Treating Visual Symptoms with Dr. Michael DeStefano
Show Notes:
What if you could regain your balance and find relief after a concussion? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Michael DeStefano, a neurodevelopmental optometrist at Visual Symptoms Treatment Center, who specializes in helping patients after a TBI. He shares how his work, syntonic therapy, and the use of prisms have transformed lives and brought hope to many concussion survivors.
In this episode, we dive deep into syntonic therapy, a revolutionary practice that helps those struggling with post-concussion symptoms find relief and regain their sense of balance. Dr. DeStefano explains the theory and methods behind this approach, highlighting the significant difference it can make for concussion survivors. We also explore the fascinating world of prisms and how they can be used to treat concussion symptoms and manage Visual Snow Syndrome.
Tune in to this inspiring and informative conversation with Dr. Michael DeStefano and discover how life can improve after a concussion and the importance of seeking help and utilizing available resources.
Check out Dr. DeStefano's clinic https://www.visualsymptomstreatmentcenter.com/
Reach out to Dr. DeStefano: drdestefanood@gmail.com
Join Concussion Connect Today!
We understand the need for a safe place to go separate from your regular social world, less overwhelming and more personal. Join Concussion Connect to have a place to share and get support along your survivor journey!
Though a place for survivors, we also welcome all loved ones and professionals who are out to learn more about this invisible injury.
Follow Post Concussion Inc on Social Media to stay up to date on the podcast
-
Bella
Host
00:03
Hi everyone. I'm your host, Bella Paige, and after suffering from post concussion syndrome for years, it was time to do something about it. So welcome to the post concussion podcast, where we dig deep into life when it doesn't go back to normal. Be sure to share the podcast and join our support network, Concussion Connect. Let's make this invisible injury become visible.
00:29
The post concussion podcast is strictly an information podcast about concussions and post concussion syndrome. It does not provide nor substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you've heard on this podcast. The opinions expressed in this podcast are simply intended to spark discussion about concussions and post concussion syndrome. Do you feel constantly overwhelmed by your concussion symptoms and life changes? This is where Wombat. Wombat can help you A new breathwork and somatic therapy app powered by neuroscience. Lets slow down those racing thoughts and give ourselves the ability to breathe. Wombat is designed with an understanding of the impact of trauma on individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for users dealing with stress, anxiety or post traumatic experiences. Go to their website today at hellowombatcom.
01:40
Welcome to episode number 104 of the post concussion podcast with my self Bella Paige and today's guest, dr Michael DeStefano.
01:48
Dr Michael is the neurodevelopmental optometrist at Visual Symptoms Treatment Center in Arlington Heights, illinois. Dr DeStefano's professional interests include helping struggling students achieve academic success, caring for patients with TBIs and concussions, visual snow syndrome and myopia control. Dr DeStefano is highly involved in patient advocacy, research and treatment of visual snow syndrome. He is one of five optometrists in the US, and the only optometrists in the Midwest, who has partnered with the Visual Snow Initiative, an organization dedicated to helping those with visual snow syndrome. He credits his extensive knowledge in vision therapy from working as the founder and former president of Midwestern University's chapter of college and optometrist's vision development. When Dr DeStefano isn't seeing patients, he typically spends time with his wife and Italian family, golfing or working out. He considers himself a kid at heart, as he enjoys watching the Chicago Cubs, playing video games and collecting Pokemon cards. Most importantly, he enjoys serving patients every day and looks forward to helping you or a loved one in the future. Welcome to the show, michael.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
02:56
Thank you, Bella. I appreciate you having me on.
Bella
Host
02:58
So, to start today, do you want to tell us a little bit of what created your interest in helping concussions around this Sure of course.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
03:05
So when I was a student in optometry school, i knew I wanted to do something different. I knew I wanted to do something very stimulating, something very rewarding. I didn't want to do just glasses and contact lenses And I learned about vision therapy just reading about different specialties within optometry And I was given the opportunity to shadow a gentleman in the area who's a doctor who does vision therapy as his specialty And I thought it was very cool how you could really transform a person's life without surgery, without medication, and the patients are happy to come to you. It's a very fun and uplifting environment And what I liked about the concussion patients in particular is that the transformation is that much more dramatic And you get to really give somebody their life back.
04:06
I like working with people who are motivated to get better. It's very easy to work with somebody who is committed to making a difference in their lives, and one thing I find unique about working with concussion patients is that many of them have been to many different kinds of professionals and have been seeking out answers And, unfortunately, oftentimes don't get them or have lost hope. And you could give these people a sense of hope that they can and will get better And I think being able to validate somebody and bring some positivity into their lives is very worthwhile and very nice to do day in and day out.
Bella
Host
04:51
I think that's a huge point. You mentioned the motivated patients And a lot of that's, because it's like that desperation kind of kicks in for just anything to get better, so you're willing to try anything. I used to. I definitely hit that phase where I was like I will go to whatever doctor, specialist you can find. Just help me not feel like this, like I just want some of myself back, even if that looks different And it does look very different than I did then. And you mentioned that validation point And that's a really big thing for a lot of survivors. I can't count how many survivors even come on the show and mention that feeling of being crazy.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
05:31
Oh yeah, always been gaslighted being told that it's due to anxiety. It's made up. I hear you 100%.
Bella
Host
05:38
Yeah, it's like for women it's stress and emotional and anxiety. For men it's just get over yourself, like why you're not struggling, you look fine. So you know it's really hard for a lot of people to kind of get the help that they need with this because it also makes you not want to reach up to people. So when they find a good person to reach out to, it's always really good. And when we talked beforehand you kind of mentioned about how different aspects to how concussion affect your health, so did you want to talk a little bit about that?
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
06:11
Sure, of course. So I'm, by trade, a neuro optometrist, so the parts that I'll discuss are concussions impact on things related to our vision and our brain, since neuro brain, optometrist, eyes, vision that's my meat and potatoes and what I do every day. So a lot of the biggest complaints that I hear of with people who've had a history of concussion are headaches, light sensitivity, dizziness, emotion sensitivity. A lot of people were reading as a very big challenge. Whether it's keeping your place when you read or being able to understand what you've read, or the act of simply looking at something in front of you for more than a couple minutes could be very fatiguing. Cause eye strain, fluctuating vision, double vision. I mean, i've heard it all.
07:04
I've heard people say they look the words look like they're jumping around on the page, they have the sense of vertigo, sometimes like they're moving when they're not. A lot of people will complain of falling off to one side because their sense of space is warped. They say the floor looks like it's slanted or tilted. Of course, these people are told that they're crazy by some people, but an injury to your brain can truly affect how you perceive the world around you And it most likely will affect in some way how you perceive the world around you, but these are a lot of the complaints that I hear. There's probably numerous other ones as well, but that's a highlight of the list.
Bella
Host
07:43
Yeah, for sure, there is so many things related to your eyes. For me I used to walk into things on the right side of me like door frames, like every time I'd leave a room I'd like slam into a door. I'd be like, oh, and I like kept doing it And I'm like, okay, why do I keep hitting things? I was like is it always on the same side? And then I kind of started paying attention. I'm like, yeah, it is.
08:06
Or like for reading you mentioned that was a really tough thing for me. A lot of people know I got reading back And that was a huge moment in my life And I only got reading back about a year or two years ago now. So like it was a long time And I had done a lot of different therapies to get that back. And I had those issues that you mentioned where you'd like you could read it and not remember, or reading would exhaust me or I had headaches, so kind of like exasperate those, because you know your eyes start hurting, then your head starts hurting. It's all connected, yeah pretty much.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
08:40
It was better than Bella.
Bella
Host
08:41
It was definitely the like I could read it and then I couldn't remember it. So that was probably the most frustrating part for me was the memory issues, just because I was a student for all this when it started. So like being a student and not being able to remember what you read was really frustrating. Or like I was a big reader before all this, like I had tons of books and I would read and then I couldn't tell you what happened in the beginning of the book, which was really frustrating. I saw a lot of those things and then for me it was like insane headaches from reading. I could read I actually talked about it on the podcast once. I think the podcast I think I hadn't started it yet, but it had happened in the spring before And I read a book in a day, which used to be like a normal thing for me, and I think it's because I was feeling better.
09:29
And then I ended up in the hospital and in bed for like 10 days from reading a book in a day And it wasn't like it was like a crazy, like heavy read. It was like an adult fiction, not very complicated, hard on the brain to read like that way, but it was enough. Just reading eye tracking, all those things on the page. It was just too much And it kind of fatigued my brain, to like an extreme point. So I recommend to a lot of people to do the bookmark method, which is where you put a bookmark where you're going to stop reading And then you stop reading when you hit the bookmark, even though the story can be really good, because it can kind of help you pace yourself into getting better while you're doing therapy and things like that. But yeah, that was my biggest issue, definitely.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
10:13
That bookmark idea is actually a really good idea in not just vision therapy but other types of therapy and the whole concussion recovery process. It is really good and really important to know to pace yourself and know your limits, because your limits are so much different from what they were prior to your injury. So I think you made a really good point there.
Bella
Host
10:35
And the limits are frustrating. We have support group and concussion connect and it comes up pretty often about I thought I was good, i knew what I could do, and then I was feeling so good So I kind of kept going and then I overdid it. Or you get the opposite, where it's like now I feel like I'm not living a life because you're being so protective of yourself. So it's definitely a give and take kind of thing that people have to give with themselves too, like you're going to screw it up sometimes, because the only way you can know what your limits are are by keeping them.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
11:05
You don't know what's too much until you've done too much.
Bella
Host
11:08
Yeah, exactly. So we are going to talk about prisms and symptonic therapy, but before that, we're going to take a quick break.
11:16
Cognitive FX is a research-driven clinic that has successfully treated thousands of patients who have long-lasting symptoms from concussions or other brain-related injuries. Cognitive FX has an innovative approach to recovery that uses an advanced fMRI scan to map the function in your brain Treatment, and Cognitive FX takes five days to complete and uses your fMRI scan as a guide and baseline to ensure that your treatment is personalized and effective. This means that you won't need to schedule and keep track of multiple specialists, locations, dates, times or therapies, because it will all be prepared for you when you arrive. Once you've completed their treatment, you receive a personalized at-home plan to continue your recovery and gain access to their online patient portal that has instructional videos and resources for your continued recovery. Conveniently. Cognitivefx also offers free consultations, so both you and the doctors can ensure that treatment is a good choice for you and your injury. Visit their website at CognitiveFXUSAcom. Don't delay your recovery any longer. Find solutions at CognitiveFX today.
12:24
Welcome back to the Post Concussion Podcast with myself, Bella Paige and today's guest, dr Michael DeStefano. So we're going to talk about Syntonic Therapy. So do you want to talk about first just what? that is Sure.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
12:38
So Syntonic Therapy is a therapy done in neuro-optometry practices in which a patient sits and looks at a very specific colored lamp for a period of generally 10 to 20 minutes at a time, and, while it may sound crazy, it can have very dramatic effects for a lot of people, particularly those with neurological conditions such as post-TBI. The theory behind it is that, out of all the information that goes from our eyes to our brains, while 90% of that information has to do with simply eye sight, 10% has to do with other things as well, such as neurotransmitter levels or brain chemical balance or imbalances heart rate, respiration, sleep, wake cycles. And it's based on the idea that in people who have had a concussion there's a nervous system imbalance. Typically the sympathetic system, or the nervous system that is responsible for our fight or flight response, is an overdrive And the parasympathetic system, which is responsible for our resting and digesting response, is either underacting or overcome by the sympathetic system. And the goal of this is to bring those systems in sentient, which means into a state of balance. So for people who have had a concussion, they may have anxiety, they may feel overstimulated very easily, they may be in a state of constant discomfort because of a headache or nausea or dizziness And, believe it or not, sitting and looking at this light for a lot of people who have had a concussion can dramatically reduce symptoms.
14:32
I actually had a woman recently who came to me post concussion. I had her do this for 10 minutes but after like a few seconds she was looking at this deep blue light with me And she started to cry because it was the most calm she had felt in a long time And I thought that was really cool And that was really amazing. A couple other ways of doing sentinic therapy are one wearing these cardboard movie theater style glasses that kind of look like like 3D glasses with a very specific dark tint in them. You can't see very much out of them, but they are very deeply colored And we're looking at a full spectrum white light called an hot light. You may be familiar with that because it is often used for seasonal depression. It mimics sunlight, so some people also, instead of looking at a colored light, look at a white light, but with colored glasses on, and that could produce a very similar effect in many of these people And in another person I'm seeing who has had a TBI recently.
15:39
He mentioned that he has more mental clarity after doing this. He would come in and see me once a week and we would do our rehabilitation sessions, but near the end we would also do maybe 10 to 15 minutes of sentinic therapy And he would tell me the following week that he would have mental clarity for like three or four days after seeing me, and then, of course, he'd crash again. But we arranged for him to actually rent this unit at home so he could do it for 10 to 15 minutes every day, and he just started renting it this past week. We'll see him again on Monday and I'm excited to hear how it's going. I'm very excited for that.
Bella
Host
16:19
Yeah, i really like how you mentioned like the overstimulation that a lot of survivors deal with. Actually, just yesterday I was talking with someone on Concussion Connect, the grocery store, and it just seems to be like the most common thing of. I think it's just because everyone has to go to the grocery store and it's a lot. And you mentioned like that weight. You know, when you said your patient felt like better And we talk about how, like as a survivor and when you've been dealing with it for a long time, you kind of get like this weight on your shoulders that you don't realize is there.
16:52
Everything kind of feels heavy because like it's harder to think you're dealing with all these symptoms, mentally, anxiety, all those types of things. So getting that weight lifted can be one of the best feelings as a survivor and finding things that can lift that is just like a breath of fresh air. It's just like I can actually take a deep breath for the first time and sometimes for people that's years, and so it's just really amazing to like hear about or see that people like are getting better with this.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
17:22
Yeah, thanks for sharing that, Bella, and for many people who have had a TBI, your baseline of normal changes. Sometimes I'll ask somebody, are you always anxious? and they have to think about it And they're like, yeah, i guess I, i guess I am, and it's not because they're crazy or anything, but because that injury to their brain has put them in almost like a sense of danger mode, like they're, like they want to jump out of their skin because of what is going on with their brains. And a lot of people forget what it's like to be calm and to be at peace And to be able to escape that for even a few moments is amazing for a lot of people.
Bella
Host
18:14
Yeah, for sure, i actually live with something that is known as that feeling that you kind of mentioned, that we call it, like the fighter flight, and I actually have a chronic illness that puts me in that state at 24 seven, where your body is always like overreacting or underreacting to stimulus, and it is one of those things that takes time to like. Survivors go through this and they can, like you know, it can get better. I've seen it get better And it's just like that. Your body overreacts to things, even like food, and all of a sudden your stomach hurts from something you've eaten a million times to underreacts, you know. So it's just really that like up down, up down, and that definitely causes a lot of anxiety living like that. And so another really big thing when it comes to eyes is prisms, and there's a lot on social media about prisms. Whether use prisms, don't use prisms. They can help you, they cannot, they're a crutch. So what is your opinion on prisms?
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
19:08
So prisms can be used in many different ways.
19:12
The most common use of prism not in just neuro optometry but regular optometry and ophthalmology is to eliminate double vision by shifting where images appear to be. So if your eye turns outward or has a hard time pulling inward, you can use a prism to shift the image outward to where your eye likes to go. It doesn't fix the issue, it just alleviates the symptom. And if you just do that without actually working on the skill that's deficient, that's causing the symptom, then it doesn't go away in time. It actually will most likely adapt to the prism and the problem will become worse. And in neuro optometry we don't like to just use prisms for that purpose. If you are going to do something like that, we like to at least train so that it doesn't become a crotch. It's more or less something to get you by while you build up the skills to overcome it. But we're giving you this to make you comfortable in the meantime. But the coolest and most unique use of prisms that I use is something called yolk prisms. And what yolk prisms do is they actually? they alter your perception of space, so they can enlarge or shrink your peripheral vision. They can make things moved upward or downward, or left or right or slanted. So a common complaint that I mentioned earlier is that a lot of people come in saying that the floor looks like it's tilted. So if somebody appears comes in and they tell me that the floor appears like it's tilted this way, so the floor appears higher on their left side and lower on their right side, i can actually use prisms to alter space ever so slightly so that whatever they're looking through, the floor appears straight. And usually these powers are extremely low, like less than a unit. If somebody looks through somebody's glasses with prism in them, they will most likely notice no difference or a very small difference in where images appear to be. I think that is really cool, and if I use them for other purposes, like just enlarging somebody's peripheral vision and making somebody more aware of their surroundings, i can instantly reduce, for many people, their sensitivity to motion, their dizziness or their discomfort with eye movement or sometimes with head movement, vestibular types of things. A concussion disrupts the mind and brain connection And by changing how you perceive the world around you and space around you you can bring immediate change. I think it's really cool that you can show somebody immediately that you can make a difference for them.
22:15
And I don't like to prescribe something without trialing it out first, so I can go through a series of trials and errors and see how much of a difference a prism makes for somebody before I prescribe it.
22:33
So if I have somebody wear their regular glasses, or if they don't wear any glasses, if I have them do something like looking at a point and shaking their head back and forth and they tell me that they are incredibly dizzy, and I have them put these glasses on with the prisms in them, and then they can go twice as fast and not be dizzy, i can show without any doubts that they have a positive effect on somebody.
22:59
Or I may do something like give somebody a magazine with a lot of text, black text on a white background, a lot of lines, and I'll be like here, read this for a minute, and I'll set a timer for a minute, and then I'll have them put on their tentative prescription that I've thought of over their glasses.
23:17
Or again, if they don't wear any glasses, they'll just have them put them on like in little goggles and I'll hand them the same magazine. I'll set a timer for another minute and I'll ask them what difference do you notice, if anything? And then I'll hear from them that it makes a difference and then I will prescribe it. So I think that it helps build trust as well that I'm not just trying to sell them something that I know and they know that it makes a difference before making sort of recommendation. And sometimes you can find something the first time that makes a difference. Other times I may have to go through a few different types of prisms, shifting the power, shifting where it alters, where the image appears in space, but more often than not I can find something that makes a large difference for somebody who has had a concussion.
Bella
Host
24:08
Yeah, i really like that like instant factor because I think it just gives people a lot of that hope that you talked about earlier, because it's just like you know, if people have been lost for a long time and all of a sudden they have something that instantly makes things, even if it's a little bit, is such a big motivator. It can really help mentally to get some relief in any way. And I really like the like individualized side of the prisms that you talked about, how it's not like a one size fits all, because sometimes that's kind of what it is. But it's really nice to know that there is definitely more options out there where it's not like there's prism glasses. No, there's so many different types, different ways of using them to help you as an individual, and that's where really helping, finding a expert or specialist that understands these types of things, can be really beneficial to survivors. And we have talked about a lot today about eyes and you know neuro optometry. So is there anything else you would like to add before ending today's episode?
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
25:06
Sure, there's actually one more thing I want to talk about. A lot of people who have had a TBI will experience some very strange vision disturbances and not know what's causing them, and maybe see many doctors and not know what's causing them. There's actually a condition called Visual Snow Syndrome that I spend a lot of time and energy in studying and treating. So a lot of people after a TBI and sometimes there are other causes as well, but a TBI is one of the causes A lot of people after TBI will experience a sensation where they see almost like static or little dots moving around in their vision. Or when they look at something moving like their hand back and forth, they may see like a trail moving behind it. A lot of these people also have light sensitivity, dizziness, anxiety. Some will complain of seeing flashing lights or colors. Some people say that things look like they're moving when they're actually stationary. But the hallmark sign of this condition is seeing these little tiny dots like TV static or grainy old film in their vision. And a lot of these people will go doctor to doctor to doctor and have no answers or be told that there's nothing that could be done for them. Unfortunately, it's not something that can always be cured, but usually it's something that can be improved through various types of treatments, including centronics, sometimes vision therapy as well, sometimes as simple as tinted lenses as well. But if somebody out there is experiencing these symptoms and has been told that they are crazy or making these up, i want them to know that this is actually a real condition and they're free to reach out to me to ask questions about their condition. And it is very real.
27:02
I actually had a professor in grad school who had this condition And without her I would not have known about it because it's not taught as part of our education. She was hit by a car as a pedestrian years ago And as a result, she has this very strange vision disturbance that she's dealing with. Luckily, she's doing well overall and she is learning to live life with this, and she's made great recovery since her TBI And we are thinking about actually going into a little bit of research, digging into what goes on in the brain that causes this condition, so that's something we may explore in the future.
Bella
Host
27:45
Yeah, that's super interesting And I like hearing about different things like that, because survivors do deal with such an array of symptoms. I've had people mention things to me and be like, have you ever heard of this? And I was like, yeah, i actually went through it And they're like what really Like I'm not the only one And I'm like, no, you're not. But when you Google, it's kind of hard to find information on a lot of things like that. So thank you so much for sharing And thank you so much for joining us today and sharing many of your insights on post-concussion.
Dr. DeStefano
Guest
28:14
Thank you for having me on. I had a lot of fun And I look forward to following your podcast a lot more closely from here on out. I've learned a lot from you and talking to you, and your story is very inspirational. I've told many of my patients about you And I think, knowing that you've had this experience as a survivor yourself, you can relate to them in a way that I simply cannot and many doctors cannot. So thank you for what you do.
Bella
Host
28:44
Thank you. If you need more than just this podcast, be sure to check out our website, postconcussioninc.com, to see how we can help you in your post-concussion life, From a support network to one-on-one coaching. I believe life can get better because I've lived through it. Make sure you take it one day at a time.
The Post Concussion Cookbook is here!
Make sure you don’t miss out!
OTHER CONTENT YOU MAY LIKE
