Frequently Asked Questions:

Children should have their first comprehensive eye exam before entering kindergarten or first grade. Clear vision and proper visual processing are essential for reading, learning, and classroom success. Identifying vision issues early helps prevent avoidable learning challenges, frustration, or delays.

Please bring the following to ensure the most accurate and efficient exam:

• Your current glasses
• Your most recent contact lens prescription (if applicable)
• Sunglasses to wear after dilation (we provide disposable options if needed)
• A list of questions, symptoms, or concerns you’d like Dr. Sonneberg to address

Being prepared helps us give you the most personalized care possible.

Dilation is one of the most important parts of a comprehensive eye exam. It allows Dr. Sonneberg to thoroughly evaluate the retina and identify early signs of conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal holes or tears, and other internal eye diseases.

While dilation is strongly recommended for your long-term eye health, we respect patient comfort and informed consent at all times.

Dilation enlarges the pupils, making your eyes:

• More sensitive to sunlight
• Blurry when reading or using screens
• Temporarily uncomfortable in bright environments

These effects typically last 3–4 hours. Sunglasses are strongly recommended — bring your own or use a complimentary pair from our office.

A routine eye exam with dilation typically takes 30–45 minutes. If you’ll be browsing our optical boutique afterward, you may want to set aside a bit more time to explore frames, sunglasses, and lens options.

We recommend yearly comprehensive eye exams for most patients. Many eye diseases develop gradually and without symptoms — early detection is key to protecting and preserving your vision.

Absolutely. High-quality sunglasses protect your eyes from harmful UV rays, which are especially intense in South Florida. Poor-quality sunglasses can actually worsen UV exposure by dilating the pupil without offering adequate UV protection.

Our optical boutique offers polarized, high-quality sunglasses that reduce glare, improve comfort, and protect your long-term eye health.

Yes. Dry eye is extremely common in South Florida’s climate. Dr. Sonneberg has spent more than a decade helping patients find relief from:

• Burning
• Itching
• Excessive tearing
• Redness
• Grittiness or “sandy” sensations

She will assess the underlying causes and design a personalized treatment plan tailored to your symptoms.

Yes. All frames and lenses include a one-year manufacturer warranty.

We also offer our exclusive WOW Warranty for just $25, which provides a no-questions-asked replacement if your glasses are broken, scratched, chewed, stepped on — anything. If it’s damaged, we’ll replace it for FREE.

Dilation is typically performed during a follow-up visit rather than the initial BVD evaluation. However, if you have not been dilated in the last year, Dr. Sonneberg may recommend it sooner. Your comfort and consent remain our top priorities.

Modern prism glasses look just like regular eyewear. The prism is built into the lens in a way that is subtle, discreet, and cosmetically appealing. In most cases, people will never know you’re wearing prism correction.

For a visual explanation, here is a helpful video:

Prism Glasses Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NVe2hC82Ug

Most patients receive prism correction in glasses, which offer the best stability and clarity. In select cases, prism can be incorporated into contact lenses — typically for special events or specific use cases. Dr. Sonneberg will guide you based on your individual needs.

Not necessarily. Every patient is different. Some people wear prism full-time long-term, while others may need adjustments or may eventually require less prism over time. Your long-term need will depend on your visual system, your symptoms, and Dr. Sonneberg’s clinical findings.

Before the end of your evaluation, she will discuss your personalized treatment plan and expected outcomes.

BVD symptoms vary widely, which is why the condition is often mistaken for issues like anxiety, migraines, or sinus problems. Common symptoms include:

• Frequent headaches or migraines
• Dizziness or unsteadiness
• Light sensitivity
• Difficulty reading or concentrating
• Eye strain or fatigue
• Motion sickness or car sickness
• Anxiety in large stores or crowded environments
• Feeling “off balance” or “tilted”
• Neck pain or head tilt
• Double vision or intermittent blurry vision

If you’ve seen multiple specialists without answers, BVD may be an underlying cause.

Very small misalignments of the eyes — often as tiny as 0.25 diopters — can create powerful symptoms throughout the visual and vestibular system. Because these misalignments are subtle and not typically detected in a standard eye exam, patients are frequently misdiagnosed with:

• Chronic migraines
• Vestibular disorders
• Anxiety
• Sinus issues
• Vertigo
• Concussion after-effects
• ADHD in children

Dr. Sonneberg’s NeuroVisual method is specifically designed to detect these micro-misalignments.

Dr. Sonneberg uses an advanced, specialized diagnostic process developed under the training of Dr. Debby Feinberg, the nation’s leading expert in NeuroVisual Optometry.

Your evaluation may include:

• A detailed symptom assessment
• Neurovisual alignment testing
• Prism challenge testing
• Ocular motor and tracking analysis
• Visual processing evaluation

Most patients experience noticeable improvement during the exam when prism lenses are introduced — one of the most distinctive features of NeuroVisual Optometry.

Yes. BVD can be:

• Congenital (present since childhood)
• Developmental (emerging during adolescence or adulthood)
• Post-traumatic (triggered by a concussion, TBI, car accident, or whiplash)

Many patients begin experiencing symptoms months or even years after a head injury.

Many patients feel significant improvement within minutes of wearing their trial prism lenses during the exam. Others may experience gradual improvement over days to weeks as the brain adapts to the new, corrected visual input. Follow-up visits are scheduled to ensure optimal results.

While both address visual system problems, they are two distinct disciplines:

Vision Therapy

• Works like physical therapy for the eyes
• Helps retrain eye teaming, tracking, and focusing skills
• Requires weekly or bi-weekly sessions over several months
• Often used for pediatric developmental vision issues

NeuroVisual Optometry (the Feinberg Method)

• Focuses on correcting micro-misalignments of the eyes
• Uses precision prism lenses to realign the visual system
• Provides rapid symptom relief — often during the evaluation itself
• Highly effective for migraines, dizziness, post-concussion symptoms, and VH/BVD

Both approaches can complement each other, but they are not interchangeable.

In many cases, No. Prism glasses alone correct the visual misalignment responsible for symptoms.

However, some patients — especially those with significant tracking or focusing disorders — may benefit from additional vision therapy. Dr. Sonneberg will recommend therapy only if it is expected to provide meaningful benefit.

Standard eye exams are designed to identify:

• Refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism)
• Eye health concerns (cataracts, glaucoma, etc.)

They do not evaluate for the subtle binocular misalignments responsible for BVD and VH.

NeuroVisual Optometry uses specialized testing techniques, equipment, and prism evaluation methods not included in a routine exam.

No. NeuroVisual Optometry is a specialty layer of care added on top of routine eye health.

We provide both — meaning our patients receive:

• Comprehensive eye exams
• Contact lens services
• Medical eye care
• AND specialized BVD evaluation and treatment

Everything you need is in one place.

You may benefit from a NeuroVisual evaluation if you experience:

• Persistent migraines or headaches
• Dizziness or imbalance
• Anxiety while driving or in busy environments
• Difficulty reading
• Symptoms after a concussion
• Unexplained motion sickness
• Pain around the eyes or brow

If you’ve been through therapies or medical evaluations without answers, Dr. Sonneberg can help determine whether BVD is the underlying cause.