Road to Recovery

If you have suffered from a brain injury, you may experience changes to your vision that could be temporary or long-lasting.

Recovering your visual skills after an acquired brain injury can be a lot of work and can take a significant amount of time, depending on the severity of your injury.

Our optometrists at Beyond 2020 Optometry are ready to help improve your quality of life through neuro-visual rehabilitation. We’re here to assess, diagnose, and treat your neuro-visual problems. Every person’s situation is unique, so we take a special approach to each person’s rehabilitation.

Please speak with our team if you would like to learn more about our rehabilitation program.

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Brain Injuries & You

Concussions

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that occurs when the brain moves suddenly in the skull. It can be the result of a blow to the head or whiplash, and can adversely affect brain function. The symptoms of a concussion vary depending on the severity of the injury and the person’s reaction.

Symptoms of a Concussion

Some symptoms include:

Headaches
Blurred vision or seeing “stars”
Confusion or fogginess
Neck pain
Dizziness or loss of balance
Problems with coordination
Memory difficulties
Nausea and/or vomiting
Ringing in the ears
Sensitivity to light and sound
Irritability

Everyone experiences concussions differently. Children and youth typically take longer than adults to recover.

Stroke/Brain Tumors/Brain Surgery

Medical issues, such as a stroke from a sudden change in blood flow to the brain, can adversely affect the visual system. About 60% of stroke survivors have visual impairment resulting in a reduction in peripheral vision, eye movement irregularities, or difficulties with perception. Additionally, those who have had treatment for a brain tumor (radiation) or brain surgery have also had their visual pathway, from their eyes to their brain, disrupted. The impact is dependent on the area of the brain affected, but the symptoms can be debilitating.

Symptoms may include:

Blurry or double vision
Headaches
Visual field loss
Eye movement disorders
Perception problems
Sensitivity to light

Just as you may require physiotherapy after a stroke, brain tumor, or brain surgery to regain your muscle strength, neuro-visual rehabilitation will help your visual system recover.

Neurotoxins (chemicals, mold, Lyme disease)

We are constantly bombarded by toxic substances in our environment. These may include man-made items such as chemicals, or naturally occuring substances such as mold. Neurotoxicity is the damage to the nervous system that results from exposure to these substances. Even some diseases, such as Lyme disease, which is a tick-borne illness, can negatively affect how the nerves transmit information to and from the brain.

Visual system symptoms of neurotoxins may include:

Blurry vision
Headaches
Loss of memory
Reduction in cognitive function
Loss of balance

Once the offending toxin has been discovered and removed from your environment, neuro-visual rehabilitation can help repair your visual system.

How We Can Help

Our optometrists want you to get back on your feet again as quickly as possible. We can evaluate your visual difficulties, and we can help you on the road to recovery.

We offer an acquired brain injury evaluation to assess the affected visual skills that are causing your visual symptoms. It is shown in recent studies that 90% of traumatic brain injury patients suffer from visual dysfunctions.

We will assess:

If your eyes are working together (teaming) properly
If your eyes are focusing at different distances effectively and quickly
If you are experiencing light sensitivity
If you are experiencing visual processing errors

Based on what our optometrists discover, we can personalize vision therapy treatments to help with your vision.

The whole assessment typically takes an hour, but it may be broken up into several sessions. In the end, you’ll receive your assessment, an analysis of the results, a copy of the full report, and a doctor consultation. Your brain injury evaluation may be combined with other tests and assessments like the binocular vision assessment.

Get started on the road to recovery today. The first step is to book an appointment and discuss your symptoms with one of our optometrists.