Concussions
It is estimated that over 4 million concussions occur each year in the United States alone. Recent research suggests that over 50% of concussed patients have visual problems which can degrade reading comprehension and the ability to connect visually with the world around them.
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A few common symptoms are:
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Headache and/or eyestrain
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Light sensitivity
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Blurred vision
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Loss of place while reading
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Double vision​
A few areas of the visual system commonly degraded:
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Near point of convergence (ability of eyes to aim correctly)
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Amplitude of accommodation (eye focusing for clarity of vision)
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Saccades (eye jumps i.e. the end of 1 sentence to the start of the next )
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Pursuits (smooth eye movements)
Sports & Performance vision care providers like Dr. Hutchins offer training to improve these areas of the visual system before play which has shown promise in decreasing the incidence of concussion and improving performance in athletics & academics.
The need for a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment of concussion can make the return to learn and play timeline difficult for athletes, and sports medicine professionals to predict. It is especially frustrating when you are in the 10-20 % of athletes who have symptoms that last weeks, months and even longer, developing into post-concussion syndrome.
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My goal is to eliminate post-concussion syndrome. Current research is growing and showing that early multi-disciplined therapeutic intervention, with vision therapy rehabilitating oculomotor dysfunction, is allowing athletes to improve quicker as other rehab methods are more successful when your visual system is intact.
Additional resources:
Center for disease control Visionhelpconcussion.com Consensus statement Berlin 2016