Virginia Neuro-Optometry

Im so excited to be presenting this year at Academy in Boston! Who else is going? #optometry #vision #eyecare #DryEye #concussion

I was excited to present my poster this week at the International Brain Injury Association World Congress in Brain Injury Conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dry eye is common in patients with TBI and I presented a case series describing the underlying mechanisms and overlapping symptomatology of dry eye and TBI. Most notably all of my patients complained of blur, fluctuating vision, and light sensitivity post-TBI that was due to dry eye, but few of them had any redness, ocular discomfort, or feelings of dryness. Clinically, they had minimal to no eyelid margin disease or inflammatory signs of dry eye, but all had a severely reduced tear break up time of on average 2.4 sec and reduced tear volume, and 50% had inferior corneal staining. Possible mechanisms for post-traumatic dry eye include autonomic dysfunction, brainstem dysfunction, cranial nerve dysfunction impacting the blink/lacrimal gland reflex (CN VII and V), sleep dysfunction, and of course systemic medication use. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of sleep and co-morbidities (headache, migraine, whiplash, mood disorders, etc) post-TBI, as the majority of my patients were on a medication that can cause or exacerbate dry eye, with an average of 3-4 medications that can cause dry eye. I was amazed at the number of medications patients are treated with post-TBI that were on the medication list from DEWS II. I got great feedback from neurology, neuro-surgery, PMR, Brain Injury Medicine Docs and a few optometrists from Montreal who said they are seeing the same thing! Next step is trying to figure out best treatment options for this neurosensory dry eye! #DryEye #braininjury #concussion #dysautonomia #optometry #ophthalmology #neurology #neurotrophic

I am honored and excited to present some of my research on dry eye in traumatic brain injury at the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) World Congress in Brain Injury in Montreal, Quebec, Canada this week! Patients with a history of TBI have more dry eye than the general population but it does not present like typical inflammatory dry eye. The case series I will be presenting discusses the most common symptoms in TBI-Dry eye, as well as hypotheses for the etiology of dry eye in TBI - Hint - the etiology is multifactorial in these patients

Excited for this Sunday as Joey Allen and I head to Canada! We'll be diving into ocular myasthenia gravis, dizziness, anterior segment inflammation, and the art of patient communication. Can't wait to share insights and connect with fellow enthusiasts! ?????? #MedicalJourney #OcularHealth #PatientCare https://lnkd.in/egG8kJkR

We are getting excited to head to Montreal, Canada this week for the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) World Congress in Brain Injury Conference. We (Sara Etheredge DPT, Jacqueline Theis OD, Nathan Zasler MD) will be presenting as a group on Neurosensitivity Spectrum Disorders in TBI - discussing diagnosis and management of topics such as hyperacusis, photophobia, visual motion sensitivity, and more! Cant wait to see everyone there! #concussion #TBI #photophobia

I had a wonderful time this week going up to Washington DC for the National Academies of Practice Annual Conference. This year's theme was "Igniting Interprofessional Collaboration" and I had a great time meeting colleagues in physical therapy, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, speech, audiology, and public health. One of my favorite things was the ice-breaker they did to start the conference off where we went to the DC Kitchen and volunteered in one of the largest and most well organized food kitchen's I have ever been in. I always enjoy working in food kitchens, and I dont want to brag but I am a very efficient and speedy spreader of peanut butter and jelly... just havent figured out how to put that skill on my resume yet #multidisciplinary #healthcare #volunteer

Excited to be speaking at the SECO International Conference in Atlanta this week February 27 to March 1, 2025! ??? Join me as we dive into the latest insights and innovations in our field. If you're attending, let's connect! I'll be there all week open to collaborating and sharing ideas to drive our industry forward. ?? Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to collaborate and learn together. See you in Atlanta! ?? #SECO2025 #Atlanta #ConferenceSpeaker #Networking #Innovation #optometry #vision #eyecare

Exciting News Alert! I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be delivering a lecture in the beautiful state of Minnesota next month! Can't wait to see all of my colleagues who live there, & lecture about double vision - everyone's favorite chief complaint #optometry #vision #diplopia

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be speaking at the SECO International Conference in Atlanta from February 27 to March 1, 2025! ??? Join me as we dive into the latest insights and innovations in our field. If you're attending, let's connect! I'll be there all week open to collaborating and sharing ideas to drive our industry forward. ?? Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to collaborate and learn together. See you in Atlanta! ?? #SECO2025 #Atlanta #ConferenceSpeaker #Networking #Innovation #optometry #vision #eyecare

Looking to get away to Canada in 2025? Join us in Toronto in March as we discuss ocular myasthenia gravis, dizziness in TBI, anterior segment disease, and more! Register here https://1l.ink/LMNDLTV