Purpose: Diplopia or heterotropia may occur during physical exercise. However, the influence of exercise on phoria is still unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a physical activity involving both aerobic and anaerobic exercise on horizontal phoria. Methods: Twenty young adult competitive soccer players (19 males, 1 female) were included and divided equally in two groups by manifest refraction: ametropic (n = 10) and emmetropic (n = 10) subjects. Horizontal phoria was evaluated by a Risley-Maddox rotating prism after a complete dissociation with a 5 Δ prism placed base-up on the non-dominant eye during five different times before (at rest) and after an aerobic-anaerobic workout (immediately, 5 min, 10 min, 25 min). Results: Ametropic subjects had myopia in either eye (median spherical equivalent of -0.63 D [interquartile range from -4.45 to -0.47 D]). Emmetropic subjects were at baseline significantly more esophoric than ametropic subjects (+0.90 ± 1.37 vs. -2.20 ± 2.57 Δ, p = .003). On average emmetropic subjects showed a quadratic course of increasing esophoria, peaking at 10 min (+1.65 ± 2.03 Δ) and then decreasing (+1.25 ± 1.78 Δ), returning to baseline in 50% of cases; while ametropic subjects had a quadratic course of increasing exophoria, peaking at 5 min (-4.00 ± 2.71 Δ) and then decreasing (-2.40 ± 2.80 Δ), returning to baseline in 80% of cases. The variations of phoria induced by physical exercise were significant throughout the time (repeated measures ANOVA p < .001, η_p² = 0.42). The interaction of time with refractive state on phoria was significant for quadratic term (p = .001, η_p² = 0.48). Ametropic subjects showed on average higher angles (p = .049, η_p² = 0.20) and higher variations from baseline phoria (quadratic interaction p = .015, η_p² = 0.29). Conclusions: Phoria is significantly affected by physical exercise, following a quadratic course of increasing and then decreasing angle. Myopic subjects were on average exophoric, displayed higher angles and variations from baseline, peaked before but recovered at last assessment more than emmetropic subjects. Refractive state may have a major role on predicting the progression; however, whether it is due to manifest refraction itself, accommodation or baseline phoria must be ascertained. Any reliable conclusion cannot be drawn due to small sample size and missing physiological measurements. Fluctuating phoria may provide a basis for decreased stereopsis and altered motion perception, thus affecting sports performance.

Background/Objectives: Ocular proprioception is implicated in balance control and heterophoria is associated with abnormal posture, though previous research focused mainly on the role of vertical phoria and the use of vertical prisms. This study aims to evaluate whether ocular misalignment and prismatic correction of horizontal phoria affect posture. Methods: Sixty-nine (N = 69) young healthy subjects were included and equally divided by horizontal distance phoria: orthophoria (n = 23), esophoria (n = 23) and exophoria (n = 23). A prism of low power (two-diopter) was placed base out on the non-dominant eye, reducing misalignment in esophorics and increasing it in exophorics more than in orthophorics. Dynamic computerized posturography was performed with the sensory organization test protocol (SOT) of the EquiTest^® NeuroCom^® version 8 platform both without and with prism, always maintaining subjects unaware of prism use. A mixed model for repeated measures analysis of variance was run to evaluate the main effect of prism and the interaction effect of prism with baseline phoria. Results: Composite movement strategy score without prism was 88.1 ± 2.8% (ankle-dominant strategy) and slightly increased to 89.0 ± 3.1% with prism insertion (p = 0.004), further shifting toward ankle strategy. Composite equilibrium score without prism was 80.3 ± 6.5% and remained stable with prism insertion (81.3 ± 8.2%, p = 0.117), medio-lateral and antero-posterior projection of center of gravity did not displace significantly under prism insertion (p = 0.652 and p = 0.270, respectively). At baseline, posturographic parameters were statistically independent of individual phoria, and no significant interaction between prism insertion and individual phoria was documented for any parameters (p > 0.05 for all). Secondary analysis and pairwise comparisons confirmed that the effect of prism was strongly selective on condition SOT 5 (eyes-closed, platform sway-referenced) with improvement of equilibrium (70.4 ± 9.7% with prism vs. 65.7 ± 11.6% without) and more use of ankle strategy (81.6 ± 5.3% with prism vs. 78.2 ± 6.0% without), without any interaction of phoria and ocular dominance, while the other conditions were comparable with and without prism. Conclusions: A two-diopter prism base out on the non-dominant eye induces the body to use the ankle joint more independently of individual phoria, suggesting a small improvement in postural control, while maintaining oscillations of the center of gravity unaltered. Prism seems to enhance the function of vestibular system selectively. Phoria adjustments with prismatic correction enable intervention in postural behavior. Extraocular muscles could act as proprioceptors influencing postural stability.

Background: To evaluate the short-term effects of a dietary supplement containing curcumin, bromelain, glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, sodium hyaluronate, type II collagen, and vitamin C on symptomatic vitreous floaters (SVFs) following Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy. Methods: Forty eyes with SVFs on the first postoperative day were randomized into a control group (standard topical therapy, n = 20) and a treatment group (oral supplement plus standard therapy, n = 20). Outcomes included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity (CS), and subjective scores from a non-standardized questionnaire on floater perception (QS1), interference with daily activities (QS2), and foreign body sensation (QS3). Objective evaluation was performed using two novel ultrasound-based methods: mean number of vitreous peaks (MVP) from A-scans and mean grey intensity (MGI) from B-scan images processed with ImageJ. Results: At 2 months, the treatment group showed greater improvement in CS (Δ = 0.26 LogCS, CI, 0.14–0.38; p < 0.01), QS1 (Δ = 1.10; 95% CI, 0.60–1.60; p < 0.01), QS2 (Δ = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.40–1.40; p < 0.01), QS3 (Δ = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.44–1.36; p < 0.01), MVP (Δ = 1.10; 95% CI, 0.60–1.60; p < 0.01), and MGI (Δ = 12.89 units; 95% CI, 7.84–17.93; p < 0.01). BCVA was comparable between groups (p = 0.478). Conclusions: Short-term dietary supplementation with vitreous-specific nutrients is well tolerated and associated with improvements in reducing SVFs and foreign body sensations after Nd:YAG capsulotomy and may represent a promising non-invasive therapeutic option.