CONCUSSIONS

Concussion, also known as traumatic brain injury, is a terrible injury that is, unfortunately, becoming more common. When a person receives an acute blow to the skull, usually through a car accident or sports injury, the brain is spontaneously jarred inside the cranial vault. When this happens, it can strike against the wall of the skull and create direct damage to the brain tissue. This can include tearing of the stabilizing fibers between the brain and skull, bruising of the tissues, or tearing of arteries. What results can be widely diverse depending on which part of the brain was damaged? This can include issues such as prolonged dizziness, confusion, headaches, fuzzy vision, nausea, emotional disturbances, sleeping problems, and lack of clarity in thinking.

An injury that is strong enough to cause a concussion is also strong enough to injure the neck in varying degrees.  According to Ellis et al. (head trauma rehab 2018), if you have a neck injury with a concussion, it will take on average 10 days longer to make a clinical recovery compared to concussions without neck injury.  Additionally, it is on average 4x more likely for neck injured concussion patients to experience symptoms beyond 30 days compared to concussions without neck injury.

Any head trauma is neck trauma. Recent research shows further involvement of the cervical spine in post-concussive type injuries. The impact of a head injury will mostly affect the area of instability (upper neck).  The skull bones are fused together, so the closest articulation that is available to absorb the impact through movement is the Upper Cervical Spine.  This area is also known as the Cranio-Cervical Junction (C1 Atlas & C2 Axis vertebra). These misalignments can affect drainage of fluids out of the skull and blood flow into the brainstem, as well as cause direct pressure on nerves and other tissues. Most importantly, it will affect how the brain heals from a concussion.   

Again, any head trauma is also a neck trauma. Our Doctors at Pierce Clinic are experts in identifying these upper cervical misalignments and correcting them using the gentle, non-invasive Advanced Orthogonal (AdvO) technique. By removing the interference, the brain is able to heal as efficiently and completely as possible. This type of intervention is critical to making a complete recovery after a concussion.