New Eye Testing for Sports-Related Concussions

Did you know that a New Eye Test for Sports-Related Concussions On-the-Field can help diagnose concussions in Broward county’s athletes. With about 3.8 million American athletes sustaining sports-related concussions each year, we have found that a quick and reliable eye screening test done on the sidelines could help to keep the injured athletes from returning to game play too soon.

We also have found that with doing a new eye test of the players’ vision may provide just that. Researchers created a new vision test that can be done on the sidelines just after an athlete sustains a strong hit to the head. The test can accurately detect a concussion, say the researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. In this study, college athletes were asked to read a series of printed numbers, and their responses were scored for accuracy and time to completion. Concussions were later confirmed in players who scored on an average of 5.9 seconds slower or worse, than the best scores of healthy athletes who served as the controls.

Off the field in Lighthouse Point, the eye test could be performed and help physicians more effectively diagnose, treat and rehabilitate patients with concussions. It could also be used in Fort Lauderdale football, hockey & soccer leagues, boxing, martial arts and any other high-impact sports in the Broward county area.

Concussions are a form of traumatic brain injury (TBI); where if a patient doesn’t allow time to fully recover from a concussion, he or she can suffer long-term damage that can affect their vision, thinking, coordination and other key functions. The researchers plan to assess the eye test’s effectiveness in a variety of sports and for different player positions. If this eye test proves widely reliable, the eye test could become the go-to option in the toolbox of sideline tests for player concussions.