What Effects Does a Concussion Have On Your Brain?

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. Many times, this is due to a fall, sport contact, or auto accident. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells. While many concussions heal on their own in a short period of time, many find that they have lingering symptoms classified as post-concussion syndrome.

Lingering post-concussion syndrome or traumatic brain injury symptoms include:

Healing the Brain After Concussion

Functional Neurology can be an important tool for addressing neurological problems, including concussions and traumatic brain injuries. Functional Neurology is the practice of neurology without the use of drugs or surgery. It is the understanding of how the nervous system (think brain, spinal cord, nerves) works and how the body can be assessed in real time to determine if there are weaknesses in relays from the brain to the body.

Our brains are constituted from billions of tiny cells called neurons, which generate brain activity by firing electrical signals between one another. The routes traveled by these electrical signals are known as neural pathways. When neural pathways are used or activated, more connections are created between cells in the pathway and the pathway becomes more efficient and easier to fire. This ability for pathways to rewire is called neuroplasticity, giving the brain the ability to heal from injuries it has suffered.

We can use Functional Neurology, or Chiropractic Neurology as it’s often called, to help rewire the brain to reactivate the pathways that were damaged in the concussion. In order to do this, we need to first understand which pathways were affected.

Concussion Rehabilitation

Our approach provides non-invasive treatment to improve brain activity by identifying and repairing the weakened pathways. The precise treatment options and exercises are tailored specifically to your needs and body. There is no ‘one size fits all’ in concussion rehabilitation.

Throughout the process, we continue diagnostic testing to measure your results and improve your treatment plan in necessary to get better results.

Life After Concussion

We want to help you move past this injury and get back to a place of ideal function for your brain. A normal life after a concussion is possible with concussion rehabilitation with Dr. Katherine Afzal.