Post Concussion Care for Young Atheletes

(Newswire.net — July 9, 2014) Darien, CT — It is time to radically change the way we look at concussion and care of the injured person who recieves a concussion. The imaging we have available in form of CT Scans and MRI show us much. But as much as it shows we still know very little of the brain itself. This has to change and here are a few suggestions that I feel will help.

 Rest after an ijury makes sense the body goes through an inflamatory process to begin the healing process. rest is essentail to allow the natural  healing progression to continue. The inflamation process can take much longer then the 72 hours most believe required to begin healing.

 Scarring is the next sequela in the healing process. Tissue will try to repair itself and it usually does a great job. The problem arises when the new tissue growth is un-organized. Since we are talking about the brain we have to give it more credence then a calf muscle. When the brain starts to form scar tissue important neuronal function can be impaired. You will want to evaluate the vestibular system to make sure balance remains intact. If the balance is off when the brain imports information through the eyes it gets a distorted information and then acts on that distorted information. Try and think of scar tissue formation as a quick fix to get through to the remodeling phase which follows and can take months if not years to complete.

 The remodeling phase is where tissue repair really begins. This process can be aided by restoring motion to the cranial bones that surround the brain. Many think of the skull as one big bone but is comprised of several bones. The bones have unique joints called sutures. If you have ever seen a skull you will notice mutliple triangulated patterns along the edges of the bones.These are the sutures. Sutures allow for movement of the cranial bones. When a cranial bones is traumatized you will loose the normal movement. The lack of motion stymies the flow of cerebral spinal fluid.

  CSF or cerebro-spinal-fluid bathes the brain in glucose rich nutrients required for brain function. The CSF also acts like a shock absorber. If the occipital bone is not moving this will put added pressure on the visual centers of the brain. The key idea is to have the cranial bones move freely as intended to especially during the remodeling phase after a concussion. Let the brain heal while being bathed by CSF. It will heal a lot faster.

  So what we do is use a special technique called Cranial – Sacral work. we actually pump CSF through the spinal column and brain allowing the damaged tissue to heal completely. We also indentify the cranial bones that are not moving and move them back into place. All of this is very effective and should be considered when a loved one has a concussion. The brain lacks the luxury of waiting and hoping it will get better. I invite questions on the topic and can be reached at the contact points listed below.

 Some will have a hard time understanding the role of chiropractic in post concussion care but would you deny your child care if they suffered from a concussion. My suggestion is to do everything possible for your loved one.