If you have been unlucky enough to suffer a concussion, you know that the injury to your brain can leave you with headaches, nausea, loss of memory, a lack of focus and even a lack of coordination. A concussion is a serious brain injury, and it’s essential that you get quality care to heal after a concussion.
Luckily there are good choices for those who have suffered this injury, and are looking for help. Especially beneficial is the work of functional neurologists, who have vast experience in using natural therapies to help your brain heal from a traumatic injury.
How Can a Functional Neurologist Help?
Brain-based Therapy
When you have suffered a concussion, traditional physicians may offer you prescription medications to fight the effects and symptoms. These medications, however, just mask symptoms without treating the root cause of your injury.
A functional neurologist will instead use a variety of natural therapies that will help your brain heal. These practices will focus on reigniting the pathways in your brain that are damaged. This therapy will allow your brain to regain its normal function and get you back to yourself again.
Functional neurologists work with the nervous system to provide non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical treatments to rehabilitate your brain.
Tests and Evaluation
For you to begin working with a functional neurologist, the first thing that will happen is a thorough round of testing and evaluation. This will help your doctor pinpoint the areas of your brain that were hurt and damaged in the concussion. The testing may be more extensive and take longer than you expect, but we ask you to remember that it takes a complete set of results for your neurologist to know what kind of therapies will be most successful in your particular situation.
It’s your neurologist’s goal to design a personalized therapy plan that has the greatest chance of success to allow you a full and complete recovery.
Going Over Your Individual Plan for Therapy
Once your doctor and his team have completed testing and evaluating your particular brain injury, they will sit down with you to explain your results, and walk you through the steps that you will take on your way to healing.
You will hear about the particular natural therapies that your neurologist recommends to help you overcome this traumatic injury. Your brain is a complex, stunning piece of biological machinery, and recalibrating it and helping it regain full function will take patience and the skill of your therapists.
Types of Natural Therapy and Treatment for Concussions
Depending on the results of you testing, your neurologist may recommend one or more types of treatment. These treatments often include:
- A Plan for Cognitive and Physical Rest
One of the most important things that you can do after a concussion is rest. Your neurologist will outline for you just what all that means, since it’s not only important to rest your body, but also your mind. You will likely be limited in your physical activity as well as mental exertion like working or reading.
- Nutrition
Part of your treatment plan may also involve feeding your brain the best food to help it recover. Scientific research has shown that there is indeed such a thing as “brain food.” Your functional neurologist will help you understand what that is, and how to eat to heal your brain.
- Gentle and Supervised Brain Activation
Your therapy will likely include cognitive rest, but also in partnership with gentle activation of your brain in your doctor’s office. Recent work on concussion injury suggests that managed, and limited brain activity from physical movement and other activities can help your brain recover faster.
- Home Exercises for Synchronization
After the guided therapy in the office, you may be sent home with “homework” in the form of small activities to do that will encourage healing in your brain. These small exercises will gently nudge the injured parts of your brain to re-stimulate and begin working again.
A concussion is a serious injury that, if not treated properly, can have long-term consequences. Your brain is a natural wonder, a treasure that you need to protect and nourish. If you’ve suffered a concussion, it’s essential that you treat not only the symptoms of the injury, but the causes, and give your brain the best chance possible to heal.
We encourage you to call us at the Norcal Brain Center to find out how a natural plan of therapy from a board-certified functional neurologist and his team can help you think clearly, move easily and be yourself again!
