This illustration, a simulation produced by Amar, shows how text had always looked until he was treated for Visual Stress. Words were blurry and painful to look at and had been a trigger for severe headaches.
Amar had suffered from migraine for years before he found out that coloured lenses could help him:
"Reading books and computer displays had always been uncomfortable. I thought everyone felt this way. I found myself becoming lost in long sentences and large paragraphs. My level of concentration and comprehension seemed poor. This did not make sense - I had studied to a high academic level, yet I was having difficulty following a simple novel. This made me think: that maybe my problems were due to the way the text was laid out on a page. Losing my way in a sea of words was how it felt.
"I started to make investigations and came across descriptions of a situation like mine - a condition that could be corrected by the use of coloured lenses. It was mentioned under various names: Meares-Irlen Syndrome, Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome and Visual Stress. For many years I had suffered from migraine, sometimes triggered by bright lights or certain printed patterns.
"This was also noted as an associated symptom of Visual Stress. I read about the use of a device called an intuitive colourimeter that could allow an accurate assessment and treatment. I did a search on the internet and discovered that there were very few of these devices in the UK. I was in luck - I found an optician who had an intuitive colourimeter only five minutes walk from my home.
"My consultations with Andrew Keyes were very thorough. He did not stop until he was sure we had the correct solution. He explained everything as we progressed. Andrew used some software that allowed him to specify the correct colour for my lenses. I found an instant improvement.
"It is not an exaggeration to say that this has totally transformed my reading abilities and also significantly reduced the frequency and severity of my migraine."
