Home Exercises - Dot Card Treatment for Convergence insufficiency

The orthoptist will tell you and/or show you, how to carry out the exercises and tell you how long to do them for. They may also change the exercises especially for you – please remember that these are basic instructions.

The orthoptist will also inform you how important it is to relax your eyes after the exercises.

It is better if you get someone to read you these instructions as you do the exercise, to help you.

1. Bend the dot card you have been given, down the middle along the line where the dots run.

2. Keep your head straight and hold one end of the card so it is touching your nose. Hold the card straight in front of you or slightly tilted down, making sure you can see all the dots clearly.

3. Look at the furthest dot from your nose and make sure you can only see one dot, and there is not two dots (double vision). When you can only see one dot and it is clear, slowly count to 10 making sure it doesn’t start to look like two dots. This will make the straight line and other dots on the card look like a /\ shape with your dot right at the top.

4. Once you can do this, move to the dot in front of the one you have just been looking at. When this dot looks like one dot and looks clear, all the other dots and the line will look like there are two of them, making an X shape, with the two lines crossing through the dot you’re looking at (this is normal). Keep looking and make sure your dot stays as one dot and doesn’t start to look like two dots while you count to 10 again. (See the picture on page 5.)

5. Move to the next nearest dot and do the same, then keep moving up the line of dots, getting closer and closer to your nose. Make sure each dot stays as one dot and looks clear before moving onto the next one, counting slowly to 10 each time.

6. Remember to RELAX YOUR EYES after this exercise, this could be done by looking far away for 5-10 minutes, or even closing your eyes for a few minutes.

• Try and make sure you’re making a big effort to ‘pull’ your eyes inwards to look at the dots. It might feel like you’re going cross-eyed while doing this. This is normal and needed to make your eyes work hard.

• If you can only get a short way down the dots before they keep looking like two dots instead of one, just keep practicing. Things should get easier as you continue doing the exercises.

• As with all new exercises, you may feel tired and might even get some eye ache when you first start out.

If you’re struggling, try holding the dot card a bit further away from your nose and try the exercises. Then once you can do that, bring the card back to the end of your nose.

It is really important that you attend your appointments once exercises are started so we can see how you are getting on. This also allows us to change the exercises if it’s needed. If you can’t attend an appointment, please contact the team on the number below:

01253 953457

Should you need any extra help or have more questions, need any information or advice, please contact the orthoptic team on the phone number above. We are open Monday to Friday 8:30 till 16:30. If you cannot get through to an orthoptist then you can leave a message on the 24- hour answer phone, please leave your full name, date of birth and hospital number if you can.

Orthoptic department

Blackpool Victoria Hospital

Outpatients Department

Whinney Heys Road

Blackpool

FY3 8NR