Concussions on the Rise

Concussions are on the rise. Visual problems arising from the brain trauma are often initially overlooked and may not even appear until awhile after the injury. Clinical studies indicate that between 50-90% of concussion patients suffer from visual dysfunctions. These symptoms include blurred vision, sensitivity to light, reading difficulty, headaches with visual tasks and eye movement difficulties. We are able to diagnose and treat brain injury-related eye changes, visual dysfunctions and visual processing deficits.

For more information, please contact Dr. Edward Fong and the Sugar Land, TX eye doctors and optometrists at Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

References available upon request.

Medical Disclaimer. The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only.

Concussions and Soccer

While watching this news report on concussions and soccer, do not overlook the fact that the male brain also shows brain damage on the MRI.

For more information on concussions, contact Dr. Edward Fong and the Sugar Land, TX eye doctors and optometrists at Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

Medical Disclaimer. The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only.

Concussion Duration and Treatment in Sugar Land, TX

The most common initial symptoms after suffering a concussion are headache, dizziness and fatigue. However, other secondary symptoms often develop afterwards that affect emotional status and cognitive ability. The time course of these symptoms can be debilitating for students. According to a study involving almost 300 students between the ages of 11 to 22 years, one week after injury:

• more than two-thirds still suffered from headache
• a majority still complained about poor concentration, dizziness, fatigue and taking longer to think
• more than 40% still struggled with forgetfulness, light sensitivity and noise sensitivity.

Various studies have shown that eye movements are intimately affected post-concussion. Research also shows that improving eye movements will help improve concussion symptoms. A study involving college athletes even showed that improving eye movements helped reduce the incidence of concussions.

For more information, contact Dr. Edward Fong and the Sugar Land, TX eye doctors and optometrists at Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

References available upon request.

Medical Disclaimer. The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only.

From High School to College Athletics: The Missing Link

Have you ever wondered why some of the biggest, tallest, fastest high school athletes never even have a chance to play in college much less in the pros? Here are some statistics compiled by the NCAA:

• 3.3% of high school women basketball players compete in college
• 3.0% of high school men basketball players compete in college
• 5.7% of high school football players compete in college
• 5.5% of high school men soccer players compete in college
• 9.3% of high school women soccer players compete in college

Here is a common, and often overlooked reason, for not being able to continue as quoted by the head athletic trainer of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes:

“As I look at all the trends in sports medicine and how things are constantly changing to improve the athlete’s performance, one aspect stands alone as the most underrated attribute an athlete can develop. Without question, in my 30 years as a physical therapist, athletic trainer and strength coach, I have found that we underestimate the importance of vision.

To realize just how important vision is, try testing athletes’ muscles with the athletes looking at their own muscle and then again with them looking away. They will immediately notice an improvement in strength. Another quick test is to have athletes evaluate their vertical jump with a downward gaze versus an upward gaze. The upward gaze adds a minimum of two inches to their vertical height. The old adage that the eyes drive the body is very appropriate for these two tests.

The subject of eyes is in every aspect of my sports medicine program. It starts at the NHL combine where results of vision scores are taken under serious consideration during the NHL Draft. It has been shown that the single-best fitness score that correlates to the chance of making the NHL are results from the combine vision tests. During preseason testing, eye scores are again scrutinized by management and coaching staff. It is almost always a certainty that our best goaltenders and best face-off athletes score the highest.

Another area in which we utilize eye scores is when making sure an athlete’s vision is back to normal after suffering a concussion. I believe this is a critical area to which we often don’t devote enough attention. We generally look at many other signs and symptoms but fall short when it comes to making sure the vision is back to normal. This, then, may put the athlete in harm’s way and at risk of another injury or exacerbating the present symptoms, thus setting back the athlete.”

The eye scores that he is referring to involve more than just whether the athlete needs contacts or glasses to see 20/20 or better. Don’t let vision hold you or your athlete back from achieving his/her best. Be evaluated. We can help improve your vision for sports. We have already done so for a number of athletes.

For more information, contact Dr. Edward Fong and the Sugar Land, TX eye doctors and optometrists at Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

References available upon request.

Medical Disclaimer. The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only.

Post-Concussion Reading Problems

Up to 90% of people who have suffered a MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY report having subsequent READING PROBLEMS. After the concussion, 90% of these people have fine eye movement problems, 40% have difficulties properly focusing their eyes and 50% report light sensitivity. These visual problems will adversely affect: 1. ability to scan across a sentence, 2. ability to keep words clear and accurate, 3. comfort while reading and 4. maximum reading duration. Returning to normal daily activities can be severely hindered by post-concussion reading problems. Visual skills therapy has been shown to provide long-term relief to the above symptoms. We specialize in visual skills therapy. Contact us at Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

Improve Concussion Symptoms

Vision training improves concussion symptoms in up to 90% of cases according to research. Headaches, blurred vision, double vision, dizziness, balance problems, light and noise sensitivity, eye fatigue, and loss of place with reading and close work are common visual symptoms after a concussion. We have helped a number of people with these symptoms. If you know of someone who is suffering from the effects of a concussion, please let them know that we can help.

For more information, please contact Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

Vision Training Decreases Frequency of Concussions

Vision training decreases the frequency of concussions by 80% in football according to research. A Division I college football program compared the frequency of concussions on their teams from 2006-2009 that did not receive vision training to their teams from 2010-2013 that did receive vision training. In addition to the reduced number of concussions, the teams that received vision training also experienced less missed playing time due to injury. The study’s principal author concluded that vision training broadened the athletes’ field of awareness which helped them react faster to their changing environment to avoid injury-causing collisions.

We have helped a number of athletes through vision training. Concussions have long-lasting effects. Football is the number one cause of concussions for boys’ athletics while soccer is the number one cause in girls’ athletics. Girls soccer produces the second highest incidence of concussions regardless of gender. If you or someone you know is playing a contact sport, please let them know that we can help them better avoid injury and play better through our vision training program.

For more information, please contact Bright Eye Care & Vision Development.

What do you think?

Sports Eye Safety

Eye injuries are the number one cause of blindness in children in the United States. Most of these injuries are sports-related. Young athletes are more prone to injuries because they are still developing hand-eye coordination, balance, reaction time and speed.  According to a report by Prevent Blindness America, there are over 28,000 sports-related eye injuries every year that require emergency room visits.  Basketball is the sport with the highest number of eye injuries in children between the ages of 15-24 years. In children younger than 15 years, the most eye injuries occur in basketball, water sports/activities, baseball/softball and gun-like activities. The National Eye Institute rates the following sports as being high risk for eye injuries: baseball, basketball, hockey, boxing, paintball, racquetball, softball and squash. Moderate risk sports include football, golf, soccer, badminton, tennis and fishing. Low risk sports include diving, skiing, swimming, wrestling and cycling.

Ninety percent of sports-related eye injuries are preventable. Prevent Blindness America recommends that athletes wear protective sports eyewear when participating in sports. To insure that your eyes are properly protected, use sports protective eyewear that is ASTM F803 approved. The American Society for Testing and Materials publishes protective eyewear standards.  F803 is the strictest standard for protective eyewear.  Impact resistant polycarbonate lenses should also be used. These plastic lenses are ten times more resistant to impact than regular lenses. Other important considerations include padding, size and strap length. Regular glasses should not be worn in the field of play. They are not meant to be protective, and can be a cause of major injury.

In short, protect the only set of eyes that you have.

Sports Tinted Contacts Can Help

Athletes like Bryce Harper (baseball), Marques Colston (football) and Justin Leonard (golf) do it. Could it help you?

Sports-tinted contacts have been shown to help athletes recover vision faster in bright sunlight, achieve better visual recognition in bright sunlight and improve visual performance when alternating between bright and shaded conditions. This means that a batter who is in the shade looking out at the brightly lit mound will be able to see the pitcher’s release point and spin of the ball better as it moves from the sunshine into the shade. This also means that a tennis player playing on a hot, sunny day will be able to better pick up the tennis ball off their opponent’s racquet. By improving the ability to quickly and clearly identify objects in varying lighting conditions and against backgrounds of varying color, an athlete can improve sports performance. There are two ways to improve this skill: 1) Sports Vision Training (https://brighteyeandvision.com/e.d.g.e.-sports-vision.html) and 2) Sports Tinted Contacts (https://brighteyeandvision.com/sports-tint-contacts.html).

Go to Sugar Land Eye Doctor to learn more.