Treating Concussions: Columbus Eye Doctor Finds Unique Method to Help Patients

COLUMBUS (Terri Sullivan) --{} A Columbus eye doctor has a unique way of treating concussion patients, and some of those patients say it's changed their lives for the better.Dr. Steven Curtis, of River Eye Associates, helps patients relearn how to process visual information. "The middle part of their brain has lost the ability to integrate the visual information that's coming in through their eyes," he says.Curtis uses several techniques, including movement, motion, sound, and colored lights. Zach Thayer, 16, of Hilliard, suffered a concussion at football practice last year."I had loss of memory, dizziness, constant headache, nausea," he said. "Also light sensitivity. Sound sensitivity."Kathy Vincent, of Bexley, suffered a brain injury in a car accident. "I couldn't drive. I had severe anxiety, because I had vertigo."Curtis helped them both. "Prisms help. We use light therapy. Light has an energy that can reach the midbrain through the eyes and reenergize the glands. We energize pathways and eurogenesis occurs because of that."Thayer says at first he had his doubts, but it works. "I wasn't dizzy anymore. I could walk like a normal human being. Beforehand I was walking, grabbing onto things so it wouldn't fall. I didn't have to wear sunglasses everywhere anymore."Vincent says her treatment has been a real life-changer. "Right after my therapy within weeks I was driving regularly and I was starting to feel myself again. My vision improved."For more information about River Eye Associates, you can check out their website here.