What to look for following a concussion

Brain bleed - the force of concussive hits can cause tears in blood vessels including those in the brain. It is critical to have a medical professional identify or rule these out promptly following the concussion. 

Inflamation - Inflamation is the bodies first response to injury. Controling inflamation esp in the brain and brain stem early minimizes the additional damage ongoing inflamation will cause. When other symptoms persist, check that inflamation has fully cleared. 

Neck - It takes substantially less force to cause a neck injury than a concussion. The brain stem extends into the top of the neck. Structurally 7 bones and 28 muscles Neck injuries are often associated with concussions and need to be cleared even when

Sensory  - Issues involving vision, auditory & touch (including coordination, balance and communication like slured speech) are the most common focus but changes in taste and smell should be noted also. 

Autonomic Nervous System - Sets the overall tone for the brain to engage life (engage, withdraw or rebuild and recharge). Observed in behaviors like anger, acting out, hypervigalance, depression & withdrawl  

Default mode network - is our brain system for several aspects of Thinking and includes multiple brain locations (back, side and front of the brain) that may be impacted by a concussion. 

People's Experiences

9801 Fair Oaks Blvd. Suite 200

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

www.HopeWellnessInstitute.com



We service Northern California from our Sacramento office in Fair Oaks, California

Concussion Experiences - Physical

• New or worsening headaches
• Head or neck tenderness or pain
• Vision issues -
• Sensitivity
• "stars",
• double vision
• Eyes don't track together
• can't focus
• Sensitivity to sound
• Speech
• Slow or labored
• Not making sense/ incoherent
• Seizure or convulsion
• Balance & equilibrium issues
• Vomiting

Concussion Experiences -Thinking & Mental

• Loss of consciousness - about 10% of the time
• No loss of consciousness - 90% of the time
• Deteriorating consciousness state
• Confusion
• Disorientation
• Diminished memory
• Diminished focus

Concussion Experiences - Mood

• Anger
• Outbursts
• Increased Anxiety
• Moodiness
• Agitation
• Combativeness

Are concussive hits cumulative? 

Possibly not quite 1+1+1 = 3 

But they do seem to add up. Each of our capacity varies as does the long term impact of each but they do seem to be cumulative.

Double Taps

A second concussion before full recovery from the first is

• 3 times more likely than getting the original,
• generally much more damaging
• and much slower to recover from.

Healing current and past injuries minimizes their future impact.

Brain Bleeds

A concussive hit can be strong enough to cause the rupture of blood vessels in the brain causing a brain bleed.

THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IMMEDIATELY.



We do not work with clients until this has been resolved or ruled out.

Impact Injury

The brain can and often does impact the inside of the skull as part of the impact that creates the concussion. This can also generate damage, bruising, & inflammation. Prompt treatment minimizes severity and duration of symptoms and speeds recovery.

Neck/ Shoulder Whiplash

It takes 10 times the impact force to generate a concussion as to generate a whiplash. We often see neck and shoulder issues like whiplash when we see concussions.

Secondary Symptoms

Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) sets the broad tone for how the  -

• Balanced = Rest & Rebuild
• Activate = Engaging with the world
• Disengage = conserving resources (overwhelm)

Following an injury, the brain needs to heal. A concussion can leave the ANS stuck in either Activate or disengage or a combination of both. Releasing stuck patterns & strengthening autonomic nervous system balance improves the sleep we need leading to a cascade of  beneficial impacts on recovery. Recovery & healing in other areas is faster when the ANS recovers it's balance and resiliency.

Structure

When the body is out of alignment, it may work but it doesn't work correctly. Guiding bones and muscles to proper alignment, a neuromuscular therapist can evaluate structural alignments and balances and either address them or refer them to the appropriate specialist. Recovery is difficult until all the pieces are back where they belong.

Nutrition

The most recent studies indicate making 3 nutritional changes immediately improve concussion outcomes*.

1. Increase Anti-inflammatories
2. Increase Anti-Oxidants
3. Move to a lower calorie/ lower carb (esp sugar) diet using lipids and proteins for more of the body's & esp. brain's energy. Include mid chain triglycerides (MCT oil).

Current best information indicates that these should be implemented starting immediately following the concussion (have the proper doses in your purse) and for 1 week to 1 month following.

Personal experience suggests that planning is needed to make this work.

* Dr. Paul Hrkal, Naturalpath

* Dr.                   Amen Clinics

Inflamation

Hormones

The Pituitary Gland sits in a small cradle at the base of the skull. Susceptible to impacts from many directions, it sits under the amygdala and provides direction as the "master control" for much of the body's hormone systems.

Diminished pituitary output creates a cascading impact on other hormone systems.

Balance & Vision

How does dissociation of nerve processing display? Sometimes as slowed, clumsy, or uncontrolled movements commonly associated with balance and vision issues.

These in particular can open a person to a second concussion (double tap) before the first has healed which is often much more damaging than the first.

Neck

It takes about 10 times as much force to generate a head concussion as to generate a whiplash injury in the neck. The base of the brain - the brain stem - physically extends into the cervical spine. Whiplash symptoms are similar to concussion symptoms.

It is important to include the neck and back as part of addressing a concussion.  

Digestion

Concussion Imbalances

A concussive injury is generated by the acceleration and deceleration of the head.

The brain hitting the inside of the skull compounds this but is not "needed" to create a concussion. 

It only takes about 10% of the force to cause a neck (spinal nerve) injury as to cause a concussion.

paraphrased from Dr. Carmen Marshall, DC (Concussion Doc)

A Concussive injury can present as a structural imbalance/ damage. Bones can be "knocked" out of alignment in the head and in other parts of the body - especially the neck. Less visible but often more important, as the concussive wave passed through the brain, nerve fibers were compressed then stretched. The force was unequally applied and damage may be present in nerves of the brain the spine especially the neck and in the peripheral nerves as well. Additionally, physical damage may be occur from the brain tissue hitting the inside of the skull.

A Concussive injury can present as a chemical imbalance/ damage. Hormone producing glands may have been shocked or damaged leading hormonal (chemical) imbalances.

Additionally, people often experience gut issues in conjunction with a concussion. When the gut is impacted, nutrient levels from digestion and neurotransmitters produced by gut bacteria may be impacted leading to other kinds of chemical imbalances. 

Related Article

A Concussive injury can present as an electrical imbalance/ damage. Body control and communication occurs with neurons sending messages along their axons as weak electric pulses. When these axons have been compressed and stretched they may not transmit the electrical impulses as they did before. We can observe repetitious "stuck" electrical patterns following a concussion. These

Resumption of Activites

Most of your clients have had longer symptoms. Symptoms being resolved is not enough to return to previous activities esp. where these present a risk for further/ repeat injury. Return to activities is generally gradual tracking markers like balance, memory, return of response time, escalating both mental and physical activity levels without retriggering symptoms,

A concussive injury is generated by the acceleration and deceleration of the head.

The brain hitting the inside of the skull compounds this but is not "needed" to create a concussion. 

It only takes about 10% of the force to cause a neck (spinal nerve) injury as to cause a concussion.

paraphrased from Dr. Carmen Marshall, DC (Concussion Doc)