Visual stress can make reading difficult for some people
Visual Stress & Colorimetry
Brignall Opticians offers overlay assessments and colorimetry, which are carried out to see if colour alleviates symptoms of visual stress.
What is Visual Stress?
Visual stress is a term used to describe distortions reported by some people when reading printed text. Distortions can manifest themselves in several ways, including the text appearing blurred, movement of the text and characters changing shape or size. Symptoms vary from person to person. Those suffering from visual stress may tire of reading easily.
Signs of Visual Stress
Children may not always be able to describe their difficulties when reading, but some of the signs of visual stress are:
Moving closer to or further away from printed text & fidgeting
Using a finger as a marker on the page
Skipping words or entire lines
Having to re-read the same line
Rubbing eyes or blinking more when reading
Poor comprehension of written content
Coloured Lenses & Overlays
Some people report that a coloured filter alleviates their visual stress and allows them to read more easily. The coloured filter may be a plastic film placed over reading material, or spectacles with coloured lenses.
Colorimetry Process
Colorimetry is applied after a thorough eye examination by an optometrist. This is to ensure that the difficulties with reading are not caused by other eye conditions, such as long or short sightedness or astigmatism. It is important to first treat these before considering colorimetry.
Coloured overlay sheets
Patients often use overlays in their everyday settings to see if their visual stress is reduced
Overlay Assessment
In order to test for visual stress and whether a coloured tint would help, the patient is asked to review some printed text and feedback whether symptoms are lessened by the coloured overlays. There is no need to read the text aloud, the optometrist will be looking for subjective feedback as to whether different coloured overlays help. Optionally, a timed reading test can be completed, to measure reading speed with and without the overlay.
Using the Overlay
An overlay can be provided to use in everyday settings to help assess whether the symptoms of visual stress are mitigated. We suggest doing this for around 4 to 6 weeks.
Colorimetry & Tinted Lenses
If use of the overlay is successful, a further assessment to find the exact shade of colour which most reduces visual stress can be completed. This is called colorimetry and ensures that the tinted spectacles have the greatest effect. The patient is asked to read some printed text through a device called a colorimeter, which can precisely vary the colour of the light reflected onto the text.
Next Steps
If you feel you or your child may suffer from visual stress, contact us to book an assessment. You’ll find details of appointment costs on our Fees & Funding page.