Vision Therapy and general update
 

Hi Everyone!

I've missed you all and the support from this forum a lot!

I had some additional responsibilities given to me over the last little while, so I wasn't able to log in.

I've attended two sessions of Vision Therapy and I've been doing my exercises (as long as I am able to remember that I need to!) I've already noticed a significant improvement in the way that I see the world - my peripheral vision is working a lot better than it was and that's helping me to be able to drive safer and better and just to be in the world every moment! I don't even remember the last time I got dizzy (other than while I was in vision therapy, wearing silly lensed glasses) and I think I can thank vision therapy for that too.

I still notice that I'm making some distinct cognitive functioning type improvements too. Since I'm getting close to the two year anniversary of the accident I was in that caused this injury I'm still recovering from I am very grateful that I'm still noticing that I'm still getting better.

I highly recommend that if you haven't already been evaluated for Vision Therapy with a Vision Efficiency Examination (which is different than the average eye exam) that you do so ASAP.

Thank you for this update! I am about to begin vision therapy and am very optimistic that it will help.

From my initial visit, which included a battery of tests, I was diagnosed with Saccadic Eye Movement Disorder, Pursuit Eye Movement Disorder, and Convergence Insufficiency. (I also have Astigmatism and Myopia, both of which were diagnosed long before my injury.)

In addition, my visual memory is very poor. This was quite surprising, and definitely a result of the accident, since my visual memory has always been way above normal (prior to my accident). The experience was quite weird; I was shown a flash card with four images, allowed to look at it for about ten seconds, and then asked to draw the images afterward. This was repeated three more times. Looking at the images, I felt like I had them all solidly in my head. As soon as they took the card away, I just lost them; I ended up getting 8.5 out of 16, which is way below normal. This was so weird because I had never experienced something like that before.

Given all the problems I have had with eye strain and light sensitivity, it seems likely that my eye problems have been overtaxing my brain and preventing me from recovering properly. I don't necessarily expect vision therapy to "cure" me, but I am hopeful that it will enable me to start to improve more quickly.

EsthersDoll, you said that your balance has improved. Do you attribute this to the vision therapy? My balance problems are just not improving, despite the fact that I've been doing OT and PT exercises. It would be fantastic if I could get some benefit there from the vision therapy.

Pete

I do think the Vision Therapy has helped my balance because I'm supposed to do a "tracking" exercise that at first made me lose my balance and then as I got better at it, I am supposed to do the exercise with one foot in front of the other - it's surprising to see how much vision affects my balance! Before the accident I was in, I had very good balance - I was in yoga and could easily hold a position and stand on one foot for a prolonged period of time and at work I would crawl around in ceilings and on catwalks and truss in the air and since the accident just walking down the street has been difficult! My balance has gradually gotten better over the last couple of years until doing this vision therapy I have seen a much more rapid and thorough improvement of my balance in only a couple of weeks.

My vision memory was not tested - I was only given a one hour evaluation instead of a five hour evaluation. The Dr. I went for the evaluation told me she would suss out other stuff I needed during the treatment/therapy sessions. I think because the evaluations are an ongoing part of the therapy they wanted to save me some money by doing it this way, but I'm not sure.

have you tryed the prismatic glasses . i am in the same boat as you and the glasses really helped. i still drag my left leg alittle but it is improving .

Glad to hear vision therapy is helping you!

I'm almost one month into vision therapy and do not see an improvement in my symptoms(pretty much just headaches at this point) yet. But I'm still very hopeful and I've got two more months until I visit the therapist again for an update. I'm doing an in-home program for convergence insufficiency. Double Bullseye exercises(basically looking cross-eyed at two transparent cards with bulleyes on them, tromboning them about), brock string exercises, and software with various exercises(pursuits, saccadics, base in/out vergence, etc.). A link to the software, in case your interested: http://visiontherapysolutions.net/hts.php. I spend 10 minutes twice a day with the bullseye and brock string and 50 minutes once a day to perform all of the software exercises. It's a lot of work but my performance with the exercises has rapidly improved. The software gives you graph based reports on your progress which is nice. All of this is supposed to reduce my close distance viewing related headache trigger. Fingers crossed, we'll see(no pun intended)!

__________________________________________________ __________________
10 months PCS from mTBI. Chronic daily headaches.

Hello,
I'm relatively new to this site (I've been browsing the forums but haven't posted until today) and I have some questions about vision therapy. I've been dealing with PCS for almost 3 years now and have had a lot of problems with my vision: blurred vision, palinopsia (visual trails), visual snow, flashing lights, and sometimes my eyes seem to vibrate and are unable to focus. Do these seem like symptoms that vision therapy could possibly help correct? If so, how do I find if there is a facility that has vision therapy in my area?

Thanks so much!

Laura

I used this link that Eowyn shared a little while back:

http://www.nora.cc/

I'm not sure what part of Minnesota you're from, but there are a lot of providers in the Twin Cities area; I'm seeing one in Woodbury.

I am in Rochester MN where Mayo Clinic is and still have trouble finding doctors who truly understand PCS even when they say they do :)

Esthersdoll, I am so glad to hear that you are doing better and that the therapy is helping!!!! Thank you for the update, and my wishes for continued healing!!!!!!! :hug:

Thank you!! :)

I was just commenting to myself yesterday about the benefits I've gained from going to vision therapy - I experienced a LOT of weird visual phenomena like the ones laurarrrgh mentioned and since I've started going they happen MUCH less - I can't say whether the vision therapy has helped reduce them or not at this point because I'm not an expert in the field.

And the dizziness I experienced multiple times a day seems to have subsided since I started going too! :)

I live in Rochester as well, and I'd have to say that the doctors at Mayo kind of dropped the ball when it came to my case. I was in and out in two weeks with no follow ups and little to no information about PCS or how to cope with long-term symptoms - definitely a source of frustration the last few years.

Vision Therapy Help for PCS
 

So glad to hear that people are finding help for PCS with vision therapy. I came across this strand by accident, but as a vision therapist with 15 years experience, it is wonderful to see this type of information being shared. Best of luck to you in your continued recovery. The organization COVD has a wealth of information on this topic.

Makes sense that Mayo will leave PCS patients wanting. The Mayo Clinic online information about concussions is very old school. Definitely not up to Mayo standards.

RV, Are you just a vision therapist or have you had a concussion?

I guess you meant thread when you said strand. This is a common occurrence of those of us with PCS. Thread....strand...the PCS brain picks the first to come to mind.

Mayo clinic has been so wonderful for many other health issues for both me and my husband but when it comes to PCS they seem absolutely clueless especially if your symptoms linger past 3 months. It has now been over 5 months for me and supposedly I should be all better by 6 months.

Hey Laurr I'm having all the same symptoms as you! Have any gone away yet? Mine seem to have gotten worse since my concussion two months ago. Did yours start right after your concussion?? I heard visual snow never goes away i'm scared!!!

I'm sorry I suffer from visual snow too. I had vision therapy a few years back and it helped with some of my focusing issues, but not with the visual snow itself.

Laura, I had many of your visual symptoms for the first few months. I am fortunate that most seem to of faded or disappeared. I still have convergence issues sticking with me and will be starting vision therapy shortly.

I wish you luck and healing.

I keep having vision symptoms and this is NEVER going away. Is there anything that I can do to fix this? I wish the OP best of luck as well, as this is very frustrating.

Glad to hear of success with vision therapy. Neuropsych did diagnose me with vision issues, so I am going to ask about a referral. I don't need a referral-BUT, I feel like it will give more validity.

DId your visual snow get induced by concussion or did you have it before?

Have you been on the visual snow forum at yuku? Some people took pirectem or whatever its called and visual symptoms subsided you should go there maybe it will help!!!

Piracetam is a banned substance in the USA.

Oh well it helped this guy i think he might have ordered it in Europe or something. I think i'm going to try it though.