By Zach Steele
Columnist
It is football season once again, and as many of our kids ages 5 to 18 take the field, we are concerned with their well-being in a contact sport. I am often asked about concussions and how they affect vision.
Many of you already know one of my areas of specialty is binocular vision disorders, where the eyes do not work well together. Recent research shows if a patient has this disorder, overcoming the vision problems after a concussion may take longer. Patients who have had concussions may see double or have what might be described as ghost imaging for several days to weeks after the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) due to the pre-existing eye condition.
Traumatic Brain Injury, which concussions are, can have major effects on the visual system despite neuro-imaging showing normal results. In essence, concussions and TBIs usually cause a form of “bruising of the brain” whereby function is often affected but yet no structural damage is apparent. The combination of eye co-ordination issues and dizziness post concussion has been termed “Post-Trauma Vision Syndrome” or PTVS. The main symptoms of PTVS are dizziness, gait issues, focusing issues, headaches and double vision. It is worth in noting that patients who have more severe PTVS tend to have a history of prior eye co-ordination issues. The problem is that these symptoms are quite different and are, in fact, usually causative of reading and tracking problems in school.
Over time, eye care researchers started to notice many of the teen and adult concussion patients they saw in practice tended to have similar eye teaming issues to the regular cases of eye teaming problems that they treated, but with one exception. The eye coordination was markedly more impaired in the concussion patients. The more severe cases, however, tended to have a prior history of eye tracking issues as reported by greater difficulty at school.
It is my strong belief that all children or adults engaged in sports with a high risk of concussion should have baseline testing done to establish wither their binocular vision status is intact or “borderline” and any athletes with borderline function should have this addressed.
It is important not just for your child to have an eye exam before they start school, but before they begin a contact sport. The most common cause of concussion in boys ages 8 to 18 is, of course, football. Soccer is the primary cause for girls in the same age group.
Football is king in our state, but do all you can to protect your child’s vision and health before they suit up.
Dr. Zack Steele is a 2003 Graduate of the UAB School of Optometry. His practice, Trussville Vision Care, is located on N. Chalkville Road in downtown Trussville.