Concussion Care Centre of Virginia, LTD

Have you ever heard of visual snow? This month in our practice blog I jump into what visual snow is - how it is different from floaters and migraine aura and the different treatment options available/attemptable. Not every patient responds to every treatment and I go into why science is in the infancy of understanding this complicated visual-cortical symptom. Whether you have it yourself, know someone who does or have a patient who has mentioned it and you didnt know what they were talking about... Take a read! https://1l.ink/2MNMT38

Check out our new blog post on visual snow by Dr. Theis!

Excited to announce I'll be speaking at EastWest in Columbus, OH, this week! I'm diving into some of my favorite topics: easy-to-prescribe vision therapy for post-concussion oculomotor dysfunction (so you can practice at home), unraveling the differential diagnosis of dizziness in TBI, and exploring prismatic management for homonymous neurologic visual field loss. Can't wait to reconnect with everyone! #concussion #dizziness #visiontherapy

Excited to announce I'll be speaking at EastWest in Columbus, OH, in just a couple of weeks! I'm diving into some of my favorite topics: easy-to-prescribe vision therapy for post-concussion oculomotor dysfunction (so you can practice at home), unraveling the differential diagnosis of dizziness in TBI, and exploring prismatic management for homonymous neurologic visual field loss. Can't wait to reconnect with everyone! #concussion #dizziness #visiontherapy

“In a way, both yoga and meditation are ‘brain exercises’ that engage different parts of the brain on the components of practice…and can help the brain form new connections and recover from injuries.” -Dr. Helen Lavretsky, MD, MS, UCLA Unfortunately, Yoga is not always accessible for patients with traumatic brain injury due to their visual motion sensitivity and hypersensitivity to sound and movement - making things like chimes in music, flickering candles, loud yogi breathers triggering for patients with TBI and not calming. This month our very own Kendra Sheard, OT shares with us what Adaptive Yoga for Brain Injury Survivors is and the benefits it can provide. Check out this months blog: https://lnkd.in/eBWu93tU What 🌟 We're thrilled that our very own OT, Kendra Sheard, is now offering these life-changing services to the public. Kendra's expertise and compassionate approach are here to help patient's reclaim your journey to recovery. Let's celebrate the resilience of brain injury survivors and the dedication of professionals like Kendra! 🌿🧠💪 #BrainInjuryRecovery #OccupationalTherapy #ProudMoment #AdaptiveTherapy #SurvivorStrong

Did you know that patients with a history of traumatic brain injury are more likely to have dry eye than the general population? Learn more about this intriguing connection by clicking the link below to read this month's blog post! https://1l.ink/KXVQQVC #DryEye #TBI #vision

This weekend I was working on a slide deck delving into the similarities and differences in the pathophysiology of neuropathic eye pain and neurotrophic keratitis. I think one of the difficult concepts for patients and providers to understand is that these conditions have overlapping pathophysiology - especially in patients which chronic ocular surface disease, chronic contact lens wear, and especially when combined with underlying neurologic dysfunction as can occur in conditions such as #traumaticbraininjury #diabetes #multiplesclerosis or #stroke. So while the chronic inflammation needs to be addressed, if the inflammation caused persistent peripheral nociceptor damage, the patient will have a neurologic component to their dry eye that needs to be addressed for patients to achieve any type of long term relief. #DryEye #dryeyesyndrome #optometry #ophthalmology #neurotrophic #neuropathicpain

This scoping review article was published this month on the utility of ocular assessments in #sportsconcussion. https://1l.ink/T68HX6Z It concluded that Ocular tools like the King Devick, Vestibular Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) tool, and Near Point of Convergence (NPC) are useful, rapid screening tools but should remain within a multi-modal assessment for SRCs at this time. I cannot agree more for a number of reasons 1) While ~80% of acute concussions present with oculomotor dysfunction post-concussion 20% will not, and need other tools for screening 2) Oculomotor dysfunction can be delayed in its presentation by 24-72 hours up to 1 week after concussion - so a sideline assessment may present with "normal" oculomotor screener at the time of injury and give false negative results that could lead someone to believe they do not have a concussion when they truly do. 3) Some patients have developmental (non-traumatic) oculomotor dysfunction that if not known at baseline will give false positives on post-concussion oculomotor training and it takes a skilled clinician with extensive clinical experience diagnosing developmental and acquired oculomotor dysfunctions to evaluate what is truly from #traumaticbraininjury or #concussion vs congenital/developmental or due to another neurologic condition like #parkinsons and one thing that I cannot state enough is that the KD, VOMS, and NPC are screeners - they are NOT diagnostics and are NOT comprehensive assessments - they are meant to screen the system to then refer to a provider like a neuro-optometrist. #oculomotordysfunction #doublevision

🎉 Big Congratulations to our OT, Dr. Kendra Sheard, for becoming certified in Yoga for Traumatic Brain Injury through the Love Your Brain program! 🧠🧘♀️ This specialized training equips her to guide patients through adaptive yoga practices tailored for recovery and healing after brain injuries. This type of yoga is also remote class-based, allowing patients with visual motion sensitivity and visual dysfunction after brain injury the opportunity to participate in yoga! We're so proud of her dedication to providing holistic, trauma-informed care! 🌿💪 We will be hosting brain-injury yoga classes at our practice starting this month - message us for more information! https://lnkd.in/es-ab7Hu #AdaptiveYoga #TBIRecovery #YogaTherapy #OTExcellence #BrainHealth #MindfulHealing #visiontherapy

Thank you to Presbyopia Physician for giving me the opportunity to write about the nuances of prescribing for presbyopia and treating post-traumatic accommodative dysfunction in adults with TBI. It was even more humbling to be placed on the cover. Happy #TBI awareness month! https://1l.ink/8MFC7TT #presbyopia #traumaticbraininjury #braininjury #braininjuryawareness #optometry