Importance of visual rehabilitation following eye and brain injuries:
The addition of vision rehab early in the recovery process following a TBI or eye injury can significantly impact the short term and long term outcomes and success of safely returning to play and work.
A recent example: Female high school soccer athlete came in with a history of a retinal detachment (including 3 surgeries). Main symptomatology – decreased reaction time and visual field deficits in the affected eye and the opposite eye due to fast onset of cataract.
Goals include:
- Implementing and being comfortable with protective equipment
- Improving reaction time in both central and peripheral fields of available vision
- Safe return to ADLs
- Preventing further injury/loss of vision
Within 5 weeks of this athlete performing sports vision training exercises 2x a week in our clinic she has improved her overall reaction time by 2.5 seconds! She no longer has to completely search for a target; she just sees it and responds. For a 15 year old girl with a full life ahead of her this could have been tragic, but because of her attitude and family support she was able to be proactive and take hold of her future. She has not missed a high school soccer game yet.
