Concussion Rehab
Concussion Management Specialist
How Concussion Affects the Brain
Concussions can involve physical and chemical changes in the brain. These changes can affect energy, mood, vision, reflexes, memory, balance, and more. Just waiting for these issues to recover isn’t a successful strategy. This is why seeing a concussion specialist for a comprehensive assessment and treatment plan as early as possible is key.
How Concussion Affects the Brain
Concussions can involve physical and chemical changes in the brain. These changes can affect energy, mood, vision, reflexes, memory, balance, and more. Just waiting for these issues to recover isn’t a successful strategy. This is why seeing a concussion specialist for a comprehensive assessment and treatment plan as early as possible is key.
How to Heal a Concussion “Naturally”
Acupuncture is a great tool for enhancing neuroplasticity and optimally healing the brain after a concussion because it can make a significant difference in improving all aspects of neurocognitive and bodily function. This makes acupuncture an excellent “natural” concussion remedy for people looking for drug-free ways to address their injury.
Our brain has a natural way to heal itself, which involves building new pathways around the damaged tissue. This is called neuroplasticity. To best take advantage of this natural process, the latest evidence in concussion and post-concussion syndrome care advocates a comprehensive evaluation and multi-modal treatment plan. This plan must address various aspects of brain health and function, including autonomic function, visual and vestibular function, cervical spine function, gait and balance, as well as neurocognitive markers. Jackupuncture offers all of the above with our PeakMIND and concussion care services.
To the left is a real example of the results Jackupuncture concussion care offers. These are the WAVi EEG scans of a patient who experienced a severe injury to the left side of their head in 2015, and regained access to a more powerful brain with PeakMIND 8 years after their accident.
Read More About This Case Study
To the left are the before/after WAVi scans of a Jackupuncture patient who underwent PeakMIND for a decade-old head injury. These scans show the energy produced by the brain in microvolts. Cooler colors represent areas of low energy. Warmer colors represent areas of higher energy. Warmer is better, as the brain’s energy is a marker of its cognitive resources, the amount of energy it has to complete all of its many tasks. When the brain doesn’t have as much energy, like in the scan on the left, many different issues can result.
In 2015, this patient experienced a severe injury to the left side of the head. This accident left the patient with a 4” scar along their skull. As a part of their care, they received MRI and CT imaging to rule out internal bleeding, and then had their scalp stitched back together. The doctors recommended the patient not watch TV and avoid flying for a couple of weeks. The patient received no medication or rehabilitation for their injury. This is far from optimal care.
After this event, the patient experienced a wide range of issues, including brain fog, ADHD, astigmatism and blurry vision, anxiety, and depression.
As seen in the more colorful scan on the right, this patient’s brain function improved significantly after a single series of PeakMIND. Their brain’s maximum reaction voltage increased by 9 microvolts, with previously dormant regions also coming back to life. This patient now has greater access to all of their brain, with their brain now also having access to more power and energy.
This patient reports that after PeakMIND their brain fog is completely gone. Their vision has improved so much that they can see small writing on boards at work without glasses. Their memory and recall is better, helping them remember why they went into a room, what word they want to use or what they need to get done. They are more efficient and productive, able to focus and accomplish tasks better. Their overall mood and outlook are much better, helping them manage stressful and anxiety-inducing situations better.
This case is a great example of how PeakMIND can help with a wide range of issues, even severe, significantly older/chronic symptoms. Many PeakMIND patients report similar improvements as this patient, with one patient even needing to change the prescription of their reading glasses to accommodate their improved vision. All cases are different, however, and results will vary from patient to patient.
To learn more about how PeakMIND may help in your case, schedule a consultation with us.
How to Heal a Concussion “Naturally”
Acupuncture is a great tool for enhancing neuroplasticity and optimally healing the brain after a concussion because it can make a significant difference in improving all aspects of neurocognitive and bodily function. This makes acupuncture an excellent “natural” concussion remedy for people looking for drug-free ways to address their injury.
Our brain has a natural way to heal itself, which involves building new pathways around the damaged tissue. This is called neuroplasticity. To best take advantage of this natural process, the latest evidence in concussion and post-concussion syndrome care advocates a comprehensive evaluation and multi-modal treatment plan. This plan must address various aspects of brain health and function, including autonomic function, visual and vestibular function, cervical spine function, gait and balance, as well as neurocognitive markers. Jackupuncture offers all of the above with our PeakMIND and concussion care services.
Above is a real example of the results Jackupuncture concussion care offers. These are the WAVi EEG scans of a patient who experienced a severe injury to the left side of their head in 2015, and regained access to a more powerful brain with PeakMIND 8 years after their accident.
Read More About This Case Study
Above are the before/after WAVi scans of a Jackupuncture patient who underwent PeakMIND for a decade-old head injury. These scans show the energy produced by the brain in microvolts. Cooler colors represent areas of low energy. Warmer colors represent areas of higher energy. Warmer is better, as the brain’s energy is a marker of its cognitive resources, the amount of energy it has to complete all of its many tasks. When the brain doesn’t have as much energy, like in the scan on the left, many different issues can result.
In 2015, this patient experienced a severe injury to the left side of the head. This accident left the patient with a 4” scar along their skull. As a part of their care, they received MRI and CT imaging to rule out internal bleeding, and then had their scalp stitched back together. The doctors recommended the patient not watch TV and avoid flying for a couple of weeks. The patient received no medication or rehabilitation for their injury. This is far from optimal care.
After this event, the patient experienced a wide range of issues, including brain fog, ADHD, astigmatism and blurry vision, anxiety, and depression.
As seen in the more colorful scan on the right, this patient’s brain function improved significantly after a single series of PeakMIND. Their brain’s maximum reaction voltage increased by 9 microvolts, with previously dormant regions also coming back to life. This patient now has greater access to all of their brain, with their brain now also having access to more power and energy.
This patient reports that after PeakMIND their brain fog is completely gone. Their vision has improved so much that they can see small writing on boards at work without glasses. Their memory and recall is better, helping them remember why they went into a room, what word they want to use or what they need to get done. They are more efficient and productive, able to focus and accomplish tasks better. Their overall mood and outlook are much better, helping them manage stressful and anxiety-inducing situations better.
This case is a great example of how PeakMIND can help with a wide range of issues, even severe, significantly older/chronic symptoms. Many PeakMIND patients report similar improvements as this patient, with one patient even needing to change the prescription of their reading glasses to accommodate their improved vision. All cases are different, however, and results will vary from patient to patient.
To learn more about how PeakMIND may help in your case, schedule a consultation with us.
Concussion Treatment for Athletes
Concussion treatment for athletes is an active process involving a multidisciplinary approach. The current gold standard of care is a multi-modal approach individualized for the patient’s specific symptoms and issues.
Return to Sport after Head Injury
Returning to sport after a head injury can be one of the biggest challenges an athlete encounters in their career. Jack has a special passion for brain injury rehabilitation and helping with a successful return to sport after head injury because of his own experience with sports-related brain injury. He understands the first step in addressing any concussion is developing the best plan of action for your specific needs. This is why we start with a thorough assessment and consultation.
Concussion Rehab Success with PeakMIND
Our innovative PeakMIND acupuncture is a strong foundation for successful concussion rehabilitation. Throughout their recovery with PeakMIND, patients also receive individualized support for exercise, supplementation, and other complementary therapies. With this multi-modal approach, PeakMIND offers Jackupuncture’s patients comprehensive care for acute and chronic concussion. Thanks to our ongoing work with professional athletes and some of the most innovative figures in the field of brain and concussion rehab, Jackupuncture continues to evolve and improve our PeakMIND services so that all patients are able to experience the best care in the world.
Concussion Rehabilitation
Acupuncture, and electroacupuncture in particular, is an exceptionally powerful tool for concussion rehab because it allows us to address all the symptoms of concussion through the process of neuromodulation. Neuromodulation is the process of making a change in the state of the nervous system, and acupuncture happens to be an amazing tool for neuromodulation anywhere in the body. Because of the body’s unique therapeutic response to needles, acupuncture allows us to guide the nervous system into specific states for healing. With electroacupuncture, we can create and sustain specific healing responses in the nervous system by introducing a gentle current to the needles, allowing us to address peripheral and central nervous system issues. Using scalp electroacupuncture in the innovative way we’ve developed at Jackupuncture, PeakMIND achieves a global response in the brain for a more complete rehabilitation and reintegration of the various neurological systems affected by concussion and head trauma. All the above makes acupuncture a powerful concussion treatment.
Concussion Management Specialist
As concussion management specialists, we are able to help patients manage and overcome the effects of acute and chronic concussions, as well as a wide range of other neurological issues, whether they are directly related to head trauma and poor brain function or are the consequence of other forms of trauma or injury. Combined with our particular skill set with orthopedics, Jackupuncture is a one-stop shop for managing and rehabilitating concussions and optimizing human performance.
Initial Consult and Injury Assessment
Concussions can affect multiple aspects of how your brain and body function. Because concussions are a multi-system affair, multiple devices and exams are involved in assessment to identify your particular needs. This helps guide your treatment and the timeline for your return to sport, work, school, and life. We also use these systems to provide baseline assessments for uninjured athletes in combat and contact sports, which helps us better individualize your care and return to sport anytime concussion or mTBI occurs during training or competition.
WAVi SCAN (EEG)
WAVi Scans (EEG)
WAVi is an innovative electroencephalogram (EEG) tool used for baseline and injury assessments. WAVi measures the brain’s electrical activity, providing information on your brain voltage, brain reaction time, and physical reaction time. These are markers of cognitive performance that are specifically impacted by injuries like concussions, as well as stress, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular disease. With WAVi, we are able to get a better overall picture of how concussion and injury (or any of these other factors) may be affecting your brain’s function, directly impacting your mental and physical performance. During concussion rehabilitation, WAVi data allows us to track your progress so we can make appropriate recommendations for your safe return to work, sport, school, and life.
Balance & Gait Assessment
Balance & Gait Assessment
At Jackupuncture, we use two different systems to provide in-depth gait and balance analysis. Together, these two assessments help us contextualize the impact of your injury, as well as track your progress. Both play a valuable role in providing you with better care and a clearer recovery timeline.
• BTrackS Balance Analysis System: Jackupuncture uses this system to assess and track how your injury is affecting your balance. This system helps us understand how the brain has been affected and how your system is responding to treatment. By assessing how your balance is affected in different scenarios, BTrackS helps us understand how the vestibular system and neck may be contributing to your symptoms. This helps us improve your recovery by understanding whether orthopedic acupuncture or other modalities are needed.
• SportGait Neurocognitive & Gait Analysis System: Gait has been shown to be a sensitive indicator of concussion and brain injury. Analysis of your gait helps us monitor your progress so we can safely guide you back to sport, work, school, and life. SportGait also allows us to track and assess the impact of injuries and life on performance, making it a valuable part of the suite of tools we use as part of our performance monitoring program for athletes interested in balancing elite performance with safety.
Pupillometry
Pupillometry
Pupillometry is the analysis of the pupil’s reflexive response to light. This reflex is a direct response of the autonomic nervous system, which manages many aspects of our overall health and bodily function. Unfortunately, this is also one of the systems regularly impacted by concussion and head trauma. Because of the many roles the autonomic nervous system plays in our body’s healthy function, a dysfunctional autonomic system can lead to a range of different symptoms experienced after concussion, whiplash, and other traumatic events. We use pupillometry as an objective way to assess and track your autonomic nervous system health throughout recovery.
Physical Exam
Physical Examination
In addition to the innovative tech described above, Jackupuncture includes a range of functional and physical exams to assess your injury’s impacts on your neck, vestibular, and ocular motor systems. The insights gained from these physical exams can’t be overlooked, as they allow us to further individualize your care and rehabilitation plan.
• Neck and Upper Body: our upper body exam includes assessment the range of motion, stability, and neuromuscular function of your neck and shoulders. Since these joints play a role in how the brain understands and interacts with the world, including gravity, they may require additional orthopedic treatment and exercise recommendations for a full and successful recovery.
• Vestibular, Vestibular Ocular Motor: like gait, vestibular and vestibular ocular motor impairment have been shown to be sensitive indicators of concussion. Impairment of the vestibular system can lead to a range of different physical and internal sensations, including dizziness and anxiety. Positive findings on vestibular ocular motor screens are associated with longer recovery times. Assessments of these systems help us better understand your timeline for recovery, as well as how to individualize your treatment for the best care possible.
• Vision: the visual system may also be impaired in some cases of concussion and head trauma. We include an assessment of the visual system to identify what role it may be playing in your symptoms so that we may guide you to the appropriate professionals in case additional care is needed. In our clinical experience, PeakMIND treatment helps significantly with visual system impairments, but additional care may be appropriate. We will try to provide the necessary support and referrals when needed.
• Somatosensory: after a concussion, aspects of physical sensation can be disrupted. We assess and address this as part of our exam to help patients reintegrate that information and avoid additional injuries. PeakMIND has been helpful in restoring somatosensory for many patients, and can be further supported by additional exercises we may recommend based on our assessment findings.
• Motor: head trauma and concussions can impact how our bodies physically function. This can include impairments like loss of strength, weakness, and muscle fatigue due to motor function issues. Neuromotor issues are a very recently discussed subset of concussion and may be a factor in gait and balance issues after a concussion. Our gait, balance, and physical assessments help identify these issues, and our electroacupuncture services help to immediately normalize neuromuscular function. Combined with PeakMIND, we are able to help reintegrate motor function in the brain and body to help your return to sport, work, and life be a successful one.
What Patients Say about Our Concussion Rehab Services
Our patients range from professional fighters and triathletes to doctors, physical therapists, music teachers, authors, and construction workers. Here’s what some of them had to say about concussion rehabilitation at Jackupuncture:
Looking for a Concussion Management Specialist?
Return to What You Love
PeakMIND acupuncture has been the missing piece for many looking to fully recover after concussion. Jackupuncture is a one-stop shop when it comes to concussion rehabilitation and specialized guidance for a safe return to activities of sport and life.
