember you were doing the "SEE sick" exercises, do you still do them?

                      dev