Active Prisms

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.

Can my optician do the work?

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.

The Optician and Active Prisms

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.

Active Prisms

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.