A study led by ISEH’s Dr Theo Farley, a physiotherapist specialising in concussion, with co-authors Prof. Mat Wilson and Richard Sylvester, explored how high-intensity exercise influences the body’s balance and eye movement systems, known as the vestibular and oculomotor systems- in both active and less active men and women.
These systems help to keep our balance, control our eye movements, and stabilise our vision when the head moves. Injuries to these systems can happen after head trauma, such as a concussion, and can lead to problems with balance, dizziness, and delayed recovery.
In the study, 75 people took part: 45 university athletes and 30 sedentary students (those who didn’t meet the UK exercise guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week).
Everyone first completed a baseline test using the Vestibular and Oculomotor Screening (VOMS) tool, which checks for symptoms like dizziness, headache, or blurred vision. Then, each person did a 5-minute treadmill run at a high effort level (17 out of 20 on the Borg scale). After running, they repeated the VOMS test three times, with 30 seconds between each test.
The main measure was how many people experienced symptoms during the VOMS test.
Results:
At the start, about 25% of participants showed one or more symptoms. There were no major differences between men and women or between athletes and sedentary individuals.
After the treadmill run, about 63% of participants showed symptoms, a big increase from before exercise.
Conclusion:
Doing high-intensity exercise can temporarily affect balance and eye movement control. This effect happens in both active and less active people, regardless of gender. These results suggest that when the VOMS test is done (for example, before or after exercise) can make a difference, which is important for sports medicine and concussion testing.
Read the paper in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.
