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• Side Shields
• Posted: 2008-02-18 16:54:53 By Michelle W
• Are opaque side shields sometimes prescribed for RP? If so, why are they prescribed?
  
  Thanks!
  
  Michelle

• Re: Side Shields
• Posted: 2008-02-18 22:30:26 By Darran Z
• I think for many reasons. Primarily is to get all the UV radiation out. Some people with RP, who are exposed to moderate sunlight can experience an acceleration in the RP. So it's more of a preventative measure than anything I think.
  
  Darran

• Re: Re: Side Shields
• Posted: 2008-02-19 05:59:34 By Michelle W
• Thanks, Darran. I was mainly curious to see if the side shields help people with RP to see any better. Our daughter was prescribed side shields for her CVI, but she wears them in such a way that they shade her eyes (they stick out about a half inch on both sides). Now that she's night blind, I just wondered if they side shields were helping her eyes/vision in some other way than blocking the motion her parietal lobes can't process. Michelle

• Re: Re: Re: Side Shields
• Posted: 2008-02-19 09:30:53 By Darran Z
• No, they won't be helping her see better if that is what you are asking. The damage done from RP cannot be improved. It's more of a prevenative measure, especially if she had the rhodopsin mutation of RP.
  
  Darran

• Re: Re: Re: Re: Side Shields
• Posted: 2008-02-19 15:12:47 By Charlie K
• I would not discount that idea that easily.
  
  It might seem a bit odd, but I have found that I see (a better word is focus) better when the periphery of my vision is obstructed. For example, if I wear a cap, I find I focus my central vision better and see better. That is, I miss out on fewer things straight ahead which I might have otherwise missed without my cap.
  
  My hunch is that by blocking a part of the vision, the eye tries to do its best in what is left un-blocked. I feel that we RPers scan a lot to make up for peripheral vision loss. With some parts blocked, we have to scan a smaller area and that makes us see better in an indirect way.

• Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Side Shields
• Posted: 2008-02-19 19:30:21 By Jonathan R
• --"Now that she's night blind, I just wondered if they side shields were helping her eyes/vision in some other way than blocking the motion her parietal lobes can't process.--"
  
  ?
  I thought that the parietal lobes processes sounds. Don't you mean the optical lobes?
  
  
  --"For example, if I wear a cap, I find I focus my central vision better and see better. That is, I miss out on fewer things straight ahead which I might have otherwise missed without my cap.--"
  
  I notice that also, but I think it has more to do with an RPers sensitivity to glare. I experience many instances where I have to hold my hand up to my face and block out the excess light so that I can see something more clearly.