A traumatic brain injury (TBI), concussion or acquired brain injury (ABI) like a stroke can all have a profound effect on your visual system. A TBI can be brought on by a severe blow to the head from a car accident, sports injury, military explosion or other trauma. Patients with TBI, ABI or concussion can experience symptoms such as fatigue, memory problems, trouble concentrating, headaches, dizziness and anxiety, to name a few. Some patients seek answers by consulting with numerous doctors and medical professionals, trying various therapies and medications, and undergoing extensive testing – but see no relief from their symptoms.
In these cases, the symptoms could be caused by an eye misalignment resulting in Binocular Vision Dysfunction. Such was the case for Nancy, one of Dr. Debby’s patients.
Finding Relief After Decades of Pain
“I was hit by a car the day before my 19th birthday, and I experienced severe headache for the next 35 years. I looked everywhere for relief: physical therapists, neurologists, massage therapists, chiropractors, but the pain never stopped. I would stand at my kitchen counter and cut veggies with tears streaming down my face because of the pain in my head. It never stopped. My husband was one of Dr. Debby’s first patients, and one day he noticed that many of her patients were using wheelchairs and walkers. When he asked Dr. Debby why, she started listing off the symptoms for Binocular Vision Dysfunction. These symptoms perfectly described what I was going through, so I made an appointment to come in to Vision Specialists. Although I was a little skeptical, I had been to so many different doctors and specialists. What was an eye doctor going to do? But when I went home with my new trial-frame of prism glasses, after my third day, I woke up with calm, comfortable eyes. I had never realized that my eyes weren’t comfortable before. And then my headaches began to go away. Now, about every six months I begin to feel a headache, start to weave when I walk, and see a little double vision, and that’s when I know I have to see Dr. Debby again. And with a quick change in the prism in my glasses, everything is better. And now, I’m weaning off my medications that I have been taking for over 20 years to help control my muscle spasms. Now that the pain is gone, I don’t need them.”
How TBI Can Lead to Binocular Vision Dysfunction
It’s hard to fathom how a slight misalignment of the eyes could wreak such havoc in Nancy’s life, but when your eyes aren’t perfectly aligned, they’re not going to work together properly. A concussion, stroke or traumatic brain injury such as she experienced can move the eyes out of alignment, which in turn causes the eye muscles to become overworked as they struggle to realign the eyes. This overuse is what led to Nancy’s headaches. TBI can cause eye strain and dizziness, along with a multitude of other symptoms.
Let Us Help You Get Your Life Back
If TBI is disrupting your life, the professionals at Vision Specialists of Michigan can help you find relief and get back to doing the things you love. A caring doctor will perform an extensive NeuroVisual Examination, the results of which will be used to prescribe customized aligning prismatic lenses like those used to help Nancy. To find out more about the correlation between TBI and headaches, contact us today at (248) 258-9000 and we’ll do our best to assist you. You can also fill out our quick and easy screening questionnaire.
