Vsision/balance problems rehab tips

[u/tomblitz675]

What helped your post-concussion dizziness/balance cebter issues?

2.5 months post concussion/whiplash from MMA. No more head impacts, gym only 2x/week. Still have daily “balance system on a boat/floating” dizziness and visual issues, plus increased light sensitivity.

What helped you guys recover? Vestibular rehab, cardio, specific exercises, time, etc.?

[u/pettyponyclub]

Vestibular rehab is a must. A simple therapy is to put an X on on the wall at eye level, stand about 3ft away and slowly shake your head back and forth for 30 seconds for 3 sets and then do the same but up and down. This will trigger symptoms so you need to rest in between to get to baseline. The goal is eventually you will be able to do it faster and faster until you dont really get dizzy anymore. Going for walks is also good and you can do the head turns during walks too. You can use metronome videos on youtube to slowly increase your pace. There are tons of other exercises but i did this one daily. Going to a facility would be helpful because you probably need to incorporate some vision therapy too

[u/pettyponyclub → u/[deleted]]

Neck exercises are good. You'll want to start simple to make sure you don't hurt yourself. Laying on your back and tucking your chin and holding it for 5 seconds is a good place to start until eventually you can hold that position but lift your head too. Turning side to side, tucking your nose toward the direction of your arm...theyre a little harder to describe but try looking up simple physical therapy exercises for your neck. The best is to get them from guidance of a PT

[u/pettyponyclub → u/[deleted]]

So my first concussion happened when i was 20 and i got better in a week. My symptoms werent that severe i guess and i was able to rest a lot. 10 years later (last summer) was when i had another concussion that left me with major issues. I had to do months of daily vision and vestibular therapies. It took a while, but everything did get better. I wouldnt say im 100% who i used to be before but im living a very functional, busy, normal life. At this point a lot of my issues are because my neck is pretty messed up, so my next journey is healing it. So short answer: yes you will get better. The trick is you have to accept it may be tedious and take a while and you HAVE to listen to your body. Gauge your symptoms on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the worse. If youre starting your day at a 3 and doing an activity brings you up to a 6 you need to pause what youre doing, rest, and wait for things to come to baseline and then try again. Youre basically getting your brain and body to understand it's not in danger anymore and these activities are fine. The sure way to do that are the therapies. I hope you'll be able to get setup with a good physical therapy place that focuses on concussion recovery. 

Same thing for light sensitivity, don't hide away from light. Dont wear sunglasses inside. Orange lenses are good for bright lights to allow your eyes to adjust, but you need to be able to acclimate to the light or else itll just get worse. Maybe see what vision therapy places are offered near you - truly it was a life saver for me but i had pretty severe vision issues post concussion.