Wow Vision Therapy Blog

When a Concussion Affects Vision – Beth’s Success Story

The impact of head trauma can cause a concussion, leading to a severe impact on the affected individual’s visual system. Many times, concussion based symptoms are often confused as “other issues” from trauma. For many individuals, symptoms can persist for weeks, months, and even years. However, with a proper diagnosis of the visual deficit is made, and vision rehabilitation treatment is provided, a patient can “return to themselves.” To hear directly from a patient who has lived through a concussion, we asked our past patient, Beth, to share her story with us.  

Beth is an adult female who sustained a concussion in the winter of 2019 when she slipped on ice, fell and hit her head. Beth, when describing her experience, “did not realize that it was going to be a venture, but it truly has been. The fall was swift. I managed to return to my feet, staggering but aware of my surroundings.” Shortly after she returned to her feet, Beth experienced several concerning symptoms that ultimately led her to the Emergency Room.

At the hospital, it was confirmed that Beth had sustained a concussion. 

When describing her experience following the accident and diagnosis, Beth had several issues at home. While at home, she said, “I felt tired but otherwise not much different until the next morning. I woke up in the dark, unplugging the night light as it was too bright. After I began to move around with sunglasses and a hat to shade my eyes, I also put in earplugs. Everything was too loud.”

While heading to a follow-up appointment the next day, she said, “I couldn’t even look out the car windows because the world was spinning. This quickly resulted in a headache.”

With all of these symptoms affecting her daily life, Beth was unable to return to work for five weeks. 

To help improve and improve her neck and dizziness, Beth worked with a physical therapist. But it wasn’t until she had an appointment with her primary care optometrist Dr. Alice Bacak, O.D., who referred her for vision therapy at Wow Vision Therapy

Vision therapy is a rehabilitative program, prescribed to treat developmental and/or neurologically induced dysfunctions of the visual system. When describing her experience at Wow Vision Therapy, Beth told us, “WOW is correct! I soon found out that my brain did not understand what my eyes were seeing. With a thorough exam, knowledgeable doctors, and therapists, I began the better part of my venture. They utilized many modalities such as spinning balls, prism glasses, virtual reality computer games, and my evaluation steadily progressed.”

After vision therapy, Beth noticed so many improvements. As she described it, “While driving, I now can change lanes with comprehension, pretty important, right? And no more car sickness!! With the computer, I can read and scroll again – pretty necessary, right? How about the grocery store? I can walk, look, and talk at the same time- pretty wonderful right? And who knew that I would also be able to recite all the Presidents of the United States? I’ll tell you who – all the wonderful therapists who apply these proven techniques.”

After sharing all of her wonderful improvements, Beth praised the team at Wow Vision Therapy by saying, “You see – they don’t do average – they do awesome! Thank you for giving me my life back.”

And we couldn’t be happier to see Beth’s life return to normal again! 

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Concerned you or your child may be struggling with a vision problem and wish to learn more about vision therapy? Please fill out the form below and one of our Patient Care Coordinators will be in touch to answer your questions or help schedule an evaluation for you.