Eye Doctor Edmonton | Healing The Brain After a Concussion

Eye Doctor Edmonton | Healing Your Brain After a Concussion

One of the most difficult aspects of healing and concussion according to eye doctor Edmonton. Is the fact that many different parts of the brain can get injured. And it can be difficult to figure out what parts are affected. And what therapies are needed to heal them.

Not only do symptoms not necessarily show up immediately after the injury. But even doing a brain scan, is not always conclusive. It can take several days or even longer than a week for injuries to show up. Because of the altered metabolic activity of the brain.

Because of that, a lot of the symptoms that do appear. That could be indicative of what parts of the brain were injured. Are often not necessarily recognized as part of the concussion. Especially when those symptoms are vague.

However, a large number of concussions involve damage to the visual system. Because of how many visual connections there are in the brain. It increases the chance of some of those connections getting damaged.

There are three hundred neural connections in the brain dealing with the visual system. As well as thirty-two different centres in the brain that deals with vision in one way or another.

I doctor Edmonton says the problem with this, is because there are so many different neural connections. That the symptoms that point to a damaged visual system. Are not always obvious.

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While some symptoms include dry eyes, eyestrain and double vision. There are a lot of symptoms that are far less obvious. Such as people who have a hard time balancing, people who get dizziness or nauseated easily. People who are hypersensitive to the motion they see in their periphery.

Concussion patients also might find that they are fatigued in their cognitive functions. And want to avoid activities such as reading, watching television, or spending time on their digital devices.

These are all symptoms that can point to a damaged visual system. But they often get misdiagnosed. Because they often appear related to things like an inner ear problem. Rather than a brain injury.

It is very important that a patient consults an eye doctor Edmonton. After their concussion. So that they can rule out damage to the visual system. The doctor that they find should be trained in narrow rehabilitation. Because they will have a different evaluation than a standard eye doctor.

The tests will check the patient’s eye tracking and I focus. As well as determine if the patient has motion sensitivity or balance issues as well. If this is the case. Then the eye doctor Edmonton will create a vision therapy program to help heal the brain injury itself.

But at the same time, can prescribe glasses with various lenses that can minimize or eliminate symptoms until the brain itself is fixed.

By working with an eye doctor Edmonton. That can help concussion patients not only realize that there visual system has been damaged. But come up with an effective treatment plan. And get rid of their symptoms. So that they can get back to their normal life. While healing their brain from the inside.

Eye Doctor Edmonton | Healing The Brain Post Concussion

Concussions are very difficult to diagnose sometimes, especially if there are a list of symptoms that do not seem related says eye doctor Edmonton. In fact, there are 3.8 million concussions that occur every year. And they do not all present exactly the same way.

This is very dangerous, because once a person has their first concussion, they are four times more likely to have a second concussion within the next two years. And all subsequent concussions will have a larger impact and will end it being more severe if they do not heal from the first concussion thoroughly.

It can be difficult for patients to heal thoroughly says eye doctor Edmonton. Because it is not always known exactly what parts of the brain were injured. Even a neuro-imaging scan can be inconclusive. And not show all of the areas of the brain that are damaged. And not even show any damage in some cases.

Complicating that scenario, is that not every patient is going to experience the symptoms directly after getting their concussion. They can experience some right away, some a few days later, and some can even present as late as a week and a half after the initial injury.

Often, when a patient gets diagnosed with a concussion. They start working with a variety of rehabilitation doctors. Including psychologists, physiotherapists as well as occupational therapists. They may all work well together. And are working to heal a patient’s brain injury.

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But if the patient’s brain is injured in a different area, their efforts are not going to be as effective as they hope. In fact, one thing that these rehabilitation doctors should keep in mind. Is that if a patient is not responsive to treatment. Or stops being responsive to treatment. That is when they should contact an eye doctor Edmonton. Particularly one that has narrow rehabilitation training.

The optometrist will be able to give an evaluation of the patient to tell if they have damage to the visual system. And then come up with a treatment plan in conjunction with the other rehabilitation doctors.

This program will be called a neuro-optometric rehabilitation therapy program. And it will have various visual activities. That are designed to improve the efficiency of the visual system. To eliminate any visual issues the patient has. If a doctor can improve a patient’s visual system, then they are going to be able to progress much easier through other rehabilitation programs or easily.

The reason for this, is because the visual system actually affects many other systems in the body. So this must be healed first. Before other parts of the body can be healed.

The sooner a concussion patient can see an eye doctor Edmonton. The sooner they will be able to get a proper diagnosis of what brain injuries they actually have. So that they can get the proper treatment. And heal their brain injury. Thereby minimizing their chances of receiving a worse injury later on in life.