Patients with many types of visual dysfunctions can be helped by optometric phototherapy, in particular, those with strabismus, amblyopia, traumatic brain injury, attention and memory problems, binocular vision dysfunction, photosensitivity, and reduced visual fields can benefit. From Dr. Spitler's original 30 color combinations, approximately six are now used most commonly. While the designations for each color were originally Greek, many modern practictioners use the English words for colors. The red side of the spectrum encourages divergence and is used for remediation of high esophoria, esotropia and amblyopia. Frequently patients cannot tolerate a deeper color initially and will begin in the mid-spectrum, moving to the more intense colors as therapy continues.
Patients can have unusual responses to colors.
The color that one person my find to be soothing, another finds to be disruptive and upsetting. The effects of the syntonics is usually very subtle and gradual. One session is not going to change anyone's life, but a series of 20 sessions can make a great difference. A phototherapy treatment plan may span a period of one to two months requiring three to five sessions per week. The optometrist may prescribe a series of twenty phototherapy sessions of twenty minutes each to begin a vision therapy program, or implement phototherapy concurrently with other vision therapy techniques.