The Wow Vision Therapy Blog

The Impact of Concussion on Vision...the latest video from VisionHelp

The Impact of Concussion on Vision is the latest installment  from the VisionHelp Group that brings together leading experts in vision development and rehabilitation along with the personal side of this issue because a young woman, Abby, tells her story about life after a concussion.

For Abby it was just another day riding in the car when suddenly and without warning she was T-boned. Her car flipped 3 times before she came to a stop. In many ways she was fortunate because she survived the crash. The doctors at the hospital told her to go home and get some rest. But, from that point on her world had changed. Her vision was no longer the same. She was dizzy and the room moved just as if she had gotten off a boat. She couldn't work like she used to, it was very frustrating and it wasn't simply going away with rest and time... until she sought vision rehabilitation.

Take a moment to watch this short video and learn how concussions can have a significant impact on a person's vision and yet, with vision rehabilitation there is help.  

 

For more information about this important issue of vision problems associated with concussion click here and  take a look at more content on the VisionHelp Blog.

Please support the mission of the  VisionHelp Group. Share this video and you can be part of the solution for greater public awareness to end the senseless struggle associated with concussion-based vision problems.

Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D., FCOVD

The Visual Consequences of when a Mild Concussion becomes a Severe Brain Injury.

Too many patients who have a “mild concussion” exacerbate into a more severe brain injury, resulting in severe visual problems, often weeks and months after the injury. To emphasize this serious public health issue, The Colloege of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) has proclaimed March as Brain Injury Awareness Month.  Speaking directly on this subject, Drs. Fortenbacher, Stull and Edwards and the Wow Vision Therapist Team lectured on The Visual Consequences of when a Mild Concussion becomes a Severe Brain Injury...an Advanced Model of Neuro-Optometric Vision Rehabilitation Care at the Annual Michigan Vision Therapy Study Group Meeting in January at the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University.  

Featured in our presentation was a case study of our patient Thomas whose story is told in this video.

 

To read more about their lecture, visit Dr. Fortenbacher's post written for the VisionHelp Blog entitled: 

Dizzy, disoriented, distressed…when a mild concussion leads to serious vision problems and how to find help

 

Lunch and Learn...Wow Vision Therapy and Children's Therapy Center in South Bend

Yesterday Dr. Fortenbacher, along with Wow Vision Therapy's Clinic Director, Dr. Lindsey Stull, and resident,  Dr. Tuan Tran presented to the staff at the Children's Therapy Center at Memorial Children's Hospital in South Bend. The program was part of the new "Lunch and Learn" educational series that provides a much more personal and interactive experience for the OTs, PTs and SLPs at the Center.

Dr. Fortenbacher (and team) were able to present, over the course of the lunch hour, 3 recent or current patients in treatment and engage in a collaborative Q&A discussion. Written and video presentations helped to show how these children obtain the best outcomes in their overall progress through office-based optometric vision therapy and a multidisciplinary approach provided by the team at the Children's Therapy Center.

During the discussion there were some who asked about how to obtain more information about developmental vision and vision rehabilitation. For those who want to find out more detailed information about these topics the following was recommended:

Dr. Fortenbacher PESI Visual Processing and Therapy Lecture Resource Links and The VisionHelp Blog

A special thanks to Kay Azar, PT for organizing this event and also our MCO Extern, Dr. Katie, for assisting!

Oculomotor Dysfunction Following an Acquired Brain Injury

The term acquired brain injury (ABI) refers to traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and cerebral vascular accidents (CVA), or stroke.  Each year an estimated 8 million people will suffer a traumatic brain injury and 500,000 will suffer a CVA.  According to a study conducted through the State University of New York State College of Optometry and the Raymond J. Greenwald Rehabilitation Center in New York, the majority of all ABI patients will develop some degree of an oculomotor dysfunction.

The five areas of oculomotor dysfunction researched in this study were accommodation, version, vergence, strabismus and cranial nerve palsy.  Although all ABIs are unique to the individual, certain oculomotor dysfunctions were found to be more prevalent given the type of ABI.  The following statistics represent the trends found through this particular study.

• More than 40% of the TBI patients demonstrated an accommodative dysfunction while the amount of CVA patients with this deficit was only 12.5%.
• Convergence insufficiency was found to be the most frequent vergence dysfunction in both the TBI and CVA patients.
• Nystagmus, a version oculomotor dysfunction, was 30 times more prevalent in the CVA subgroup in comparison to the TBI patients.
• Approximately one fourth of TBI patients and 37% of CVA patients had acquired some form of strabismus.
• Ten percent of CVA patients had a cranial nerve palsy, primarily 3rd nerve palsies, while 7% of TBI patients had a cranial nerve palsy, primarily 3rd and 4th nerve palsies.

The study indicates that 90% of the TBI patients and 86.7% of the CVA patients manifest some form of oculomotor dysfunction.  Based on these significant statistics, it's imperative that these patients receive a comprehensive eye examination to adequately address any underlying binocular vision problem that may exist.  Each ABI case must be addressed on an individual basis, however there are certain trends that one should be aware of when determining the appropriate treatment plan for these patients.

To learn more about brain injuries and the effects they may have on the visual system, follow the links below.

Optometry Journal Article

Brain Injuries

Lindsey Stull, O.D.