Brenda Montecalvo, OD, FOVDR, FAAO, FCSO, a vision therapy optometrist and owner at Nova Vision Care in Beavercreek, Ohio, has been exploring the relationship between light, color and vision for more than 25 years. She has a keen interest in how these elements impact her patients’ lives. As president of the College of Syntonic Optometry, she has long recognized the potential of color filters to alleviate a range of vision-related issues. Recently, she began incorporating Avulux lenses into her practice, which show promising results in relieving migraines for certain patients.
“When we came across Avulux, it looked like a promising option, especially with its evidence-based studies and subsequent grant of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration pathway to market using a migraine claim,” Dr. Montecalvo explains. “We decided to trial it with patients who hadn’t found solutions for their migraines. For specific groups, we saw that Avulux reduced their visual stress. That, in turn, helped resolve or relieve their migraine symptoms.”
Dr. Montecalvo sees the potential of Avulux as part of a broader toolkit for managing visual strain. Now that Avulux offers clip-on styles in partnership with Eyenavision, she lets patients know they can get more flexible and customized wearing opportunities. They can adjust their eyewear depending on the environment. “Patients might not want to wear dark lenses in a social setting,” she says, “but with the magnetic clip, they can decide when it’s necessary.”
In other cases, she prescribes the lenses as an add-on to current eyewear, like computer lenses.
IN-OFFICE SCREENING
Dr. Montecalvo may explain to patients that there are 12 extraocular muscles and two ciliary muscles. “These muscles are highly integrated. We can determine if certain visual stresses exacerbate issues like migraines,” she says.
She’ll conduct eye movement and convergence tests with and without the lenses, and the results help her understand the intricate relationship between the eye muscles and the brain. “Even in a short test, we can often determine whether these extraocular muscles and the ciliary muscles are affecting the migraine process,” she says.
She asks patients if they are experiencing any symptoms of headache or discomfort in the exam room. If they are, a test with Avulux lenses might show an effect almost immediately. Recently, she was able to recreate a common trigger with a patient. This patient, a college student, complained that she got headaches or migraines after even short periods of spending time on her laptop. Unfortunately for her, most college students are required to spend hours on their laptops.
So Dr. Montecalvo brought a laptop into the exam room and had the student start reading the screen. As soon as the student felt the first twinges of stress, “we placed the Avulux lenses in front of her. She could feel a difference.” For some patients, there’s no one tool that works all the time. This young woman already had prism lenses, which were helping for some triggers. But adding the Avulux lens made it easier for this student to get through her academic requirements.
FINDING TRIGGERS
That’s why it’s so important to work with patients to identify their migraine triggers. Dr. Montecalvo encourages new patients to spend a week or two journaling how their five senses are being impacted. “Think of all your senses. Were there loud noises or was your environment hot or cold? Try to figure out everything that happened and that you experienced in the two hours before your migraine started,” she tells them.
That helps her and the patient identify what some of these triggers are. If they’re auditory, for example, a good set of noise-canceling headphones or earplugs could help. If they’re food-related, she might recommend the patient see a nutritional specialist. One of her patients used this technique to discover that he was allergic to cinnamon. He noted that he started experiencing headaches every time he lit a cinnamon-scented candle.
“If the triggers are visual, we can help provide ways to manage the triggers,” she says. So she stresses the importance of details in these journals. It might be the sun or a certain light or even a color frequency that is triggering the headache.
Once patients know what their triggers are, the Avulux lenses can be considered almost as a medicine. “Patients are welcome to wear them and remove them as needed,” she says. “If they recognize the tension and strain early, they can use the lenses before those triggers become extreme.”
Dr. Montecalvo emphasizes that Avulux isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. “It’s not for everyone, and migraines can have many causes. But for some patients—like those dealing with digital exposure or brain injuries—these lenses can be a powerful tool in combination with other treatments.”
Ultimately, Dr. Montecalvo views Avulux as a useful addition to the wide array of tools available for managing migraines. “It’s still new to our practice, but so far, it has been a valuable option for those patients who need a bit of extra support, especially in cases where digital strain or visual stress is a significant factor.”
