Curing Dyslexia, Vertigo & Muscular Pain By ACTIVE PRISMS AND PROPRIOCEPT TECHNIQUES

Training

2012-01-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Training in 2012

January 16th and 1718thth ,Recife-Brasil - Training for Opticians on active prismatic lenses
February18th and 18 th, Paris-France-Training for Opticians on active prismatic lenses
March 17th Mira-Italy Conference and training for medical doctors specialized on posturology
March 2012 Bilbao-Spain training on posturology for paramedicals
September 2012-Perpignan-France Conference and workshop for medical doctors specialized in posturology

NOTICE

2011-07-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

We are happy in helping people concerning proprioceptive disturbancies,Pain , Unbalance,Cognitive disturbancies. This kind of help is for free and it will be provided by private email . It will not be published anywhere. Answer will observe medical relationship rules.

O.Alves da Silva M.D.

HOW LONG FOR HAVING RESULTS?

2011-05-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

The majority of symptoms like dizzinesse or backpain desappear in a few minutes after starting the treatment. However cognitive dysfonctions like dyslexia need a time of maturation. Sometimes they need a few weeks for the first important improvement.

SUMMARY

2011-05-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

PDS is a widebody disease wich may produce a big amount of symptoms .

However we can summarise these symptoms in the following categories

1-Pain

Back pain, chest pain, arms pain,legs pain,feet pain, headhach,migraine,parestesias

2-Unbalance

Diziness,vertigo,body oscilation

3-Learning difficulties

Dyslexia, dysgraphia,disorthographia,dyslalia,attention defficit,hyperactivity

4-tiredness (without a real reason for it)

5-Other symptoms

Vascular symptoms as cold extremities even in hotweather,Claustrofobia,Agarofobia, Spatial disorientation, Frequent falldowns,Inmouth bitting ,Depression,NauseaEtc

Note. Each clinical case of PDS has just a part of these symptoms its why each case is different .

All these symptoms occur because there are a neurological system disturbed by systematic wrong posture.

The treatment consists on reorganizing the disturbed neurological system by active prisms,special insoles and postural reprogramming techniques among others.

A Real Story

2010-05-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Maria is feelling dizzy. It is coming again ,she thought .But now, she knows how to solve the problem. She goes to an optician to check her glasses. The answer is , everytinh is OK...
She decided to visit an eye doctor and the answer is, everything is OK.
A generalist doctor did a complete examination and the answer is , everything is OK.
He advised her to visit a psychiatrist. She insisted the only thing she is needing is to check her prisms prescribed by a doctor in her country 3 years ago.
You must see urgently a psychiatrist because you are very stressed, the doctor said...
Frightened,Maria took the first flight to her country and she goes directly to her optician shop. Your glasses are distorted and your prismes are not working properly the optician said, let me fix it.
The optician used the spetial technique for active prisms and Maria doesn´t feel dizzy anymore.
Conclusion.
This kind of situations is very often because many professionnals have no idea about the relationship between active prisms and dizziness,they have no idea about what active prisms are, because they just know passive prisms.They don´t know there are specific rules to put them in the frames and for what those frames must be prepared specificly.
These leads to an unnecessary suffering and a waste of money.
A hard and long way must be done...-

Podcast

2010-05-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

http://tsf.sapo.pt/podcast/files/mct_20100428.mp3

READING AND WRITTING SLOPE

2010-04-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

A slope for reading and for writting is an importante device for training dyslexics in reading and in writting.

Reading becomes much more fluent and orthographics errors decrease.

Hereby a slope to put inside a schoolbag. The main innovation is the bottom of the slope. Paper doesn't slide down.

POSTUROLOGY WHAT IS IT?

2010-01-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

Posturology is the medical science wich studies the consequence on the proprioceptive system linked to wrong systematic body position.

This dysfunction can affect all parts of the human body and a differential diagnosis must be done from organic lesions, because symptoms are often quite similar.

Many of proprioceptive dysfunctions symptoms are taken by organic diseases and their classical treatment becomes a disaster because many doctors are ignoring this kind of dysfunctions.
This wide group, of symptoms was described in 1979 by H.Martins da Cunha as Postural Defficiency Syndroma (PDS). The treatment of this syndroma is very well established and results are quickly obtained.This treatment doesn't require drugs prescription or invasive methods.
(please see specifications on this website)

Proprioceptive dysfunctions ,the ABC

2010-01-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

Being the proprioceptive system a global system covering the human body in its totality ,it is easy to understand the symptoms having origin in its disturbances must be linked with the functions of the body segments they are disturbing.
In summary we can identify the following groups of symptoms:
1-Cognitive symptoms
Dyslexia, Disortography, disgraphy, dislalia,attention deficit,hiperactivity.
2-Balance Symptoms
Dizziness,vertigo,desequilibrium,
3-Pain symptoms
Migraine, Headhach, Cervicalgias,Chest pain,brachialgias,rachialgias,fetsoles pain,limbspain.
4-Egocentric localization deficit
Frequent falls down,involontary cheek biting,carparking difficulties,agorofobia,claustrofobia,spatial orientation difficulties.
5-Neurovascular symptoms
Cold but sweated hands,face paleness,Reynaud Syndroma.
One of these symptoms can be dominant in a patient and another symptom can take dominance in another patient.This could arise to the illusion they are suffering from different kinds of disease. But they are not,the treatment is similar.

Whiplash

2009-12-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

The whiplash syndrome usually comprises a severe limitation of life quality. It often occurs after a traffic accident or a severe fall.
Unbalance, limited head rotation, and neck pain are the main symptoms. Injury of the neck's neuromuscular spindles seems to be at the origin of this syndrome. This injury disturbs the proprioceptive balance of the body.
The strategy we have put into place for the last 30 years has been to compensate this proprioceptive unbalance by reinforcing proprioceptive information on others body's territory. Active prisms are very effective on this syndrome. We can see results in just a few minutes after applying the prisms. Unbalance is the first item to disappear followed by neck pain and head rotation limitation.

More Symptoms of PDS

2009-11-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

Agoraphobia, claustrophobia, space perception difficulties, false sensation of movement.

Consequences in everyday life:

Patients don´t like shopping in large commercial areas or using elevators.

They would rather use roads than highways to drive to their destinations (which seems a paradox).

They don't feel comfortable crossing large squares if there is not a monument in its center.

They show difficulties while parking their cars.

They have a false sensation of rearing movement while in stopped cars (despite no movement of other cars next to them).

Patients grind their teeth during sleep. This is due to a loss of control of the muscles of the mouth. The brain has the wrong information and believes the muscles are relaxed in excess. It then sends a neurological output to contract them. Some patients can´t open their mouth properly and have problems eating solid food.

PDS SYMPTOMS

2009-11-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

PDS Symptoms are the direct consequency of a dysfunction of the proprioceptive system.

Symptoms are multiple because proprioceptive system is one of the widest systems of our body.

We can identify 7 main kinds of symptoms:

1- Muscular Pain

This includes headhache,migraine,neckpain,chestpain,spinepaine,limbspain,sciática (due to compression of the sciatic nerve by the piriforme muscle)

2-Unbalance

This includes, vertigo,dizziness, disequilibrium

3-Neurovascular Symptoms

This includes, palenesse of the face, cold but sweated hands even in Summer, Reynaud Syndrome.

4-Sensorial dysfunctions

This includes, perception deafness,auditive retarded perception (people need more time than usual,to understand what speakers are saying in spite of a good auditive acuity),footplantar sensation of pain but without lesion, skinhyperalgia, false sensation of rear mouvement in stopped cars.

5-Neuropsychic symptoms

This Includes agorofobia,claustrofobia, orientation difficulties,tiredness,depression non responding to antidepressive drugs,Anxiety.

6-Learning dificulties

This Includes dyslexia,disortography,disgraphy, lack of attention,hyperactivity.

7-Wrong perception of the body and space

This includes innermouth biting, unexplained falls down, collision against tables,chairs doors and others objects.

There are also digestive symptoms (nausea,vomits,alternating obstipation and diarrea)

Vision and Dyslexia

2009-08-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Ophtalmology, and the American Association of Certified Ortoptists, they all have stated that vision problems are not the cause of primary dyslexia.
We most definitely agree with this statement as they are completely right on this item. The cause for DYSLEXIA is faulty perception produced by faulty proprioception. What these institutions are ignoring is that it is possible to correct a proprioceptive dysfunction by use of the secondary visual pathway as a neurological pathway to reach the brain.
They do not yet possess the know-how to prescribe active prisms because this option is still not part of their technical background.
They know how to prescribe passive prisms for correction of eye deviations but they don't know how to prescribe active prisms to manage the proprioceptive system.
This is a specific technique which must be learned separately.
The prisms we are using are neither passive prisms nor yoked prisms. We have been using this technique for the last 30 years with very good clinical results because our prisms are not aimed at correcting anything in the eye. They send only new visual information to correct the proprioceptive dysfunctions.

Active Prisms

2009-08-08T03:25:00.000-07:00

There is a slow neurological system that is proprioception-based. It mainly receives information from the body but it also receives some information from the outside. The latter includes spatial visual information. The inside and outside information included in this system make a whole.
This system controls many functions in our body and when it is dysfunctional, patients show several symptoms like pain, imbalance and cognitive dysfunctions among others (see PDS Symptoms).
This system can be managed by modifying the information at the point of entry.
Prisms modify the spatial visual information and, through this, they can modify the functions of this neurological system. We have the know-how to modify the spatial visual information in the right way and to reestablish the correct functions of this system. Consequently, the symptoms disappear.
Prisms correct not only the distorted spatial information (before treatment, patients usually have some domestic accidents involving wrongly-localised chairs, tables and doors) but also many others symptoms of PDS.

Feet Proprioceptive Information and Shoes

2009-07-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

The feet are prepared to receive information from the ground and to send it to the brain. This information is important to produce the brain mecanisms that keep the body in a correct stand-up position.
Shoes may distort this information. One of the most important sources of information in this matter has its origin on the big toe. If you observe a pair of usual shoes, the area corresponding to the big toe only touches the ground if the individual is running, impairing the feet of its source of information while one is standing, walking normally and/or sitting. This fact amputates the information to the brain and it distorts its output to regulate the positional muscles. This may be a factor to produce PDS and all its symptoms.
In order to prevent this situation, we need to wear the correct shoes. The shoes we propose are flat at the big-toe level and have a little depression on the inside to reinforce the big-toe support and allow the toe to be paralel to the sagital plane.
Postural Backpain has been shown to usually reduce or disappear when wearing this kind of shoes.

Note: there are some types of backpain that are not considered Postural Backpain. Nonetheless, close to 90 per cent of all back pains are postural backpain. A differential diagnosis must be performed in all cases.

WARNING

2009-04-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

THIS WEBSITE CONTAINS NEW CONCEPTS.

IT IS JUST USEFUL FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO SPEND MORE THAN JUST 10 MINUTES VISITING IT.

NEW CONCEPTS NEED TIME AND ATTENTION TO MATURE AND BE INTEGRATED BY THE READER.

FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONTENT, WE ADVISE TO BEGIN WITH OLDER PAGES.

Learning Disability II

2009-04-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

If an intelligent child can't learn because his perception is blocked by the proprioceptive system what should be the most correct thing to do?
Insisting in learning techniques and prescribing drugs? Or unblocking his perception by correcting the proprioceptive system?
Our strategy consists in correcting the proprioceptive system first. After this, learning techniques have the opportunity to be fully effective. At this point, we are only using them in severe cases as a supplement and to reinforce our results.
Results are obtained short-term, which is a great advantage when comparing to the classical methods. Our patients are happy because they start succeeding in school faster and in a sustainable way and our therapists are happy as well because they finally obtain higher rates of success. This leaves more time to control their patients' clinical evolution and opens the possibility to treat much more patients.
Again, we emphasise that we must start the treatment by correcting the proprioceptive system. Otherwise, the learning techniques could be a loss of time and money.
We consider that proprioceptive system management is the correct way to improve learning in learning disability situations.

Hyperactivity and Proprioception

2009-04-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

Skeletal muscles have two kinds of fibers: slow and fast. Fast fibers are organized by segments and slow fibers are organized globally, designing a system. This system is part of the proprioceptive system and it works globally connected to it. In the case of a proprioceptive system dysfunction, slow fibers are blocked and don't work properly. Patients will feel tired and the brain will try to solve the problem by using the only fibers that are working properly: fast fibers. In order to do so, patients need to enter in hyperactivity. If we correct the proprioceptive dysfunction though, patients don´t need to enter in hyperactivity, they return to using the slow fibers and their activity becomes normal.

Learning Techniques for Dyslexia, YES or NO?

2009-04-10T05:51:00.000-07:00

The aim of learning techniques is to increase the ability to learn through brain mechanisms that are not being used by students. From this point of view, they are helpful for everyone, dyslexic or not.
But are they good enough for dyslexics as an isolated treatment?
The answer is NO.
Those techniques are only helpful after proprioceptive treatment.
In the cases where they are used before proprioceptive treatment, the effort/results ratio is usually very poor. Students are losing time, money and opportunities. The sooner they begin the proprioceptive treatment, the sooner they will acquire normal reading abilities.

Drugs, Dyslexia, Hiperactivity, Depression

2009-04-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Metilfenidatum is the drug usually used to treat dyslexia's associated symptoms such as hyperactivity, depression, and attention deficit.
This drug belongs to the AMPHETAMINE GROUP.
Doctors who are prescribing these drugs, usually declare they don´t know the exact cause and physical mechanism of those associated symptoms.
Are they treating a disease or just hiding some symptoms with drugs?
Drugs may affect some entries of the proprioceptive system and they can modify its working mode. Some muscle-relaxing drugs and some vasodilator drugs can be effective. However, their effectiveness is limited in both time and intensity.
We consider that the correct way of treatment is to eliminate the proprioceptive dysfunction that is at the origin of those symptoms.

This kind of treatment is drug free.

Proprioceptive Symptoms

2009-04-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

The proprioceptive system is the widest system of our body. It goes from the feet up to the head. In terms of depth, it comes from the skin up to the digestive tract. Proprioceptive receptors can even be found in the tongue and mucosae.
This allows us to understand why this system can show several symptoms among several parts of the body whenever it becomes dysfunctional.
Also, the parts involved are the weaker parts of our body. This is why the symptoms are not exactly the same in every person. However, the origin is similar and that is why symptoms that are quite different such as dizziness, pain or cognitive dysfunctions disappear when submitted to a standard treatment.
To eliminate the symptoms, we only need to correct the proprioceptive system's dysfunction.
In long-term and severe dysfunctions, extra help reveals itself to be necessary.

Dizziness

2009-03-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dizziness is one of the symptoms of the PDS (Postural Deficiency Syndrome). Doctors and patients must be aware of this fact. Otherwise, they are risking doing medical tests that are completely useless. They're risking prescribing useless drugs as well, which sometimes have iatrogenic actions.
The only appropriate solution is to correct the proprioceptive system. This symptom disappears at once and it increases the patient´s life quality. The technique is the same we are using for the others symptoms of PDS.

Chronic Tiredness

2009-03-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Tiredness is normal after periods of activity. This symptom usually disappears after pausing. However, there are some kinds of tiredness that don't disappear after pausing. With some of them, it is possible to detect organic problems (metabolic, degenerative, tumoral, malformation, heart and lung problems, etc.). However, there is a kind of tiredness where nothing is detected, the proprioceptive chronic tiredness.
In this case, the tonic muscle fibers remain in stress because their mechanism to relax is blocked by the proprioceptive system. The consequence is chronic fatigue. Tests for proprioceptive dysfunction are highly positive in these cases.
If we correct the proprioceptive system, tiredness disappears at once.

Eyes and Proprioception

2009-03-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

The direct proprioceptive pathway in the visual system begins at the oculomotor muscle. To have a correct visual information on the position of our body and the objects we are seeing, we need information about the objects and about our eyes position. The information on the objects is carried out by the retina and visual pathways. The information about the eyes' position is carried out by proprioceptive pathways from the eye muscles. However, these two structures are not linked at eye-level but at brain-level.
Active prisms can modify the proprioceptive dysfunction at brain-level using the vision to reach the brain.

Shoes and Proprioception

2009-03-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

The feet have important proprioceptive captors in their structure. They can inform the brain about the position of the body even with your eyes closed. To maintain the information from the feet correct at all times, shoes must be made according to main rules that replicate the position of bare feet. It is a hard task for shoemakers because usually they lack the proprioceptive knowledge to do so.
If we pass a sheet of paper underneath an usual shoe, we verify that the sheet of paper usually advances up to a 1/3 of the foot. The big toe being the guiding toe for the standing and walking positions, this means the big toe is completely deprived of its proprioceptive function.
Proprioceptive shoes must respect this physiological condition.
We are building proprioceptive shoes according to this condition.
Wrong proprioception leads to back pain, unbalance, cognitive disturbances including dyslexia and to the other symptoms of Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS).
To correct the symptoms of this syndrome, we need appropriate shoes among other techniques for treatment. These shoes are also required for prevention, not just for treating.
Inappropriate shoes could be a factor of aggression to the proprioceptive system and be harmful to human health.

Why?

2009-03-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Why put together UNBALANCE, PAIN and DYSLEXIA?

It seems nonsense to put together 3 completely different symptoms. However, this is just an apparent nonsense.
In fact, these 3 symptoms are linked. They are the consequence of a proprioceptive dysfunction and they belong to a same syndrome called Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS) and all of them respond to the same type of treatment.

Pain, Posture and Proprioception

2009-02-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

Pain is a neurological information to the brain from receivers saying that something is wrong in the body. This information is unpleasant and stimulates the brain to reestablish well being. To reestablish the well being, the brain must recognize the origin of the pain. In posture, the origin of the pain is muscle contracture. However, the brain receives the information saying that those muscles are relaxed because the proprioceptive system that informs the brain about the muscle tonus is disturbed. The solution is not to prescribe analgesic drugs to eliminate the pain. The solution is to reestablish the normal proprioceptive functions. Afterwards, the brain can recognize the origin of the pain and send an order to relax the muscle.

Sciatica

2009-02-14T07:20:00.004-08:00

Sciatica is often considered to have its origin at the inter vertebral disc, which compresses the nerve. However, we must consider one other kind of sciatica. This kind of sciatica has its origin in the compression of the sciatic nerve at the level of the pyriform muscle at hip level. In the first kind of sciatica, pain is associated to loss of strength at the homolateral leg but in the second kind of sciatica pain entirely dominates the symptoms.
The treatment is quite different in each of the two kinds of sciatica. In the first case, drugs or even surgery are needed. However, for the second kind we only have to correct the proprioceptive system. Doing so, we obtain a relaxation of the pyriform muscle, the sciatic nerve is no longer compressed and the sciatalgia disappears.

Vertigo and Unbalance

2009-02-14T07:20:00.002-08:00

In a situation of vertigo or unbalance, we must verify if there is any problem with the inner ear or with the cerebellum. This is definitely important but it is not all.
There are many cases where both inner ear and cerebellum are in good conditions but vertigo and unbalance persist.
For a better understanding of these situations, we must consider the proprioceptive system dysfunction as a cause of vertigo and unbalance. In this case, the elimination of the proprioceptive dysfunction leads to the elimination of vertigo and unbalance.
Otherwise, we are forced to use drugs for which the target is not the disease but the symptom.
In the standing position, there are hundreds of information coming from the proprioceptive captors that contribute for that body position (neuromuscular spindles, baroreceptors, tendinous receivers, etc.). The proprioceptive system may become dysfunctional and the solution for treating vertigo and unbalance is to reestablish its normal function.

A Bit of Science

2009-02-14T07:20:00.001-08:00

Dyslexia is usually seen as a disease. It would be a disease if it had its origin in a specific organic characteristic or in a cromossomic disturbance. Authors refer many origins concerning dyslexia and each one refers a different origin. What we are talking about is very clear. In every pathology, there is often two part. One is the biological condition of each person and the other is the agent which produces the disease or the symptom. In DYSLEXIA, we are looking at the research about the origin of dyslexia as just a way to search for the predisponent factors.
The origin is a PROPRIOCEPTIVE DYSFUNCTION. The factors referred by different authors are factors which can't be changed. However, if we change the proprioceptive system, dyslexic people can become normal readers.
The facts that we have come across with do not allow researchers to withdraw the conclusions they have been referring to until now.
They must recognize they are searching for predisponent factors and not for causal factors.
Our technique can eliminate the causal factors of dyslexia by managing the proprioceptive system.

How the Active Prisms Work - a bit of science

2009-02-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

Whenever we look at an object to our left side, the image captured by our retina arrives to our retinal cortex. On the other hand, when we are looking at an object at our right side, the image arrives to the similar place in our brain (the visual cortex). How do we know both objects are not in the same direction in relation to our body ?
Only the proprioceptive input sent by the eye muscles to the brain can help make the difference concerning gaze direction.
Egocentric localization perception is the basis to understand how active prisms work in Dyslexia, Vertigo or Muscular Pain. The mechanism of egocentric localization is integrated in the proprioceptive system. Prisms modify the localization and this produces a new input in the proprioceptive system. We can treat Dyslexia, Vertigo or Muscular Pain by managing the proprioceptive system using the visual entry of this system. This entry is not the classical retinocortical neurological pathway but the retinocolicular neurological pathway. The brain reacts to the new information carried by this pathway and sends a stimulus to the specific eye muscle in order to reestablish the former egocentric localization. This is accomplished by relaxing the muscle tonus.
Consequently, the neuromuscular spindle (muscle sensor) sends a new information to the brain by the trigeminal nerve. This new information enters the proprioceptive system and modifies its way of working.

Be Aware of Multifocal Glasses!

2009-02-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Some people have referred feeling dizziness or suffering from back/neck pain after wearing multifocal lenses. Some also referred having difficulties calculating spatial distances when going up or down the stairs.
Difficulty in going up or down the stairs is often thought to be related with the power of the lenses for near sight. The maximum power added for near sight in a multifocal lens is 3.50. This means that if the user uses the near focus by mistake, he temporarily suffers from a 3.50 diopters' myopia.
A 3.50 diopters' myopia does not cause difficulty in going up or down the stairs without glasses.
The reason for these symptoms must be related to the prismatic action of those lenses.
The solution is not to avoid multifocals but to eliminate the prisms that the factory is incorporating in order to get thinner lenses. Nowadays, this technique is not so useful as before for this prescription because the modern materials associated with the pre-calibration technique allows to obtain thin lenses.

How To Lie Down

2009-02-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

The position in bed is very important for a good proprioceptive treatment. Pillows must be eliminated but the body position must be adapted in order to equalize the tonus of the skeletal muscles. This technique makes part of the postural reprogramming according to its author MD Martins da Cunha, H.

In this position, sleep is good, nightmares disappear and people don't wake up tired. The quality of the mattress is also important for a correct body position. It must be slightly smooth on the surface and very hard inside. There are two types of correct body position for sleeping.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

2009-02-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

The Extremadura Teachers Group in Spain has been in contact with us for some years now. Finally, they have obtained the necessary help from us for a new concept in school furniture.
This kind of furniture is designed in order to increase the students' attention level and prevent learning disabilities that are linked to proprioceptive disturbances.

Learning Disability I

2009-01-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

To learn properly we need 3 kinds of qualities:

Enough intelligence level;
Background knowledge to understand and;

PERCEPTION ABILITY

The proprioceptive dysfunction leads to perception disability.

If a person has enough intelligence level and enough knowledge to understand but he can't learn properly, we must take action in order to find out the proprioceptive dysfunction.

If this is the case, this is the only way to properly help this person.

Can my optician do the work?

2009-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

When a patient goes to an optician and asks if he/she is able to prepare glasses with active prisms, the answer is usually YES.

If, instead, the optician was asked if he/she had ever received a specific training for preparing glasses containing active prisms, the answer would usually be NO.

Many opticians declare that preparing active prisms is the same as preparing other types of prisms, that there are not major difficulties added or special knowledge needed... They say.

Please note this:

Preparing active prisms needs a specific knowledge to ensure good results. It is not enough to put the prisms in the frame.

Please see The Optician and Active Prisms for a better understanding.

Dyslexia: to cure or not to cure, that is the question!

2008-12-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

To cure an organic disease means to eliminate the pathogenic agent and its consequences. But what does curing mean when it comes to dysfunctional diseases?

The origin of dyslexia is a proprioceptive system dysfunction. In this case, the concepts of cure must be approached differently. We consider that there is a cure whenever the reading function and other associated symptoms become normal. This means the dysfunction may return whenever conditions for a recidivist are created again, but not before. The solution to maintain results is to avoid aggressions to the proprioceptive system. There are precise rules for this. We are teaching those rules.

It is a matter of fact that professionals who do not correct the proprioceptive system can't cure dyslexia. They can only hide or compensate some symptoms. Never cure. This is why they are very skeptical about curing dyslexia.

Some people say it is good to be dyslexic because many dyslexics have an inventive spirit... We say it's better to not suffer and have a normal lifestyle. Dyslexics ARE suffering and we can help them.

Dyslexia: Boys and Girls

2008-12-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

If we decided to review what has been written on dyslexia throughout time, we would verify that dyslexia would be a male disease. However, after being a predominantly male disease, dyslexic females nowadays are approaching the number of male dyslexics. How can we explain this evolution? Organic theories can't explain this fact, surely...

Human evolution can't explain this at all because we are only considering a short period of time from the moment dyslexia was first diagnosed, close to a century ago or a little more.

What has changed dramatically in a period of a generation, affecting both boys and girls at the same time, is the proprioceptive aggression. And this fact is the origin of dyslexia. This is, in our opinion, a guideline to understanding DYSLEXIA, how to treat it and why some methods are working and some are not.

We think it is time to separate the origin from predisponent factors. Anyone can have predisponent factors for a specific disease, i.e. influenza or pneumonia . It would be nonsense to say influenza is a genetic disease... However, many authors are saying DYSLEXIA is genetic! What we can integrate are some predisponent factors but not Dyslexia. Whenever we detect a child in risk to become dyslexic through the study of his/her proprioceptive aggression level, we can reverse this level and this child will never be a dyslexic. We have done it in several occasions. We have never seen a dyslexic without a high proprioceptive aggression level in the last 30 years of our experience in treating dyslexics.

How to Treat Functional and Chronic Pain

2008-12-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

There is a kind of pain that is very common. It is a pain where there is no strong evidence of being related to organic lesions. However, this pain is persistent... Backpain, chestpain, plantar pain, sciatic pain during pregnancy... The most common solution for these situations is to prescribe analgesic drugs for long periods of time.

However, THIS NOT THE BEST SOLUTION!

This kind of pain has a comprehensible reason. It's due to faulty brain information. THE BRAIN IS RECEIVING THE INFORMATION THAT THE MUSCLES ARE TOO RELAXED. Assuming this information as correct, it sends the order to contract the muscle, hence causing the pain.

The solution is to correct the proprioceptive information. By doing so, the brain acknowledges the real tonus of each muscle and sends the output to relax. As a consequence, pain diappears in a few minutes. Proprioceptive management techniques are required even in cases of painfull torticolis.

How to Correct Vertigo and Unbalance

2008-11-21T23:22:00.000-08:00

Vertigo is not necessarily a consequence of a standing position unbalance. Vertigo can occur in bed or in a sitting position. It results from a wrong perception of the surrounding space. Spatial references are lost during the crisis.

The first step is to detect the presence of an organic lesion. However, the majority of the cases of vertigo don't show any significant evidence of organic lesions. The majority of these functional cases are part of the Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS) described by Martins da Cunha in 1979. Treatment is very easy and precise for a specialist trained in the proprioception techniques. All that is needed is to treat the PDS, no drugs are needed, only proprioceptive correction.

Results are obtained in a few minutes.

Dyslexia: Disease or Symptom?

2008-11-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

Common Dyslexia is part of a proprioception dysfunction where cognitive functions are mostly affected. It is never the only symptom.

Whenever we use a proprioceptive treatment, associated symptoms also disappear. Associated symptoms usually disappear earlier than dyslexia itself. The cognitive functions need some time of maturation to normalize - a short period of time though - and most people can increase their reading performances in a few weeks.

Everything depends on the compliance of the proprioceptive treatment and on the severity of the case as well. The prescription must be correct and compliance overviewed. What is interesting in this new method is that dyslexics only need to come back to the doctor's office once a year and be monitored 4 months after the first visit.

Vertigo and Unbalance

2008-10-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Vertigo and unbalance are two conditions that decrease quality of life. They can be related to neurological lesions and labyrinthic health problems. However, many of those suffering from vertigo or unbalance do not show evidence of neurological lesions or labyrinthic organic disturbances. The majority of theses cases is due to a proprioceptive dysfunction. Whenever we correct the proprioceptive system, vertigo and unbalance also disappear in a few seconds. If they do persist however, it means they do not have a proprioceptive origin.

Blood vessel muscles are related to the proprioceptive system and that is why sometimes vasodilator drugs can help with vertigo and unbalance. However, this is a weaker part of the proprioceptive system.

In order to have the best results, we must use stronger proprioceptive entries like the eyes and/or skeletal muscles, which is the same as saying we must use Active Prisms and Postural Reprogramming.

We are using both Active Prisms following MD O. Alves da Silva's requirements and Postural Reprograming according to MD Martins da Cunha. This treatment is the basic approach for every type of proprioceptive dysfunction symptoms. However, some types of symptoms need special action.

Organic Theories

2008-10-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

If we accepted all organic theories about the brain of dyslexics, tests and results would have to verify that the dyslexic would have a very distorted brain (Displaced brain cells, corpus callosum abnormalities, abnormal cortex shape, excess of neural tissue, etc.).

However, if we accept the associated symptoms described in dyslexics as accurate, then many other areas of the brain must be damaged...

This is nonsensical as only the brain dysfunction theory can explain all associated symptoms in the dyslexic.

Visit our site for more information.

Dyslexia: The Key for Treatment

2008-09-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

The key for treatment of dyslexia is deep knowledge of proprioceptive system management.

This knowledge includes the recognition of proprioceptive symptoms, the diagnosis of the proprioceptive dysfunctions and the management techniques of the proprioceptive system.

Active prisms can unblock the brain by using the proprioceptive system, thus allowing the dyslexic to read and write properly and accurately. Brain mapping has shown the kind of modifications that active prisms can induce in the brain.

For some functions, it is required some maturation time.

See the posts on this site for more information.

Lisbon School Techniques - Head by O. Alves da Silva M.D. Eye Surgeon.

The Concept of Cure

2008-09-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

We consider that dyslexia is cured when the dyslexic person can read as fluently as a regular person. In case there is a new agression to the proprioceptive system, reading difficulties can reappear.

To mantain the results, we must protect dyslexic people from proprioceptive agressions at all times. This means the dyslexic needs to inform his/her brain about keeping a proper body position constantly.

This doesn't mean dyslexics must keep a correct body position everytime. What it means is the dyslexic must keep the level of proprioceptive agression below his/her level of resistance to the agression. Prisms are necessary until correct body perception is achieved and there isn't a time limit for its use.

Our concept of cure is also accurate for every symptom of PDS, including muscular pain and vertigo.

Correcting Proprioception Using Appropriate Shoes

2008-08-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

If you pass a sheet of paper under your shoes (direction toes-heel), the sheet usually reaches more than a quarter of your foot length, revealing your shoe has a sort of a boat shape to it. However, your bare foot does not have the shape of a boat. There is no reason to transform your perfectly-shaped feet into boat-shaped ones. Boat-shaped feet only favor a running situation but it is not suitable for standing, walking or sitting situations.

The big toe is the guide tool for both walking and standing positions. The consequences for such a functional amputation results in a high price for human health. It induces backpain, unbalance and other painful symptoms. That is the reason why all specialists in posturology need to modify their patients' foot support as a way of treatment. They also should take into consideration that women's footwear is usual worse than men's footwear, which is one of the reasons why backpain is much more frequent in women. We have developed a special type of shoes to address this issue.

What We Can Do for Dyslexics

2008-08-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Writing of an 11-year old girl suffering from dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dysorthography.

The same patient 4 months after our proprioceptive treatment.

Brain Mapping of a Dyslexic Child.
We can observe a very high absolute power in DELTA FREQUENCIES.

The same patient 5 minutes after using active prisms while in correct sitting position.

DELTA FREQUENCIES BECOME NORMAL.

Handwork of a Dyslexic child.
This reveals high difficulty in acknowledging egocentric space localization (Left and right, forward and backward)

The same patient after proprioceptive treatment.
(No difficulties in recognizing space localization)

Depression and Non-Psychiatric Depression

2008-08-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Depression is currently taken as a psychiatric disease without exceptions. In our practice, we have detected many cases of depression previously treated by psychiatrics with depressive drugs for several years without success.

Patients with this kind of suffering usually complain about several associated symptoms such as neck and back pain, unbalance, tiredness, lack of concentration and frequent falls. The objective examination can arise to a diagnosis of Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS). After prescribing our treatment for PDS, every symptom disappears including depression. Our prescription, unlike others, does not include anti-depressive drugs but only active prisms and body correction (Postural Reprogramming according to MD Martins da Cunha's Techniques).

However, we must emphasize that psychiatric depression cannot be cured using our techniques. We consider to be important to identify these two kinds of depression in order to prescribe the correct treatment for each one.

Depression can lead to severe incapacity. Detecting its origin early and starting its treatment as soon as possible is of great value for people suffering from it.

Results are achieved very rapidly for the non-psychiatric depression since it is just a symptom of PDS. If this kind of depression is not identified at any point, then patients will be treated as psychiatric patients for a long period of time without any hint of success. Drugs can control the symptoms but they will not eliminate the cause or cure the patient.

Proprioception and Proprioceptive System

2008-07-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

This system begins with information receivers and it ends with action suppliers. Between these two extremities, there is a complex mechanism. There is an afferent pathway to the brain. Proprioceptive information is received by the brain, it is treated at this level and then submitted to a perceptive mechanism.

The disease occurs when the proprioceptive perception is disturbed. Perception depends on the information coming from different receivers and not just from one kind of proprioceptive receiver. Let's consider the perception of verticality. Information comes from the eyes, from the feet, from the inner ears, from antigravitic muscles, from tendons, from fascias and from joint receivers. Suppose these pieces of information are not coherent amongst themselves... the result is unbalance, vertigo or dizziness. As so, these receivers have shown they are intrinsically linked and integrated by a common brain mechanism. That is why they represent a system.

The proprioceptive system includes not only the perception of the body but also the perception of the body in space, the EGOCENTRIC LOCALIZATION. It is impossible to understand the consequences of the proprioceptive dysfunctions without this knowledge.

The proprioceptive system is a slow neurological system, which means it works with at a low speed in afferent and efferent pathways. Proprioceptive centers receive information from the classical proprioceptive body receivers but also from vision and inner ears. Vision has two kinds of neurological pathways: the well known retina-cortical pathway and the retina-colicular pathway but only this secondary pathway belongs to the system.

Low-powered prismatic lenses use this colicular pathwayto reach the brain and manage the proprioceptive system.

The Optician and Active Prisms

2008-07-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

Usually, Optician Schools are not able to train opticians in setting active prisms. It requires a very specialised know-how and understanding. This kind of glasses must respect oculomotricity rules to be effective. Opticians are usually trained to set passive prisms. The shape of the frame and the method for centering lenses must follow specific rules. The optician is part of the therapeutical team and he/she must be integrated as a working element. Otherwise, the entire work is at risk. Since we are providing the brain with new information, this information must be highly precise. Multifocal lenses represent a hard task for opticians. Setting the prescribed prisms in the correct place, respecting oculomotrocity rules and choosing the correct frame requires deep knowledge and special training.

Usual optical lenses only have one main task. It consists of putting a focused image on the retina. Active prisms have a different main task. It is to inform the brain. The technical parameters to be respected are different even from passive prisms.

This kind of active prisms needs a frame with a minimum of deepness. For small children, the minimum is 29 mm deep; for other people 30 mm deep; and for multifocals, no less than 32 mm.

The frame must be curved and tilted in order to respect the physiology of eye movements. Both temporal fields must be symmetrical, which means the centering rules must be different from the usual. The orbital asymmetry must be taken into consideration. This means new rules for frame adjustment.

In conclusion, only a specif training for opticians can guarantee good results. Standard opticians do not possess enough knowledge to prepare glasses with active prismes. They can do it, but the results will not be good because they will be missing the correct rules.

Increasing Attention by Furniture Modification

2008-07-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

Usual school furniture is aggressive on the proprioceptive system. As so, we decided to modify the usual school furniture by use of sloped desks, limb supports and specially-shaped chairs.

We studied the attention levels of 2 classes composed of 8-year-old children.

In one of them, we used the standard furniture and we equipped the other one with special furniture.

The difference in the results for the two classes lead us to conclude that the non aggressive proprioceptive system furniture can increase attention levels.

In the same study, we also evaluated the number of spelling mistakes and we observed that, before the special furniture, both classes had the same level of spelling mistakes. 4 months after that, the class equipped with special furniture reduced its mistakes 4 times more than the non-equipped class.

We also studied the reading speed and reading ability of both groups. The special-equipped group presented much better results than the non-equipped.

4 months later, we studied both classes and verified that, in the class equipped with our special furniture, there was a reading improvement of 24.4 percent. In the non-equipped class, we verified an increase of only 7 percent, which could easily be due only to the fact that the children were now 4 months older.

We have also been studying the reading speed and the spelling mistakes in another school. The first results are showing a very high performance in the group equipped with special furniture when compared to the non-equipped group. The quantifiable results are still in progress.

Proprioceptive aggression doesn't harm the intellectual level but it can terribly harm the execution level, which is the main factor of learning disabilities.

Correct Standing Position

2008-07-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Some attendees to the San Diego Seminar are asking whether correct standing position is similar for every person or not. Also, they want to know how to assess the short leg situation through a postural point of view.

The situation is as follows:

Both legs are symmetrical concerning the medial plan but opposite concerning the antero-posterior body gravity centre. When we put the right leg behind the shoulders, the gravity centre moves forwards. Also, when we put the left leg behind the shoulders, the gravity centre moves backwards. In case of PDS, the body gravity centre is displaced backwards. In order to correct this anomaly, we must put the right leg slightly behind. This is similar for every person. This is true for usual standing position on a flat surface.

However, when you bend the leg, i.e. to use the stairs, the opposite is true. When people put their right foot on the stairs, the centre of gravity moves forwards. But when people put their left foot on the stairs, the shoulder and the body gravity centre moves backwards.

The majority of short legs are not actual short legs, they are the consequence of asymmetrical muscular tonus. It is a mistake to put a single compensation insole under the short leg because it increases the pression on this limb and enhances the muscle tonus's asymmetry.

A NEW Treatment for DYSLEXIA and Other Proprioceptive Dysfunctions

2008-06-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

There are several types of treatment which must be used concurrently.

1- Active Prisms, which must be prescribed specifically for each case according to precise rules

2- Postural Reprogramming, following MD Martins da Cunha's Techniques

3- Specific proprioceptive infrared insoles

4- Ergonomization Techniques

5- Cognitive training

The aim of the first 3 methods is to correct the proprioceptive system. Its dysfunction is on the origin of dyslexia and of many other symptoms like unbalance and muscle pain.

The aim of the fourth method is to sustain the results. Wrong posture produces proprioceptive dysfunctions.

The aim of the fifth method is to stimulate the affected brain areas.

In conclusion, for an effective treatment we need to correct the proprioceptive system, rehabilitate the affected areas and avoid proprioceptive aggressions in the future.

We emphazise that in the majority of the cases we don't need cognitive training. However, the others 4 items must be observed. The proprioceptive correction is made at home by the children under parent's supervision. Every symptom disappear with this treatment and not just dyslexia. Chronic tiredness, hyperactivity and lack of attention are part of the associated symptoms.

Active Prisms

2008-06-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Active prisms are conceived as a means to enter the proprioceptive system, using the eyes to reach the brain. These prisms are not conceived to correct eye deviations as the usual prisms. Their purpose is to influence the brain proprioceptive centers and modify the proprioceptive output. They are low-powered and prescribed according to the relaxation axis of a specific eye muscle. Active prisms are not prescribed by "trial and error" techniques but according to specific procedures.

Dyslexia as a Proprioceptive Dysfunction Symptom

2008-06-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

The authors who have shown success in treating dyslexia are those who are using proprioceptive entries for treatment. Many of them still ignore which exact entries they are using and they are searching for explanations that still remain inconsistent.

However, everything is very easy to explain for researchers that have a deep knowledge of the proprioceptive system: Balance and eye movement are related to the proprioceptive system. Results can be improved if a correct and systematic management is performed. In dyslexics, the neutral balance between agonist and antagonist muscles is not in the zero position. Balance training can help by reestablishing the zero position and providing a new proprioceptive input to the brain. This is the reason why balance training can help curing dyslexia.

However, this is an incomplete treatment. Many other proprioceptive entries must be managed in order to obtain excellent results. Only smooth balance is integrated in the proprioceptive system and cerebellum theory must be reviewed.

Reading disability is not the only symptom in dyslexics. Are these symptoms associated or are they symptoms of a syndrome where dyslexia is included? In 1979, Martins Da Cunha included DYSLEXIA in the Postural Defficiency Syndrome (PDS).

We know PDS is a consequence of a proprioceptive system dysfunction. We also know that reading disability disappears under specific PDS treatment. PDS is not a mechanic body distortion but an unconscious wrong body position due to faulty proprioceptive brain information. Wrong body position is just the tip of the iceberg regarding PDS. Cognitive dysfunctions, pain, unbalance, convergency insufficiency, hearing perception delay, and wrong space localization are only some of PDS's clinical manifestations. Our very long practice has shown that we can treat dyslexia by using the same technique used to treat PDS without dyslexia. This means that Developmental Dyslexia is a PDS condition where cognitive dysfunctions, including reading disabiltiy, are dominant symptoms.

A Cure for Dyslexia

2008-06-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

The majority of papers on dyslexia concerns the diagnosis and not the cure. The reason for such is that dyslexia is considered to have an organic origin. However, authors do not have the same opinion regarding organic lesions leading to Dyslexia. Brain cell migration, excess of neural tissue, interhemispherical lesion, brain relief shape disturbances, cromossome 21 modification, etc. are some hypothesis brought up by several authors...

However, common dyslexia presents other symptoms besides reading disabilities, such as tiredness or hiperactivity, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dysorthography, hearing delay perception, frequent falling, limb muscular pain, eye convergency insufficiency, balance difficulties, motor coordination difficulties and many other associated symptoms.

Raising the hypothesis of brain lesion would lead to the conclusion that widepread and multiple brain areas must present lesions. This is not the case as no study was able to find areas of multiple and wide brain lesions. Nonetheless, reading difficulties have increased 3-fold from 1960 to 1990. Organic hypothesis fail to explain this fact. Some authors argue that this is due to a better ability to detect dyslexia. However, these values are not related to dyslexia detected by specialists but rather to reading difficulties detected by teachers among their students.

It is a matter of fact that postural aggression leading to proprioceptive dysfuncion increased during this elapsed time. In our opinion, this is the real reason for the high number of dyslexic children nowadays.

Brain mapping of these children shows widespread areas with absolute power high levels in the brain. These areas return to normal after our proprioceptive treatment. THIS EVIDENCE EXPLAINS THE MULTIPLE ASSOCIATED SYMPTOMS and it also explains why the number of cases keeps increasing.

Through literature review, we verified that some techniques leading to better reading ability have also been described. Apparently, each technique is using a different mechanism and this creates some confusion about how it works. Our knowledge enabled us to understand that all these techniques leading to a progress in reading abilty - even though their authors ignore it - are using a proprioceptive entry.

Our clinical experience makes us confident that the management of a single proprioceptive entry is not enough to achieve good results and it only allows to obtain weak results. We also know that the strongest proprioceptive pathway to treat dyslexia is the trigeminal pathway.

PDS Symptoms

2008-05-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

Proprioceptive Dysfunctions may lead to Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS) described by H.Martins da Cunha, MD in 1977. Martins da Cunha described several kinds of symptoms with the most relevant being Pain, Unbalance, and Cognitive Dysfunctions.

Pain includes back pain, neck pain, high pain torticolis, brachialgia, chest pain, limb pain, hyperalgia and migraine.

Unbalance includes vertigo, dizziness, body disequilibrium

Cognitive Dysfunction includes dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthographia, lack of attention and hiperactivity.

Vascular dysfunctions like Reynaud Syndrome, cold extremities (even in summer time), narrowing between high and low arterial pressure, and asymmetrical blood supply without arterial lesions are also important symptoms which lead patients to search for medical help.

The sense of body localization is disturbed, patients bite involuntarily their inner mouth, they fall down without evident reason, they lose sense of orientation, they run into doors and furniture at home, and they can't walk straight with their eyes closed.

These symptoms are not present in every patient but in a significant part of them.

Whatever the type of symptom the patient presents, all are eliminated by the same treatment. The symptoms change for every individual but the type of treatment does not. Only the details are different but not according to the symptoms but to the type of PDS. This means we can use the same treatment for cognitive dysfunction, back pain or vertigo and different treatment details for two cases of similar back pain.

Conferences and Seminars

2008-05-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Barcelona Spain 29th and 30th January 2010International Meeting on Posturology
Marseille France November 2009 Congrès de Posturologie CHU NORD
Bilbao, Spain, January 17th 2009 -Workshop on Posturology and proprioception
Belo Horizone, Brazil. August 23rd 2008
Sao Paulo, Brazil. August 22nd 2008
Barcelona, Spain. June 28th 2008
Lisbon, Portugal. 6-7th June 2008 (Advanced Course in Proprioception at Lisbon's High Orthoptic School).
San Diego, USA. May 19th 2008
Sintra 18-19th May 2008- International Meeting on Proprioception
Porto, Portugal. February 5th 2008
Porto, Portugal. October 28th 2007
Brasilia, Brazil. 2007
Fortaleza, Brazil. 2006
Recife, Brazil. 2005
Cairo, Egypt. 1998
Madrid, Spain. 17-19th October 2008
Dijon, France. December 11th - Invited lecturer to Post Graduation on Proprioception and Learning Disabilities at Dijon University
Madrid, Spain. February 28th
Bucharest, Romania. October 19th, 2005 at World Congress of Posturology
Rio de Mouro-Portugal, Learning Disabilities in Intelligent People November 14th 2009
Marseille-France Meeting on Prematurity Plagiociphaly and Neurosciences November 17h
2010 February 26th Lisbon, Symposium on Dyslexia for School Teachers- A Lions Club meeting

Lecture on Early Symptoms leading to learning difficulties before school age

http://www.roposturo.ro/participanti/Dasilva.htm

Books

2008-05-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

Dislexia Uma Nova Abordagem Terapeutica (Dyslexia: A New Therapeutic Approach)

Authors: Graciete Serrano; O. Alves da Silva
Language: Portuguese

Dyslexie de Developpement (Developmental Dyslexia)

Authors: P.Quercia; F. Robichon ; O. Alves da Silva
Languages: French and Portuguese

O Meu Filho Não Aprende Porquê? (Why Can't My Child Learn?)

Author: O.Alves da Silva
Languages: Portuguese

Proprioception and Dyslexia

2008-05-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Proprioception is our sixth sense. It informs the brain about the body itself and the relationship between body and space. Proprioception is the first part, the afferent part, of the PROPRIOCEPTIVE SYSTEM. This is a complete neurological system that includes receiving and processing information brain centers, efferent neurological pathways and effector organs, a feedback mechanism that is associated.

Common Dyslexia is a consequence of a proprioceptive dysfunction. The good news is the body has the necessary know-how to normalize the proprioceptive dysfunction and improve reading ability as well as other associated symptoms. We are using ACTIVE PRISMS and other complementary treatments. Complementary treatments include specific motor coordination training developed by Martins Da Cunha, MD that was named Postural Reprogramming. The reason why some types of motor training can improve reading ability is that they can interfere with the regulation of the proprioceptive system. Reading our work, the authors of some motor coordination trainings will finally understand why their treatment increase, although slightly, reading ability... However, Active Prisms are the strongest component for dyslexia treatment and the results appear in a short period of time, even in severe cases.

Active prisms are not yoked prisms but prisms prescribed according to previous proprioceptive status evaluation by use of specific techniques. Each type of proprioceptive dysfunction requires a specific active prism.

Dyslexia and associated symptoms

2008-05-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

What is new is the confirmation that common DYSLEXIA is not a disease but just one of the PDS's symptoms.

The main benefit is that we can treat Dyslexia by treating the proprioceptive dysfunction which produces all PDS symptoms, including Dyslexia. Many kinds of pain and unbalance don't need drugs to be treated but only the techniques to correct proprioceptive system dysfunctions. These techniques are neither iatrogenic nor invasive. Our experience dates back to 1977 and we have treated more than 30 thousand patients with success. This represents a very long background and a very high number of patients treated.

The classical treatment for Dyslexia has a low percentage of good results because its aim is to reduce the symptom but not to eliminate the origin of the disease. The same goes for some kinds of pain that are only due to muscle contracture arising from wrong brain proprioceptive information. Everytime the brain is informed the muscles are too relaxed, it sends the neurological output to normalize their tonus. But if this information is wrong - as in the case of a proprioceptive dysfunction - the brain sends a similar neurological output, the muscle contracts and reaches the pain level. This is very common and we estimate, according to our experience, it affects more than 10 per cent of the adult population in industrialized countries. Many muscle pains are found not to have an evident organic origin.

The body's balance system is also affected by wrong proprioceptive information. The brain doesn't know where the body segments and space are exactly located and it keeps sending wrong neurological outputs which lead to unbalance.

In case of dyslexia, what is affected are the brain centres that locate exactly the components of the written message and also the position of the eyes relative to each part of the text. Whenever a "DE" is seen as a "ED" or a "p" is seen as a "q" or the line above is seen as the line below, the text stops making sense and people can't read . However, when we correct this wrong perception through the correction of the proprioceptive system, reading becomes possible and easy.

In case of proprioceptive dysfunctions, including dyslexia, Brain Mapping (computerized electroencephalography) shows excessive brain cortical absolut power in the low-frequency waves. When we correct this system using our methods, these excessive brain cortical levels become normal. In case of pain or unbalance, this is enough to make those symptoms disappear; in case of cognitive dysfunctions, we have the basis to continue the treatment by cognitive training. However,we emphasize that, in many cases of dyslexia, cognitive training is not necessary.

O. Alves da Silva, MD Biography

2008-05-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Pioneer In Opthalmologic Proprioception since 1977 with H. Martins da Cunha, MD, who first published the Postural deficiency Syndrome (PDS) in 1979.

O. Alves da Silva developed the method to prescribe ACTIVE PRISMS and influence the brain proprioceptive centers and output.

He also developed postural reprogramming techniques, cognitive training and ergonomics, which combined with active prims successfully cure proprioceptive dysfunctions associated with certain types of dyslexia, vertigo and muscular pain symptoms.

Since 1977, Alves da Silva has successfully treated approximately 30,000 cases of dyslexia, vertigo and muscular pain.

RESUME

Medical Doctor (1971) Eye Surgeon (1976)

Head of the Strabismus Department (1977-2005) of Santa Maria University Hospital - LISBON - PORTUGAL.Professor of Ocular Motricity at School of Orthoptics- Lisbon.

Director of Posturmed Clinic.

President and Founder of the Portuguese Association of Clinical Posturology and Dyslexia.

Founder and First President of the Portuguese Group of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

Guest speaker at several scientific international meetings on Proprioception.