After a concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI), many people expect symptoms like headaches or memory problems. But one of the most common and frustrating side effects is persistent dizziness or balance problems. These issues can remain long after the initial injury and can seriously affect your ability to return to work, school or daily activities. What many people don’t realize is that these symptoms are often connected to disruptions in the visual system, and neuro-optometric vision rehabilitation may be the key to recovery.
Why Head Trauma Affects Your Balance
The brain relies on input from three major systems to maintain balance: the inner ear (vestibular), muscles and joints (proprioception), and the eyes (visual). When any one of these systems is affected by a concussion or head trauma, the others must compensate. In many cases, the visual system is compromised, leading to problems like:
- Dizziness when walking or turning your head
- Feeling off-balance in busy environments
- Light sensitivity
- Difficulty focusing or tracking objects
- Motion sickness or nausea
- Disorientation, especially in open or crowded spaces
Even small disruptions in visual processing can cause a mismatch between what your brain sees and how your body feels – and that can leave you feeling dizzy, off-kilter or even anxious.
What Is Neuro-Optometric Vision Rehabilitation?
Neuro-optometric vision rehabilitation is a highly specialized therapy that retrains the visual system and restores coordination between the eyes, brain, and body. It’s not about correcting eyesight with glasses – it’s about repairing how your brain processes visual information after a trauma. Treatment is tailored to each individual and may include:
- Eye teaming and tracking exercises
- Activities that integrate vision with balance and movement
- Use of prism lenses to stabilize visual input
- Light therapy or sensory integration tasks
By addressing the underlying visual dysfunction, vision rehabilitation helps reduce dizziness and imbalance, which often leads to significant improvements in daily function and quality of life.
Why You Should See Our Specialists for Dizziness or Imbalance
Standard vision exams are important, but they often don’t pick up on all of the visual processing issues caused by a head injury. That’s why it’s essential to work with the optometrists at Family Vision Development Center who specialize in neuro-optometric vision rehabilitation and have advanced training in diagnosing and treating visual issues that result from head trauma. A neuro-optometric evaluation goes far beyond a basic eye chart – it looks at eye coordination, tracking, focus, spatial awareness, and how your visual system interacts with your vestibular and proprioceptive systems.
Working with our specialists ensures you get a customized treatment plan designed to address your unique challenges and help you recover as fully as possible. In fact, with the right diagnosis and treatment, most patients experience dramatic improvement in symptoms they’ve been struggling with for months, or even years. If you are experiencing symptoms of dizziness or imbalance, especially after a head injury, reach out now to get started on a treatment plan. Contact us to schedule a consultation at our Aurora location by calling 630-862-2020.
Family Vision Development Center is a full-service vision center offering innovative vision therapy services, sports vision therapy services, post-concussive vision rehabilitation, comprehensive vision exams for eyeglasses and contact lenses, management of ocular diseases including glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration and cataracts, and a state-of-the-art optical center offering the latest designs in eyewear. We are dedicated to keeping our patients comfortable and well-informed and we will explain every exam and procedure and answer all of your questions. We accept both scheduled and emergency appointments, and offer convenient financing and insurance options to ensure that high-quality vision care is available and affordable to all of our patients.