As many people know, the brain controls all of your body’s abilities and functions. When you suffer from a brain injury, those abilities and functions can be affected. Your vision is something that can be affected by a brain injury in some cases.
Why would a brain injury affect vision?
Your vision is actually a complex process that has several components. A brain injury can affect every part of the process. Most notably, it can affect your visual field, visual acuity, visual perception and visual motor abilities. When even one of these aspects of vision is affected, you can suffer from negative visual changes.
What are some vision conditions that might occur?
You might suffer from double vision, visual field loss and visual balance disorders. In each of these cases, it might be possible to correct the vision condition with the help of eye doctors. When it isn’t possible to correct the condition, the focus must be placed on learning how to adapt to the condition so that you can live your life to the fullest extent possible.
How can these changes affect my life?
If you have to learn to live with the vision changes that occurred after the injury to your brain, you might find that every aspect of your life is altered. You might need special accommodations for work or you might have to change jobs. In severe cases, you might have to quit working. Because brain injuries and their effects can often impact your finances, you might decide to seek compensation for the injury. This might help you to be able to access the care you need for your vision changes.
Source: Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association, “Introduction to Vision & Brain Injury,” Thomas Politzer, O.D. Former NORA President, accessed July 08, 2016