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Speakers: Consider bringing sports vision into your practice

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SAN DIEGO – Because an optometrist is likely to already be testing for contrast sensitivity and stereovision perception, expanding one’s practice to incorporate sports vision is not insurmountable, one speaker here said.

“Sports vision is how well the eyes work together and how they work with the body,” Frederick Edmunds Jr., OD, said. Edmunds spoke at a sports vision course with Fraser C. Horn, OD, during Optometry’s Meeting. Both Edmunds and Horn are members of the American Optometric Association’s Sports Vision Section.

“Every patient in my chair is an athlete,” Horn said, and noted that the same is true in all practices.

Horn listed the Visual Performance Pyramid developed by David Kirschen, OD, PhD, and Dan Laby, OD, which consists of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity (the base) and, moving up the pyramid: stereovision perception, visual decision-making, visual mechanism and on field.

Horn said there is so much that an eye care professional can do to help athletes – young and old – without a financial investment.

“You already do this [contrast sensitivity and stereovision]. You can help so many athletes if you can just maximize visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, and take it one step up and maximize monocularity with depth perception,” Horn said.

Clinicians can consider taking a step forward by adding a clinic (internal, external or mobile); offering sports-specific prescriptions to improve on-field performance; and offering performance vision training through the clinic, Horn said.

Edmunds noted that it is important to tell other optometrists in the area that you would not be doing eye exams when treating patients in the sports vision clinic, to alleviate their fear of losing patients. He said one will have a broader reach and greater success by encouraging intraprofessional referrals.

Edmunds described the pillars of performance vision training, which is individualized and designed to improve a patient’s personal vision demands and skills, including Marsden ball run, dynamic VA, eye-hand coordination, anticipation timing, peripheral awareness and eye-body coordination. Edmund said most patients are treated once or twice a week in-office but are also sent home with a tool kit and told to train an additional three to five times per week.

Disclosure: Edmunds is a consultant for Essilor, Fitlight Sports and Rochester Institute of Technology. Horn is a consultant for Nike.

For more information: http://www.aoa.org/optometrists/membership/aoa-sections/sports-vision-section