A case report on the optometric vision therapy treatment of the visual symptoms of a concussion patient was published in the December 2016 issue of the journal, Vision Development & Rehabilitation. We treat many concussion patients in our vision therapy and rehabilitation practice in Vancouver and the results of this case report are consistent with the results that we see in our clinic.
Concussions are a mild injury to the brain which have been known to cause visual problems such as blur, double vision, reading problems, sensitivity to light, visual memory problems and other visual deficits like reductions in contrast perception. It is estimated that 15% of concussion patients experience a visual problem as a result of their concussion.
The patient that was the subject of the case report suffered several sports-related concussions that caused a variety of problems with the patient's visual system. The patient was diagnosed with with low myopic astigmatism, convergence insufficiency, fusional instability, oculomotor dysfunction, and photosensitivity. Treatment included tinted spectacle correction for full-time wear and conventional oculomotor-based vision therapy.
When vision therapy concluded, the patient was free of symptoms. And this effect was still present at a three-year follow-up appointment. The results demonstrate the efficacy of a comprehensive optometric approach in concussion treatment. The results also demonstrate the ability of the visual system to heal when the proper therapy is used for treatment.
