Your Orthoptist has
diagnosed you with a
Convergence Insufficiency
When looking at an object close-up,
the eye muscles will pull both eyes
smoothly inwards towards the nose.
Under normal circumstances, this
occurs without effort and allows for
comfortable use of binocular (both
eyes) vision whilst doing close work.
Weakness of these eye muscles can
cause problems in using both eyes
together at close range, and may
lead to symptoms such as
headaches, eye strain, blurred
vision and double vision —this is
called Convergence Insufficiency.
These are basic instructions;
variations on these, plus how
frequently and for how long
exercises should be done will be
advised by your orthoptist.
Smooth Convergence
With your head straight, slowly and
smoothly bring the target towards
your nose, making sure it stays
single. As soon as the target
becomes double, stop moving it, but
continue to look at it and use your
eye muscles to ‘pull’ the two images
back together to make the target
single again. The sensation you will
feel is one of going ‘cross-eyed’.
If you can make the stationary target
single again, then continue to pull it
towards you until it again doubles.
Repeat the process of stopping,
using your eyes to make the target
single, and then proceeding as
before.
When you are unable to make it
single, try taking the target back a
short distance until it becomes
single again and start the exercise
again.
You need to work hard in this area
where it doubles, as this will improve
your convergence weakness.
Dot Card
Hold the card lengthways touching
the end of the nose, angled
downwards slightly so you can see
all of the dots.
Look at the dot furthest away and try
to see it singly as one– all the other
dots should appear double and fan
out towards you.
When you can see this dot as a
single dot, continue to hold your
focus and count slowly to 10.
Once you can do this, move your
gaze to the next dot along and
ensure it remains single by gently
pulling in the eyes together. Again,
hold it for a count of 10.
Continue shifting your gaze up the
line of dots towards you, ensuring
each one is single and that you can
hold each one for a count of 10. If
you cannot make a dot single, go
back to the previous dot and try
again.
Stereograms
Stereogram’s all work in the same
way, by exercising convergence
and focusing separately– and it
can take some practice to learn
how to do them correctly!
1. Hold the stereogram at arm’s
length and hold a pen in front of
the card.
2. Concentrate on the tip of the pen.
3. Slowly move the pen towards you.
4. Watch the pen tip all the time but
be aware of the 2 stereogram
pictures in the background.
5. As the pen moves the
stereogram, images should each
appear to split apart.
6. When the pen is positioned
approximately half way towards your
nose, the 2 split images should
appear to overlap to form a 3
rd
image.
Relaxation
It is important to relax your eye
muscles after exercising.
The eyes may feel uncomfortable
following the exercises, and this is to
be expected as the muscles you are
strengthening are not used to
working so hard. However, there are
ways of helping the eyes feel more
comfortable:
Do not practice for longer
periods than advised by the
Orthoptist.
After the exercises, make
sure you rest your eyes either
by closing them for 1 minute
or by looking out of the
window into the distance
Contact details
TorbayAndSouthDevonFT
@TorbaySDevonNHS
www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk/
For further assistance or to
receive this information in a
different format, please contact
the department which created
this leaflet.
Orthoptic Department
(01803) 655122
PATIENT INFORMATION
Home Exercises
to Improve
Convergence
Insufficiency
Working with you, for you
25071/V3/Ophthalmology/TSDFT/09.22/Review date 09.24
