Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute — Vision and Vestibular Therapy After TBI

Blurry vision after a car accident. Difficulty reading without headaches. Sensitivity to light. Balance problems that make you feel like the world is moving when it isn't. These aren't just discomforts. They're specific, treatable consequences of how TBI affects the visual and vestibular systems.

The eyes and the brain are not separate systems. The visual processing pathways, the vestibular system, and the oculomotor control systems all pass through brain regions that TBI disrupts. When these systems are affected, the resulting symptoms are real, specific, and responsive to targeted therapy.

Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute in Denver specializes in the treatment of TBI-related visual processing disorders and vestibular dysfunction. CCC coordinates referrals when post-concussion symptoms include visual disturbances, reading difficulties, light sensitivity, or balance problems.

Provider Contact

Website: neurovisiontherapy.com Phone: 303-377-7300

What Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute Offers

Vision Therapy for TBI

Vision therapy is not the same as corrective lenses or standard eye care. It's a neurology-informed rehabilitation process that trains the brain-eye connection (the pathways that process, interpret, and coordinate visual information) when TBI has disrupted those pathways.

• Convergence insufficiency: The brain's difficulty keeping both eyes focused together at near distances. After TBI, the oculomotor control systems that coordinate convergence are often disrupted. The result: blurry vision at reading distance, double vision, eye strain, and headaches with near work. Convergence insufficiency responds well to structured vision therapy.
• Saccadic eye movement disorders: Accurate rapid eye movements (saccades) are essential for reading, tracking objects, and navigating complex visual environments. TBI disrupts saccadic accuracy, producing reading difficulty, loss of place on the page, and visual tracking errors. Saccadic therapy trains these pathways back toward pre-injury function.
• Visual field deficits: TBI can produce partial visual field loss that patients may experience as things appearing unexpectedly in peripheral vision or objects being missed on one side. Assessment identifies field deficits; therapy addresses adaptation and functional compensation.
• Photosensitivity: Light sensitivity (photophobia) is one of the most common post-concussion symptoms. Vision therapy addresses the neurological sensitivity response alongside environmental modification strategies that reduce symptomatic burden during recovery.

Vestibular Rehabilitation

The vestibular system (the inner ear balance organs and the brain networks they connect to) is frequently disrupted by TBI. The collision forces that produce brain injury also produce inner ear trauma, and the brain regions that process vestibular information are susceptible to concussive injury.

Vestibular symptoms after TBI include: dizziness, vertigo (sensation that the room is spinning), balance problems, motion sensitivity (worsening with head movement), and difficulty walking in visually complex environments.

• Canalith repositioning maneuvers: For benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), the most common vestibular disorder after head trauma, specific repositioning maneuvers (Epley, Semont) move displaced otoconia in the inner ear, often resolving positional vertigo in 1-3 treatments.
• Vestibular habituation exercises: For persistent motion sensitivity and dizziness, graded exposure to the movements and environments that provoke symptoms trains the nervous system to adapt and reduces sensitivity over time.
• Gaze stabilization exercises: Training the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), the system that keeps vision stable during head movement, when TBI has disrupted this coordination. Essential for patients who experience blurry vision or dizziness with head movement.
• Balance training: Progressive balance exercises that challenge the sensory integration required for stable standing and walking, building from simple to complex environments.

Combined Visual-Vestibular Rehabilitation

Visual and vestibular systems interact; they share neural pathways and coordinate to produce stable perception and navigation. When both are affected, combined rehabilitation addresses their interaction, not just each system in isolation.

Location

Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute 4500 E. 9th Ave., Suite 300, Denver, CO 80220 (Accessible from CCC's Aurora and Lakewood clinic areas)

When CCC Refers to Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute

Post-concussion visual and vestibular symptoms are screened by your managing physician at every visit. Referral to Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute occurs when:

• Visual disturbances are present: Blurry vision, double vision, difficulty reading, eye strain, headaches with near work, or difficulty tracking moving objects: any visual symptom following a head injury warrants assessment by a vision therapy specialist.
• Vestibular symptoms are present: Dizziness, vertigo, balance problems, motion sensitivity, or difficulty walking in visually busy environments (grocery stores, crowded spaces) following a concussion.
• Symptoms are affecting function: When visual or vestibular symptoms limit reading, screen work, driving, or daily navigation, targeted rehabilitation addresses functional limitations rather than just symptom management.
• Concussion recovery is stalled: Visual and vestibular dysfunction are among the most common reasons persistent post-concussion syndrome extends. When these systems aren't addressed, cognitive fatigue and other symptoms persist. Treating the visual and vestibular components often unstalls recovery.

How Results Return to Your Managing Physician

Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute's evaluation findings and treatment progress notes return to your managing physician at every interval. Visual and vestibular rehabilitation progress is coordinated with neuropsychological testing results (if applicable), cognitive rehabilitation, and the overall post-concussion recovery plan.

Frequently Asked Questions