concussion prevention san diego
Concussion Prevention Program
Our multifaceted concussion prevention program is designed to improve an athlete’s hand-eye coordination, reaction time, peripheral vision as well as neck strength, flexibility, and mobility in order to decrease concussion risk. The Oculus Brain Centers Concussion Prevention Program is centered around the Iron Neck Pro device and the Neuro Sensorimotor Integrator.
concussion prevention san diego
Iron Neck Pro
Founded on research that identifies neck strength as a way to reduce concussion risk... "For every 1 lb. increase in neck strength, odds of concussion decrease by 5%"... Iron Neck training is the most effective way to reduce the effects of whiplash forces to the head.
Neuro Sensorimotor Integrator
Using a 50 inch HD TV and touch screen, the NSI is designed to offer a host of therapy procedures to a wide range of patients requiring visual or neuro therapy. Concussion prevention patients will be focusing on peripheral vision training, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination.
concussion prevention san diego
Why is the neck so important?
Connecting the head to the body, the neck acts as the primary shock absorber. To help decrease the magnitude of forceful impact, muscles need to rapidly contract at the instant that the impact occurs. Isotonic neck strengthening alone is not sufficient to enhance the head-neck dynamic restraint mechanism. (Mansell et al 2005)
“As the head rocks back and forth, it’s also twisting a little on the brain stem, and it’s those accelerative and rotational forces as the brain is impacting inside the skull that are really what’s causing these concussions. A stronger neck means you’re reducing those accelerations and rotational forces.” (Dawn Comstock, Colorado School of Public Health)
Dynamic loads, especially angular acceleration, have been shown to be the common cause of head injury. Rotation, particularly in the coronal plane, appears to most often precipitate loss of consciousness. (Scorza et al 2012)
How does the Iron Neck help?
Anticipatory muscle activation plays a dominant role on impact outcomes. Increased neck strength can decrease the time to compress the neck. (Jin et al 2017).
In 2014, the Journal of Primary Prevention published a study that tracked 6700 high school athletes in boys’ and girls’ soccer, basketball and lacrosse over a 2.5 year period. Researchers captured anthropometric measurements, concussion incidents and athletic exposure data and found “for every one pound increased in neck strength, odds of concussion decreased by 5%.”
The key to decreasing concussion risk is training the neck to move in the planes/directions that the neck is most vulnerable. This is why Iron Neck exercises include rotational and angular movements.
How are male and female athletes different?
Male neck strength is twice that of female athletes!
Smaller mean neck circumference, smaller mean neck to head circumference ratio, and weaker mean overall neck strength were significantly associated with concussion. (Collins et al 2014)
Anatomically, females have longer, thinner necks. Research shows that weaker necks are more prone to whiplash and is believed to be a primary cause of higher rates of concussion in female athletes. (Schallmo et al 2017)
