I went for an eye exam yesterday, after four years since my last optometrist appointment. The lens power needed to achieve normal visual acuity is still not appreciably different from the prescription I was given four years ago, but issues persist with my brain’s processing and integrating the signals from both eyes.
The optometrist recommended a sustained course of vision therapy (typically five office sessions a month, or more) to address what’s known as convergence insufficiency. Since this doctor’s time is valued at over $100 an hour, I’d be looking at a monthly out-of-pocket expense of at least $500. My natural question is whether the anticipated gains from such treatment justify the expense.
Aside from the clinical studies that suggest effectiveness of this treatment, do any Dopers have personal experience with vision therapy to offer a recommendation either for or against?
Lastly, if I wanted to start shopping around for a health insurance policy (I’m in the USA where healthcare coverage is still far from universal, and being almost a decade away from the typical age of onset for presbyopia, I’ve been able to hobble along without any insurance for some time now), does anyone here know of a policy that doesn’t dismiss behavioral vision therapy out-of-hand as “experimental” and “unproven”? How does the cost of such a policy compare with the $500 out-of-pocket expenses I’d otherwise be paying for treatment?