Oasis Vision Rehabilitation

Concussion Therapy and Vision Rehabilitation

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  • It is estimated that nearly 10 million brain injuries occur every year across the globe. Studies show that nearly 90% of traumatic brain injury patients suffer from visual dysfunction
  • Out of 100 adolescents diagnosed with a concussion, 69% were also diagnosed with a functional vision problem.
  • Visual problems can be often overlooked during initial treatment of a brain injury, symptoms may not fully present themselves until some time after the injury
  • These problems may include but are not limited to the following: 
    • Blurred vision
    • Eye focusing - shifting between objects near and far may be compromised, along with ability to scan across a page (reading) 
    • Sensitivity to light
    • Eye teaming - your eyes may not work together as a team, potentially leading to double vision 
    • Reduction or loss of visual field
    • Motion sensitivity 
    • Headaches with visual tasks
    • Reading difficulty 
    • Difficulty with eye movements
  • Post concussion syndrome occurs when various symptoms of the initial injury persist for an extended period. Post trauma vision syndrome can occur in addition to post concussion syndrome.
    • Symptoms can include:
      • Problems with the focusing mechanism (accommodation)
      • Tracking (ocular motor function)
      • Delayed visual memory/processing
      • Convergence (how the eyes come together)
      • Visual spatial distortions (visual-vestibular) along with associated neuro-motor (visual-motor output) deficits.
      • Poor balance
      • Headaches/migraines
      • Inability to concentrate (reading/computer or even conversation)
      • Dizziness/nausea
      • Inability to tolerate crowded or busy places
      • Disorientation
      • Fatigue
      • Delayed visual memory
      • Visual Midline Shift
  • Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation is a process for the rehabilitation of visual, perceptual, and motor disorders. 
    • This is an individualized treatment regime, for rehabilitation of visual, perceptual, and motor disorders
    • Therapy is not typically performed to ‘strengthen’ eye muscles, but rather is initiated to treat functional deficiencies. 
  • At Oasis Eye Care, Dr. Sharma specializes in the rehabilitation of brain injury patients:
    • this includes injuries from, motor vehicle accidents, stroke, sports injury, whiplash, etc. 
      • Please call to book an assessment today
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Neuro-Vision Rehabilitation

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What is a Brain Injury?

  • Insult to the brain is caused by an external force
    • Can cause diminished or alerted states of consciousness
    • May result in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical function
    • Every 9 seconds, someone in North America sustains a brain injury
  • This amounts to 1.7 million per year

Acquired brain injury can be broken down into 2 types

  • Non-Traumatic Acquired Brain Injury
    • Something that happens inside the body or a substance introduced into the body that damages brain tissues.
      • Causes can include: Stroke, Aneurysm, Brain tumour, Encephalitis
  • Traumatic Acquired Brain Injury
    • Something that comes from outside the body, such as a blow, bump, or jolt. It can result in temporary injury or more serious, long-term damage to brain cells.
      • Causes can include: MVA, Falls, Assaults, Sports injuries
      • About 80-90% of TBIs fall in the mild category, which is most responsive to vision therapy and rehabilitation.
  • Over 50% of brain pathways relate to visual function, and when our eyes are open, 2/3 of our brain activity is devoted to vision. This can explain why many patients with TBI may experience one or more of the following vision problems. Studies indicated that 30-80% of patients would have symptoms of post-trauma vision syndrome, with up to 90% showing ocular motor problems.

 

These specific areas can include the following:

What is a Neuro-Optometrist?

  • A neuro-optometrist is a doctor who specializes in the assessment of individuals who have vision-related problems associated with neurological disease, trauma, metabolic or congenital conditions. When the visual system is disturbed neurologically, it can adversely affect activities of daily living for both children and adults Neuro-optometric services include:
    • Comprehensive evaluations of sensory-motor, visual field, accommodative, and oculomotor function
    • Visual processing evaluations.
    • Ocular health examinations
    • Special testing, such as electrodiagnostic services
    • Therapy options
    • Coordination of care with other health care professionals and rehabilitation specialists, such as occupational, physical and speech therapist

What is Neuro-Vision Rehabilitation?

Is an individualized treatment regime for patients with visual deficits because of physical disabilities, traumatic brain injuries and other neurological insults (ex. Stroke, Cerebral Aneurysms, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis etc.)

Studies show that at least 50 percent of Traumatic Brain Injury patients suffer from visual dysfunctions.

Visual problems are often overlooked during initial evaluation as symptoms may not be present until days, weeks or even longer following the incident. A regular eye exam often does not reveal the extent that the visual process is affected by a concussive injury. More extensive visual processes in the brain may be affected, known as Post Trauma Vision Syndrome (PTVS)

Neuro-Vision Rehabilitation focuses directly on the rehabilitation of Post Trauma Vision Syndrome.

6 out of 12 cranial nerves are involved in processing vision. These form over 300 neural pathways.

Up to 50% of patients with a brain injury will have 1 or more visual symptoms.

Some studies have shown up to 90% incidence of post-trauma visual complications.

Visual symptoms can include and are not limited to common vision problems, as listed on our website. 

How Does Vision Rehabilitation Work?

We know that our brain is plastic, and it can learn to rewire itself throughout life. After a brain injury, our brain's ‘normal’ paths of processing may be turned off due to damage or the inability to communicate with other parts of the brain due to severed connections. Vision training aims to rehabilitee these pathways to aid the brain in ‘rewiring’ and have better communication with itself. This is done through various therapy techniques.