Each head injury is different, requiring a thorough neurological assessment and patient-orientated approach. Vestibular therapy, cognitive therapy, and craniosacral therapy are a special forms of therapy that help alleviate post concussion syndromes.
Concussions can occur when the head strikes an object, is stuck by an object, or from an acceleration/deceleration such as a car accident. These injuries cause quick shifting of delicate brain tissue within the skull. It is important to note, you do not have to experience loss of consciousness for a serious head injury or concussion to occur. If you suspect you have had a concussion, DOC providers expert concussion team can help you recover quicker.
According to current concussion therapy research, nerve signals in the brain can be disrupted for up to 30 days after a single concussion. If additional concussions occur, there will be an increase in recovery time and symptoms can worsen. Often, brain imaging does not show significant changes in the brain, but an individual may still have significant symptoms. Symptoms lasting 4 weeks after head trauma are classified as post concussion syndrome. Two days of cognitive rest is recommended according to recent studies. When you consult our concussion therapy team, we will create a completely customized treatment plan that thoroughly assesses your current state, maps out your recovery goals, and kick-starts a route to get you feeling better.
Vestibular (inner ear) or visual dysfunction occurs in 90% of individuals with head trauma. Dr. Koch, DPT and Camma Love, OTR/L, CBIS have years of experience working with individuals with various brain diagnoses. Vestibular therapy is a special form of concussion therapy that helps alleviate dizziness, gaze instability, blurry vision, balance dysfunction, or difficulty with tracking due to vestibular dysfunction.
The brain learns to compensate and use other sensory systems to substitute for deficits, but this can impair the overall recovery process.
Based on prominent studies and developments in the world of concussion therapy, it has been shown that healing occurs as the brain gets better at what it is asked to do. Each individual with a head injury or concussion is different, thus, it takes special assessment and patient-oriented approach to effectively make a difference.
These concussion therapy strategies can include habituation and adaptation exercises, gaze stabilization, balance training, and integrating functional vestibular issues.
Cognitive dysfunction occurs when there is neurochemical change or damage to the axons in the brain. Axons carry messages within the brain and if they become damaged the brain struggles to communicate. This type of damage can occur even if a person did not hit their head or lose consciousness. Cognitive therapy is a specialized therapy that helps improve a person’s cognitive or thinking abilities. These abilities include:
The difficulties each person experiences are unique to them. Camma Love works with individuals to identify and learn what methods will be most helpful to them and their lifestyles. Cognitive therapy includes an evaluation with standardized evaluation tools. These tools allow Camma to identify the areas of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. She then uses the patient’s strengths to design a treatment plan. This treatment plan uses strategies allowing the patient to practice correct functioning to improve their cognitive weaknesses. Camma applies the methods to different thinking processes and the brain improves task performance. Rehearsing the correct functions and methods re-develops and enhances neural pathways, builds compensation pathways, and improves cognitive function.
Over the years, DOC has honed an advanced approach to treating concussions and other TBIs. The medical community is starting to identify concussion better, but the management and treatment of concussion and TBI is often insufficient. DOC has taken the industry lead in providing the essential services to legitimately diagnose and address any complaints that a TBI and concussion patient often suffers from. Medical, vestibular, and cognitive specialists who work in a collaborative effort to develop an individualized treatment plan should be the standard in concussion care.
DOC Personal Injury is an official MedTrak Diagnostics Testing Center for concussions and traumatic brain injury (TBI) related to motor vehicle accidents.
VNG tests done through MedTrak Include three tests that objectively diagnose the existence of a head injury. This ‘battery of tests’ allows for diagnosis and guidance of vestibular and cognitive therapies for concussion and head injury patients.