Neuro-Optometric Rehabiltiation
Helping You Heal Faster
While we offer a wide array of services to our patients, a large portion of our practice is dedicated to the field of neuro-optometry and brain injury rehabilitation. Brain injury rehabilitation is an extremely complex field, which benefits from a multidisciplinary team approach to treatment. An optometrist with an emphasis in neuro-rehabilitation is an important part of that team. Seven of the 12 cranial nerves have a component that is related to or affects the eyes. Assessing whether or not a patient sees 20/20 is not enough. Patients may have deficits in their field of vision, how their eyes move and work together, and how they visually process information. Even small deficits may hugely affect the patient and these deficits will likely go undetected without a complete neuro-optometric exam. If visual issues remain undiagnosed following a brain injury, they can have consequences for other areas of recovery as well.
We accept referrals from many different practitioners in the area, including both Deaconess and St. Vincent hospitals, neurologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, as well as other optometrists. We are the only providers in the area to offer RightEye testing, which is an FDA approved computer program to objectively assess and track eye movements. The reports generated by the RightEye can help us gain insight into the patient's brain health as well as their performance in school and sports.
Common Questions
All Your Questions, Answered In One Place
What are common visual issues following a brain injury, concussion or stroke?
Problems with eye focusing, eye teaming, the way eyes move and work together, depth perception, motion sensitivity, visual field loss, and sensitivity to light are all common issues following a brain injury.
They can manifest as blurry vision, double vision, losing place when reading, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, missing things to one side, etc.
How does the neuro-optometric evaluation differ from a regular eye exam?
While we are very thorough during our comprehensive eye exams, our neuro-optometric exams are even more so. We spend significant time discussing your injury as well as your symptoms. We look at the way your eyes move and work together, as well as evaluating your depth perception, eye alignment, and the speed and accuracy of your eye movements. We check your visual field as well as performing a thorough ocular health evaluation. We also spend a significant amount of time discussing the results as well as our recommendations. Because of the thoroughness of our exams, we reserve 2 hours for our brain injury patients. Once you have been discharged from our care, you may return to your regular eye doctor.
What are the treatment options?
Depending on the results of your evaluation, we may recommend oculomotor therapy, prism, tinted lenses, or a combination of all 3.