Visual snow is the name given to the experience of having “ static” or flickering dots in your entire field of vision, even with your eyes closed. You may think of it like looking at an image through a “snow globe” that has been shaken. It can be black-and-white, different colours or even transparent and it may even flash.
A study reported in November 2020, in the journal “Frontiers in Human Neuroscience” found that patients with Visual Snow had altered neuronal excitability in their visual cortex, which is located at the back of the brain.
Ref: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.582031
Many of our Irlen Syndrome clients experience Visual Snow along with visual distortions and migraines. In some instances, their specifically tinted Irlen lenses remove the Visual Snow from their visual field, while others find relief because in their words, “the lenses have not stopped it altogether but has slowed it down”.
The SPECT scans showing how Irlen lenses have “calmed” the brain (including the Visual Cortex) can help to explain how clients experiencing Visual Snow Syndrome gain relief by wearing their Irlen lenses.
