Do you still struggle with symptoms from a head injury that should have resolved a long time ago?

After receiving head trauma or sudden rapid movement of the head that injures the brain (i.e. whiplash), also known as a concussion, we can experience a wide range of symptoms.

Potential Persistent Symptoms include:

  • Headaches and neck pain
  • Sound and light sensitivity
  • Loss of balance
  • Blurred vision
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Difficulty with multi tasking

There can be multiple reasons to why symptoms continue to persist.

  • the brain hasn’t fully healed
  • contributing factors/problems around the head, neck, and shoulders have not fully resolved
  • the tolerance to different stimuli is low, resulting in the above symptoms

What are some strategies that can be used to allow for symptom relief?

Depending on the sensitivity, different strategies can be used.

For Example:

  • Light Sensitivity: wear sunglasses, dim the lights, lower the computer brightness
  • Sound sensitivity: wear earplugs in loud areas, or plug your ears with your fingers
  • Headaches: Stretches or massaging the back of the neck at the base of the skull
  • Multi-tasking: choose a maximum of 1-2 tasks to focus on at one time.

While these strategies can provide symptom relief, they are only temporary. In order to eliminate the symptoms, the root causes must be identified. This is followed by a structured program that works to clear out the dysfunctions and restore tolerance to the body.

Examples of therapy include:

  • Re-training of your visual system/eyes
  • Re-training of your vestibular/balancing system
  • Threshold training to sound
  • Joint mobilizations and soft tissue therapy around the neck, head, and shoulders

3 Sensory Tests/exercises are being performed to challenge the brain.

1) movement of the head while standing on an unstable surface to challenge the vestibular/inner ear system;

2) movement of the head, while maintaining focus on an object with the eyes;

3) building increased tolerance to loud sounds at a high frequency

At Movement Performance Centre, we can help you get back on track and return to normal living. Come in and discuss with us personally to see how we assess and can help you with your symptoms. 

Author: Zachary Hum MScPT BAKin