Today sophisticated technology such as MRIs helps medical professionals identify brain injuries. Safer, more effective helmets help prevent injuries from occurring, and so does increased awareness about the serious risks involved in brain injuries among coaches, parents, teachers and athletes. Yet despite all of these advances, the actual care plans for those who suffer brain injuries hasn’t changed much.
If someone suffers a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion and visits the emergency room or a health care professional working within the traditional medical model, it’s likely they’ll receive the same type of care as every other patient with a “similar” injury. Concussion patients are often given or a prescription for pain, or advised to take over-the-counter headache remedies. They’re advised to rest and avoid putting themselves at risk for a second brain injury.
It’s very important to avoid second brain injuries, as they involve even greater risk for serious complications. Certainly, the body needs time to heal following any traumatic injury. Yet there is much more to consider when it comes to medical support for brain injury that best supports the body’s ability to heal.
When any part of the body is traumatized, normal physiology is interrupted. The body needs time and opportunity to process the trauma, and to heal from imbalances or dysfunctions that may occur in the nervous system, organs, or other systems affected by the injury throughout the body.
The best opportunity for the body to heal itself and regain normal physiology involves care that is gentle, safe and natural. Pain medications may alleviate discomfort, and immobility may seem like the best way to facilitate healing. Yet the body’s normal physiology does involve movement. Masking pain in no way addresses the source or root cause of symptoms associated with brain injuries.
Chiropractic neurology focuses on the type of support that is most likely to help the body heal in the long term, so optimal function and normal physiology can be restored. If you’ve “tried everything” and you’re still suffering with ongoing brain injury symptoms, it might be that pain medication and rest are simply not enough to facilitate full healing.
Chiropractic neurologist do not focus on short-term relief of symptoms, or take a “wait and see” approach. If you’re experiencing a discomforting symptom related to a brain injury, a chiropractic neurologist will work with the assumption that there is a solution to your problem. Natural therapies can improve things by helping you achieve gradients of improvement on the path to normal physiology and optimal health.
Chiropractic neurologists are well equipped to identify areas of the brain that may have been damaged or injured. Deep investigation into what is occurring throughout all of the body’s systems and organs provides a comprehensive overview of exactly what is going on. Therapies that assist the patient by helping the body heal itself may yield long-term results that include the relief of even very stubborn brain injury symptoms.