Neuro/Vision Specialist - Monsey/Lakewood

mother4

Sun, Jan 06 2019, 6:55 pm

My 11 yr old son is suffering from headaches for quite a while. it hits him usually later on in the day, but at times is present in the morning too. Its really affecting his learning and his moods. We looked into many reasons but have not yet come up with anything significant.
1. drinks enough
2. 20/20 vision
3. blood test
4. sinus medication
5. neurologist (who described it as migraines and prescribed vitamins)
6. allergy testing (still waiting for results)
7. MRI (pending)

His (old time) rebbe remarked by PTA that he thinks it is probably vision - where his muscles around the eye are being used in the wrong way, and causing him the headaches it. he has it around his entire forehead.

Anyways, Im looking into going to a specialist to evaluate him. I am not up to travelling to the Dr. in London (aside from waiting so long for an appointment) It is not covered by insurance, so it will be pretty costly. My question is who to go to (local):
Dr. Rubin in Monsey
Dr. Luchins in Monsey
Dr. Press in Lakewood
Dr. Nayor

The rebbe recommended Dr. Press. Anyone had experience with him? or any of the others mentioned? If I am spending the money, I want to go to someone that will actually help. I am not 100% sure it is a vision problem .

amother

Jade

Sun, Jan 06 2019, 7:50 pm

Refuah shelaima. That must be so difficult. I've heard good things about Dr press but haven't used him personally.

I just wanted to comment on something. There are children (and adults) who are walking around with functional vision abnormalities and have deficits because of it. Many of them are helped tremendously by vision therapy and such. There are also children walking around with functional vision abnormalities who don't have deficits because of it- they have learned to compensate well enough that there is no negative impact on their vision. If you evaluated, the results would indicate the abnormalities, and any related problems would be attributed to those abnormalities. However, the abnormalities may be unrelated to the presenting problem, and treating the vision won't solve anything. I just wanted to point that out in case you do go that route, are told he needs vision therapy, and find that it doesn't make any changes in the areas he's suffering.

I hope you find the right shaliach quickly!

mother4

Mon, Jan 07 2019, 8:44 am

Thank you for your advice. It is very true, as a simple blood rest revealed hypothyroidism. The blood test was done, following headaches and tics, last year. However, the headaches are still present.
Im wondering what other issues are a possibility. I hope to get to the root of it!

amother

Emerald

Mon, Jan 07 2019, 3:00 pm

I work with kids in Lakewood. I've heard really good feedback from parents regarding these two doctors. The work they do is different so you have to know what you're looking for.

https://siwofflowvision.com/about-us/

http://www.focusvisioncenter.com/

thunderstorm

Mon, Jan 07 2019, 3:27 pm

OP, you mentioned that your child had tics last year . And headaches now. Have you tested him for Lyme Disease? It can cause nurophsyciatric presentations as in physical tics. One of my sons had been diagnosed with Lyme Disease and about a year or so before then he was acting like he had PANDAS. Also Lyme Fisease can cause hypothyroidism as well, in some people. Keep that in mind while doing your testing. Hatzlacha.

amother

Mistyrose

Mon, Jan 07 2019, 4:24 pm

amother wrote:

These two doctors both do vision therapy. We used Dr. Lane and was ok, but now we got prism glasses.

What I'm hearing from kriah specialists and from family members who have tried both is that prism glasses are easier and works better than vision therapy.

mother4

Tue, Jan 08 2019, 6:32 am

thunderstorm wrote:

He is taking synthroid and doing regular blood tests every few months. Would it show up on a simple blood test?

According to Google, he doesnt have most symptoms of Lyme. And his tics are nearly gone (for now!) But I will def check with our pediatrician.

Just curious, how was your son treated for Lyme disease? What does it require?

Thanks for bringing it up...

thunderstorm

Tue, Jan 08 2019, 7:22 am

mother4 wrote:

Unfortunately my DS was diagnosed when the Lyme infected his joints. They removed fluid from his knee and did bloodwork. (This all took place at Westchester Children's Hospital) he was hospitalized for almost a week because he suddenly wasn't able to walk. His bloodwork and the fluid that was removed from the joint all tested positive for Lyme. This is something that an infectious disease doctor is familiar with. I use the pediatric practice that is affiliated with Westchester Hospital.
Lyme presents itself in many different ways.

Treatment for him was over a month of antibiotics.