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Home » Neuro Optometry » I only wish more people were willing to give vision therapy a shot.

I only wish more people were willing to give vision therapy a shot.

When I started vision therapy, I had just been in a major bus crash and was willing to try anything to remedy my brain. Having already been badly concussed from a ski accident, I knew recovery was so important and necessary to my ability to function and enjoy life. That did not mean that going through the process of vision therapy was easy. It wasn’t until about a dozen sessions in that I could tell my brain and eyes were starting to shift, and I remember my VT therapist checking in with me every session and I’d already have a headache just from going about my day as a university student. However, I kept going with the sessions, which I am so grateful for!! It wasn’t until I saw results and my brain (and life) changed that I realized I had never fully recovered from my first concussion; I was still suffering from its lingering effects and had been for two years. I had quite literally forgotten what a healthy neurovisual system felt like!

I only wish more people were willing to give vision therapy a shot. Several of my close friends from the accident, who had also received major concussions even worse than mine, refused to try VT as their doctors and optometrists said it was a hoax. Now, some are suffering with permanent vision damage and seizures and are not able to drive. I see vision therapy as tackling the root of the problem - the injury itself - as opposed to the usual band-aid symptom-relieving “solutions” which do not last. I can feel that VT has permanently altered my eye-brain coordination and processing for the better.

It means the world to me to be able to have my brain back. As a student, to spend a couple hours studying without getting a terrible headache and to work in my lab job without the bright lights triggering symptoms is such a blessing. The biggest relief for me, though, is to simply be able to have a conversation with someone and be able to pay attention to them, actively engaging in listening and retaining what they’re communicating. These are all things I took for granted before my brain injuries, and though they seem simple, they are actions I thought I would never be able to do again.

I absolutely have a brighter vision of my future now that everyday activities do not get my brain down. I feel confident that I could pursue graduate studies now, which has been a dream of mine for a while. And most importantly of all, I feel like my day to day life is not longer full of headaches and fatigue and negative emotions, and way more full of productivity, enjoyment, and LIFE than before! I hope that in sharing my experience with vision therapy, more folks will give VT a shot in their recovery management and more funding will be allocated to make this therapy more accessible to those who need it.

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- E. C.