Posted March 31, 2015
One last thing before the end of Brain Injury Awareness Month
A recent NBC news story featured a long-used vision test that has become an important tool on the sidelines of sporting events. This test, known as the King-Devick test has been used by behavioral optometrists for decades to look at eye movements as they relate to reading fluency and proficiency. The story can be viewed here: two-minute-sideline-test-could-be-best-way-to-id-concussions. Check it out if you or your child is involved in contact sports of any kind.
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Posted March 26, 2015
Brain Injury Awareness Month - Marcia
This is my final story for Brain Injury Awareness Month. Marcia is not the typical acquired brain injury patient. She actually has Multiple Sclerosis, but has many of the same visual issues as those suffering traumatic brain injuries. Since MS is a disease of the central nervous system and certainly involves the brain, I thought I’d include Marcia in this month’s theme.
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Posted March 23, 2015
Brain Injury Awareness Month - Jayne
Here is another, more typical, story for Brain Injury Awareness Month. Jayne was referred by her acupuncturist and came to me for the first time only after she had suffered a mild traumatic brain injury. Vision therapy and proper lenses are usually very potent in treating visual symptoms resulting from concussions and other brain injuries. Vision therapy should be considered for anyone who has suffered a concussion/brain injury. It can be critical for improving quality of life after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
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Posted March 17, 2015
Brain Injury Awareness Month - Bill
Here is another story for Brain Injury Awareness Month. This time it’s Bill. I’ve known Bill for many years, unlike most of my brain injured patients. We successfully eliminated Bill’s seasickness in 1999 with just a few months of VT, as recently posted on this blog. Then in April 2010 Bill was involved in a car accident, resulting in an undiagnosed brain injury. Vision therapy and proper lenses are usually very potent in treating visual symptoms resulting from concussions and other brain injuries. Vision therapy should be considered for anyone who has suffered a concussion/brain injury. It can be critical for improving quality of life after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
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Posted March 11, 2015
Brain Injury Awareness Month: Jessica
This being Brain Injury Awareness Month, I am going to share a few stories of people I’ve worked with to help recover from traumatic brain injuries. Vision therapy and proper lenses often have tremendous positive impact on many symptoms resulting from concussions and other brain injuries. Vision therapy should be considered for anyone who has suffered a concussion/brain injury. It can be critical for improving quality of life after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Jessica
Jessica, a 19 year-old college student suffered a concussion while playing basketball on December 18, 2012. She was the shooting guard, one of her team’s best shooters, and got into a head-on-head collision during the third quarter of her last game as a high school senior. The other girl ended up on the floor and had to leave the game with her own concussion. Jessica stayed on her feet and in the game.
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posted on March 7, 2015
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month
Last year I started Brain Injury Awareness Month with a bang. Literally. I was minding my own business early the morning of March 3rd, clearing the snow off of my driveway. I was almost finished when I hit a hidden patch of ice, my feet went up toward the sky and my head went down toward my driveway. I was fortunate that my concussion was fairly mild. Last year I did not remember that March was Brain Injury Awareness Month - I was busy recovering…for several months.
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Dr. Gallop's Recent Insights on Concussions
Originally posted on March 24, 2014
Concussions 101
I have been working with people of all ages who are dealing with acquired brain injuries and concussions for 25 years. I have seen people with slight concussions and people with severe brain injuries and everything in between. A respected occupational therapist tried to tell me that concussions are totally different than traumatic brain injuries. It just doesn't appear that way to me. And I see no value in thinking there is any significant difference other than one of degree. I doubt that a severe concussion is any less debilitating than any other brain injury, since that is precisely what a concussion is.
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Working For The Department of Defense
I recently had the opportunity to be on a panel reviewing grant applications for the Defense Medical Research and Development Program (DMRDP), a core research program of the Department of Defense. These applications were for studying interventions to help veterans who had suffered traumatic brain injuries. Many of the projects vying for research money dealt with visual challenges resulting from traumatic brain injury. I have never been involved in research, but I thought it would be interesting to take part in this review process. I was mostly persuaded by the idea of providing the unique perspective of behavioral optometry for the purpose of helping those who bravely serve our nation to have a better life after sustaining devastating injuries.
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Concussion, Brain Injury and the Visual Process
Most adults are probably familiar with the topics of acquired brain injury and post-concussion syndrome these days. We probably either know someone who has suffered a brain injury such as a stroke, or sustained a head injury in a car accident or fall, or we have heard about a professional athlete or student athlete who has had a concussion. Add to this list the all-too-quickly growing number of those who have served in the military and sustained brain injuries as a result. Anyone who has sustained any type of head injury, including concussion should be evaluated by a behavioral optometrist without delay. Vision therapy along with the proper lenses can often play a critical role in overall recovery from concussions and more serious acquired brain injuries.
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