Our Specialities:

Concussions

Our approach to

Concussions

Concussion Subtypes & Symptoms

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Vestibular

The vestibular system involves the inner ear and associated brainstem nuclei that help your brain process where your head is in space. Symptoms may include: Poor spatial awareness, poor balance or coordination, dizziness, brain fog

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Visual / Ocular

90% of brain injured patients are expected to have at least one eye movement disorder. Symptoms may include: Motion sensitivity, double vision, blurry vision, dizziness, brain fog, and headaches

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Proprioceptive

Concussions are often caused by whiplash injuries (hitting your head is not required). Damage to the ligaments and muscles in the neck can cause symptoms such as: Neck pain, muscle tension, neck stiffness, poor balance, spontaneous "cracking" sounds when you move your neck

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Autonomic

The autonomic system controls the automatic functions of the body: heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow, digestion, and the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic states. Symptoms may include: nausea, vomiting, tachycardia/heart palpitations, lightheadedness, faintness/fainting, fatigue, or anxiety

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Cognitive

Patients with this subtype experience symptoms such as difficulty with concentration/focus, short-term memory, decision-making, communication/word-finding, and auditory processing. Mood and behavioral changes may also occur.

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Metabolic

Patients with this subtype may experience trouble managing blood sugar (propensity for spikes and crashes), struggle with fatigue/energy. Symptoms may follow a daily or monthly pattern that fluctuates with hormones. The metabolic sub-type may include digestive issues and food sensitivities.

How we evaluate

Our comprehensive examination includes a complete neurological and musculoskeletal evaluation including testing:

  • Vestibular function
  • Executive function
  • Autonomic function
  • Cranial nerves
  • Sensory systems
  • Motor/muscle strength and gait
  • Coordination
  • Objective balance and ocular testing

This thorough examination allows our doctors to determine which subtype(s) of concussion each patient has, and choose specific treatments for each individual.

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Objective Balance and Ocular Testing

Balance Assessment

The Balance Tracking System aka BTrackS™ is used to assess how the main three sensory feedback systems for balance (i.e. proprioception, vision, vestibular) are functioning relative to one another. This all-in-one solution to assess and train balance uses gold-standard force plate technology. After each test, your results are calculated and compared to over 20,000 norms to calculate percentile rankings.

Accurate and reliable results

Quick and easy to administer (~5 min)

Objective measure of postural sway

Percentile ranking categorized by age/sex

Normative data from over 20,000 trials

Dynamic Vision Testing

Your two eyes and brain must work together to navigate the world. It’s this connection that makes up your functional vision. A standard eye exam, however, only checks your eyes’ physical health and ability to focus on stationary objects — it doesn’t measure critical dynamic vision skills such as eye movement and coordination.

Signs that you may have a functional vision problem include:
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Rereading or skipping lines of print
  • Short attention span
  • Poor reading comprehension
  • Poor coordination or balance
  • Slow completion of work
  • Previous brain trauma
  • Frequent headaches

Treatment Approach

There are numerous methods to treat post-concussion syndrome, including vestibular rehabilitation, physical therapy, vision therapy, and cognitive therapy.

During your concussion recovery journey, you may have tried a few, if not all of these forms of treatment but are still experiencing symptoms.

Our individualized approach to treatment includes designing a plan where, not only do we select the appropriate therapies that will be performed, but we determine the proper amount of stimulation, and in which sequence they should be performed. This allows us to achieve greater results.

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Other services we offer:

Concussion Prevention Program

Our multifaceted concussion prevention program is designed to improve an athlete's peripheral vision and neck strength in order to decrease concussion risk.

EQ Brain Tracking App

Our clinic offers mobile concussion management EQ Active Brain Tracking app. A unique fusion of video games and neuroscience, EQ allows users to play games to track their brain activity and heal their brain injuries.

LET'S GET STARTED.

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