My biggest breakthrough 1 yr + after accident

[todayistomorrow]

Hello everyone, with the New Year comes reflections on struggles faced during the past year, and cautious optimisim for the new year. I find myself facing a constant battle of being content witht he progress I've made, and a sorrow for still not being the person I was before the accident(and may never be). So for 2013, I will do my best to accept the new me, and be happy for the blessings I have.

I wanted to share my biggest breakthrough to date in hopes that others may share the same success. I've done vestibular therapy, NUCCA chiro, acupuncture, been to countless Dr. visits/neuropysch test where I was told I was mentally weak and that my anxiety was causing my symptoms. Had my family, friends, wife say countless mean things that crushed my soul. It's been bleak and at times have given up hope.

I recently saw Dr. Wright, a neuro ophthalmologist in Chicago suburbs. I was diagnosed with convergence insufficiency. She said she has worked with lots of veterans who had TBI's and 85% or so had convergence issues. My vision is 20/20 but the way my eyes team and track is very poor. I was given glasses with a blue tint and noticed a huge improvement right away. The aim is for the glasses to retrain my eyes to how they are suppose to work. I am now able to work at long periods on the computer and go through my day relatively symptom free.

I know this may not help everyone, but the symptoms of convergence insufficiency are nearly identical to that of PCS(brain fog, eye strain, difficulty concentrating) and there is relief for this if indeed it is a convergence issue. Go to a neuro-ophthalmologist that will prescribe glasses with blue tints/prisms. It is expensive(around $700), but by far worth the cost.

May everyone have a great 2013.

[srgallan]

I too suffered from convergence insufficiency as a result of my injury. Started getting vision therapy for it back on March, I noticed siginificant improvement as my vision improved based on chart scores.

Glad to hear you found something.

Happy new year!

[rmschaver]

Good for you.

[Mokey]

Exactly the same story for me....prisms and blue blocker tint helped a lot (one year after). It didn't cure me fully but allowed me to read and type at the same time. Tjat was a major breakthrough since I more or less read and write for a living. Still not good enough yet to get back to work....but each bit helps, doesn't it!

I suggest everyone with a brain injury or PCS gets checked for vision by neuro-opthamologisg or behavioural optometrists....just to rule it out as it is very common.

I was told it is a sign of a deep injury...into the brain stem area, and thus prediction of a longer recovery period. Sad....but good to know. Also was told it is intimately linked with vestibular, tinnitus, etc. problems. Oh joy!

Great you are feeling better!

[Eowyn]

I also had convergence insufficiency. I didn't get the glasses, but I did have vision therapy and it helped a lot!

A vision efficiency evaluation is NOT the same as a medical eye exam!!!!

In the USA, you can find providers at http://www.nora.cc or http://www.braininjuries.org who will evaluate for this type of anomaly in your vision.

[Mark in Idaho]

If I understand how the cones receive and send color signals to the brain properly, blue takes a lot of brain processing power as it magnifies the low blue cone number to blend it into the perceived image. This may be a way to filter out the blue to lighten the processing load on the brain. I'd love to hear the neuro-ophthalmologist's explanation.

[concussedlawyer]

Mark,
Have you checked out the NORA website. There may be something on the blue prism issue.
Concussed lawyer

[srgallan]

I was never prescribed those glasses but did find relief from wearing sunglasses that block the blue light spectrum. You can typically find these listed under sports categories, they are very popular in golf and can find many frequently on sale on golf clearance sites. When I started driving again I found it much more comfortable for my eyes outdoors. Some of them can offer interchangeable lenses to experiment with different tints. One that I liked were the Callaway Neox lenses for example.

As a side note, I also wear a pair of cheap UVEX glasses with an orange tint in the evening to block the blue light to help me sleep. It made a huge difference as I struggled with this after my head injury, I bought them off amazon searching for Uvex SCT-Orange. They block the light spectrum to 540nm instead of the normal 400nm and do make a huge difference for me in my ability to sleep.

I also bought a pair of Uvex vermillion tint glasses for computer use which I found softened the harshness the screen was causing to my vision. I still use these today if I attend meetings in bright fluorescent lit rooms. This in combination with the program F.Lux installed on my computer helped me greatly, now I still use f.lux but have a pair of non tinted galsses with a prism configuration.

[Mokey]

You got it , Mark! Frees up cognitive space in the brain for other things.

I wonder if blue blocker tint wouldbe a good thing without the vision problems? I know a lot of people with blue eyes wear it to prevent macular degeneration and other eye diseases.

Hmmm.

[StupidRugger]

Everyone should download this application/program for their computer:

http://stereopsis.com/flux/


It blocks out blue light and night, and generally makes reading on the computer much more manageable. I used it to help me sleep long, long before my injury.