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THE LEADING CAUSE OF A NEUROLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT IN THE WORLD IS CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENT (CVA) OR ‘STROKE’.

With aging of population in the United States and worldwide, the risk of stroke is unfortunately increasing.

A stroke will cause dysfunction in the brain usually affecting one side of the brain. When the right or left side of the brain is affected it may cause a loss of movement on the opposite side of the body (Paralysis). This may cause difficulty with weight bearing on the affected side leading to balance, posture and walking difficulties. It may also cause a visual field loss on the affected side. A stroke in the left side of the brain may also cause difficulty with recognizing letters, numbers and words as well as difficulty speaking.

When a stroke occurs visual processing will be compromised affecting balance, posture and movement. That is because these symptoms are the result of the damage to the nerves in the brain that carry the vision information that is necessary for movement.  Following a stroke, individuals may tend to lean toward one side. The visual midline may be shifted to one side causing the person to lean to one side. If the visual midline remains compromised the progress of rehabilitation will often “plateau”.

This visual condition can be treated with prism lenses prescribed by a neuro-optometrist. This will now allow the person to put equal amount of weight bearing on each leg resulting in better balance and improved ability to walk with greater ease. This will also allow the person to achieve even better results with physical therapy.

Some patients after stroke may need addition therapy in the form of

Neuro Optometric Visual Postural Rehabilitation which is done only by a neuro-optometrist. This is brain therapy for the visual system. The neuro optometrist arranges conditions to allow for new learning (neuroplasticity) of visual processing to occur. This results in new nerve connections of the nerves that were broken due to the stroke and therefore leading to better visual processing of information. This will allow the person to be able to read better, think clearer and help to improve memory.

WHAT IS NEURO-OPTOMETRIC REHABILITATION ?

Neuro-optometric rehabilitation is an rehabilitation treatment regimen developed by a neuro-optometrist to help patients who have experienced symptoms secondary to  stroke , concussions, traumatic brain injuries or other neurological diseases like   Multiple Sclerosis ,COVID encephalopathy , Parkinson’s disease , Alzheimer’s disease and post-neurosurgical complications . Neuro-optometric rehabilitation is a process for the rehabilitation of the visual system which is involved in over sixty percent of the entire parts of the brain.

Some of the symptoms that a neuro-optometrist can help to eliminate or minimize with neuro-optometric rehabilitation include:
 

  • Double vision

  • Visual Field loss (loss of side vision)

  • Dizziness and Disequilibrium

  • Acquired strabismus (eye turns from paresis or paralysis of eye muscles).

  • Poor balance (high fall risk)

  • Difficulty walking(gait disturbance)

  • Poor Posture

  • Difficulty reading and poor comprehension

  • Poor Memory

  • Light Sensitivity

  • Headaches

  • Insomnia

  • Blurred eyesight

  • Eye teaming difficulties (Binocular vision disorders)

  • Convergence or focusing difficulties

  • Oculomotor dysfunction(poor eye tracking)

  • Visual perceptual and cognitive deficits

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Treatment regimens are designed specifically for each patient to address their particular issues. The length of treatment will vary from patient to patient, but it can take anywhere from a few months to a few years.

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After a thorough analysis of the visual system neurologically, treatment is achieved with the use of special prisms lenses, lenses, filters, patches , tints and neuro-optometric visual postural rehabilitation techniques and procedures.

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