TURNED EYE AND CROSSED EYES (STRABISMUS) TREATMENT & VISUAL THERAPY
When a person with convergent strabismus tries to focus on something at short range, this causes a conflict in the visual information being processed by the brain, and the visual images become confused.
Find Out MoreWHAT IS STRABISMUS?
Usually the brain will ignore the visual information coming from a misaligned eye, which can itself cause problems such as lazy eye or squint eye.
Not only does strabismus cause vision impairment, but it can also be psychologically damaging.
It can impact a person’s self-esteem since it hinders the ability to make normal eye contact with others during conversation, which often leads to the affected person feeling embarrassed and awkward.
Strabismus can be caused by neurological or anatomical issues that impede the control and function of an eye’s extra ocular muscles, which regulate eye position and movement, causing both eyes to be misaligned in relation to each another.
These issues may stem from the eye muscles themselves, or in the brain’s nerves or vision centres that manage binocular vision.
THE THREE TYPES OF STRABISMUS
Esotropia
When the misaligned eye looks inward, it’s called esotropia, or being cross eyed or having squint eye in colloquial terms. A specific example of esotropia that occurs intermittently is strabismus and convergence excess. In this case, the eyes may converge well enough to focus on an object in the distance, but may have trouble aligning to concentrate on a closer subject.
Exotropia
Exotropia is when one or both eyes are turned outward away from the nose; it is the opposite of being cross eyed. Various vision and physical health issues can be caused by eyes that do not focus and work together. When this occurs, the brain receives two different visual images; one is what the straight eye sees, and the other is what the eye facing outward sees. To prevent double vision, the brain will ignore the image that the turned eye is sending. This may cause the turned eye to deteriorate and eventually affect the ability to see.
Hypertropia
Hypertropia is when the eyes are vertically misaligned, specifically when one eye is turned upward. It is the least common type of strabismus. When this happens, the brain receives two different visual cues; one from the straight eye and the other from the misaligned eye. The brain usually shuts off the signal it receives from the misaligned eye and focuses on what the unaffected eye is sending. This causes the misaligned eye to become weaker and eventually cause unbalanced vision.
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF STRABISMUS
- Observing lack of conjugacy of the eyes in various gaze positions
- Using Maddox rod or wing to calculate the degree of strabismus
- Correct use of lens and prism for gradual realignment of sensory motor positioning
- Exercises inclusive of Vivid Vision to stimulate new sensory motor patterning
- Individual counselling and motivational techniques for compliance training
- Periodic review for seeing improvement and realignment of eyes
BENEFITS OF TREATMENT:
Increased confidence and appearance
Improved vision
Comfortable relaxed vision
Improved energy levels
Improved ability to perform tasks
Greater awareness
Microprism Guarantee
We understand that exploring something new with your vision can feel unfamiliar.
Our role is to support you through the integration process with clarity, care, and ongoing guidance.
All QPS lenses include a 4-week integration support period from the date your lenses are fitted.
During this time, if something doesn’t feel right, we will bring you back in, reassess your prescription, and make any adjustments needed to improve comfort and function. This may include additional integration support, frame adjustments, or a remake of your lenses where clinically appropriate.
Most issues can be resolved with a short follow-up appointment, and these are included within the guarantee period.
QPS is not about locking in a prescription.
It’s about moving your system forward.
Because QPS works with your system as it adapts, changes in your prescription can sometimes reflect progress rather than a problem. Where further updates are needed beyond the initial period, we will guide you through the next steps and, where appropriate, provide reduced rates for updated lenses.
For full terms, conditions, and clinical details please read our full Follow Up Care and Warranty Policy
EXPERIENCE THE LATEST IN TURNED EYE AND CROSSED EYES TREATMENT WITH MICROPRISM VISION
At Microprism Vision, we work at the cutting-edge of developments in behavioural optometry and Quantum Photo Somatics. Our Docklands clinic takes a holistic approach, making full use of the most current technologies for vision therapy for adults and children. We can prescribe glasses and a range of other therapies to help correct your eye condition. Call us today to book in for an eye exam on (03) 9606 0330. Read More
Our Vision Therapy Has Proven Effective for Treating Strabismus
Our tailored vision therapy to treat strabismus using Microprism and Vivid Vision has been shown to be consistently effective. Strabismus, also known as misaligned or crossed eyes, is a fairly common condition, especially in children. People who suffer from strabismus struggle to move their eyes in sync and thus cannot function correctly. Unfortunately, strabismus can cause many long-term and short-term visual disturbances, such as double vision, poor depth perception and eye strain. While surgery is an option for correcting strabismus, vision therapy offers an alternative treatment method that focuses on improving the coordination and functionality of the eyes.
Vision therapy exercises for strabismus involve a series of customised eye activities conducted under the supervision of our trained optometrist. These exercises help the brain and eyes work together more effectively, improving eye alignment and visual skills. We offer tailored therapy using the Vivid Vision Virtual Reality software and Oculus Quest headset. Vivid Vision Therapy is an advanced vision therapy tool, combining the latest in virtual reality with traditional vision therapy techniques.
We conduct our sessions in-practice but home-based vision therapy exercises and glasses for strabismus may also be prescribed to reinforce the progress made during our sessions.
The primary goal of vision therapy for strabismus is to strengthen the muscles in and around the eyes. Through repetitive and targeted exercises, the brain-eye connection is strengthened, allowing the eyes to work together more harmoniously. Vision therapy can also address other visual issues associated with strabismus, such as focusing problems, poor depth perception, as well as building confidence and concentration.
While you can treat strabismus with vision therapy, it may not fully eliminate the need for surgery in certain cases. However, therapy can significantly improve vision health and quality of life.
If you’d like to discuss our vision therapy services further, please get in contact with our optometrists in Melbourne – we’d love to hear from you. Read Less
Associations and Registrations
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS…
Begin With A Quansultation
If you’re ready to explore Quantum Photo-Somatics, the first step is booking a comprehensive Quansultation.
This process is designed to explore your visual experience, perceptual patterns, environmental sensitivities, and the relationship between vision, movement, posture, and spatial awareness.
If you’re unsure whether the methodology is right for you, our team is always happy to guide you through the process.
Explore Your Visual Experience
During your session, we observe how your visual and perceptual systems interact with the broader human experience.
This may include exploring elements relating to visual comfort, environmental processing, posture, movement, balance, spatial awareness, sensory load, and nervous system regulation.
From there, carefully calibrated optical and perceptual inputs may be introduced as part of the Quantum Photo-Somatics methodology.
Experience Subtle Optical Calibration
One of the defining characteristics of the Microprism approach is the extraordinary level of subtlety involved.
Using carefully calibrated lenses, prisms, light, and perceptual integration processes, the methodology explores how even small changes in visual input may influence comfort, awareness, grounding, and environmental interaction over time.
Many people describe the experience as “like a gym for the visual system” — not through force or strain, but through ongoing interaction with everyday life and visual environments.
Observe & Refine Over Time
Quantum Photo-Somatics is an exploratory and highly individualised process.
As your experience evolves, optical and perceptual calibrations may also evolve alongside it.
Many clients return periodically to continue exploring changes in visual processing, environmental comfort, spatial awareness, and overall coherence over time.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
TAKE A LOOK AT OUR FAQS
People seek out Quantum Photo-Somatics for many different reasons — often after feeling that conventional approaches haven’t fully explained their experience.
Our work explores the relationship between vision, sensory processing, spatial awareness, movement, comfort, and overall system integration. Every person’s experience is unique, however some of the more common presentations include:
- Visual strain and fatigue
- Light sensitivity and sensory overwhelm
- Difficulty with focus, clarity, or visual comfort
- Dizziness, vertigo, or spatial disorientation
- Double vision or visual instability
- Coordination and balance challenges
- Reading, learning, or visual processing difficulties
- Post-concussion or post-injury visual changes
- Eye turn or binocular vision imbalance
- Headaches associated with visual effort
- Dry, irritated, or sensitive eyes
- Difficulties with posture, movement, or environmental awareness
- Feeling visually “switched on,” overloaded, or fatigued in busy environments
- Ongoing frustration despite multiple previous vision assessments
Some people also explore this work as part of a broader journey involving nervous system regulation, sensory integration, performance, wellbeing, or recovery following periods of stress or overwhelm.
Because every individual is different, sessions are tailored to your unique presentation, goals, and lived experience.
We take a unique approach to vision and visual wellbeing by holistically and dynamically assessing vision, mind, and body as an interconnected system.
Our methodology, Quantum (Energy) Photo (Light) Somatics (Body Movement) (QPS), was developed by Dr Michael Christian. QPS supports and complements traditional optometric understanding and is an endorsed and accredited modality with the IICT (International Institute of Complementary Therapies) — myiict.com.
The process engages a real-time integrative feedback system involving many different factors, allowing ongoing refinement, counter-checking, and recalibration throughout the session.
Light, uniquely and precisely refracted through carefully calibrated lens and prism configurations, may influence factors such as posture, balance, movement, spatial awareness, comfort, coordination, visual processing, and overall sensory experience — all of which interact closely with the way we see and engage with the world around us.
Once we understand the wearer’s visual profile, we carefully calibrate highly customised, activating lens and prism configurations designed to influence how the visual system interacts with movement, spatial awareness, and perceptual processing.
Just as movement and resistance training can shape the body over time, these optical calibrations are designed to gently engage the visual system through everyday life — without the need for repetitive or time-consuming visual exercises.
Many people seek out this work after feeling frustrated by ongoing visual discomfort, sensory overload, coordination difficulties, or persistent challenges that have not been fully explained through conventional approaches alone.
The eyes influence the way we experience the world, and the wider sensory and physical experience can also influence the eyes. These relationships are explored carefully and individually for each person through the consultation process.
Just as good air, water, movement, and nutrition support the body, light — when presented appropriately — plays a fundamental role in how we see, process, orient, and interact with the world around us.
Vision is not isolated to the eyes alone.
The way visual information is received and processed can influence posture, balance, movement, coordination, comfort, spatial awareness, and overall sensory experience.
Within the Quantum Photo-Somatics (QPS) framework, carefully calibrated lens and prism configurations are explored to influence how visual information is organised and interpreted throughout the broader sensory system.
The eyes are not passive cameras.
They are active neurological instruments that continuously guide movement, focus, perspective, depth perception, and spatial orientation.
Microprism directional prism configurations — including vertical, horizontal, and rotational summations — are explored to influence how the eyes work together as a coordinated binocular system.
Subtle changes in prism direction and light organisation may influence eye muscle behaviour, patterns of visual coordination, and the way spatial relationships are perceived and experienced.
As incoming light is redirected through specifically calibrated prism configurations, changes may be experienced in how near, distance, perspective, alignment, motion, and environmental positioning are interpreted by the visual system.
Rather than focusing solely on sharper clarity, this approach investigates how light, focus, perception, posture, movement, and sensory awareness interact together as part of a larger integrated system.
At Microprism Vision, we utilise highly refined optical calibrations — including extremely fine lens and prism increments — allowing subtle changes to be explored with a level of precision beyond conventional optical measurements.
The aim is to encourage a more open, balanced, stable, and comfortable visual experience while supporting harmony between the visual, sensory, motor, and perceptual systems.
For some individuals, changes may be experienced not only visually, but through posture, balance, coordination, comfort, movement, spatial awareness, and overall ease of interaction with the world around them.
