Skipping Sentences While Reading

Many of my patients report that while reading they have to follow along with their finger or they will find that they are skipping lines. Usually they have had many eye examinations during their lifetime. Seldom has any doctor asked this question. They are almost universally surprised that something can be done to assist them in this problem. We test all of our patients for a condition called a vertical phoria. In this condition we find a clear misalignment of the eyes. Almost every patient has a small degree of misalignment in a horizontal plane. Those who have a misalignment in the vertical plane will complain that they have difficulty following along a line and moving to the next line. There is of course an underlying problem which is patient posture. Patients with this problem often lean to one side while sitting in the exam chair. I point this out to my patients, but I also point out that I am not a chiropractor or alignment specialist. What I can offer the patient is a special lens which allows the image to focus on corresponding points in the eye. There is no visible difference in this lens which is known as a vertical prism, but the patient usually notices an immediate improvement in the clarity of reading material and an improvement in their ability to read along without skipping lines. It would of course be in the patients best interest to improve their actual posture, but as this is not my specialty, I am limited to assisting them in simply seeing better. There is real help utilizing postural therapy, but I will not go into that in this blog. If you or someone you know suffers from the inability to follow along a line I would be pleased to have you contact me with your questions or comments.