Happy Monday Everyone! Can you believe it’s March already?!  With a new month comes new topics!

I had the privilege this weekend of attending a GALA for a non profit about concussion and head trauma called the Mary Seau Foundation.  Hearing testimony after testimony of head trauma cases being left to basically just deteriorate, it was hard to listen to as a provider, knowing the care I possess,  could have changed the outcome.

But, it is truly organizations like this and education that can change the paradigm in many health conditions. 

Being the brain advocate that I am, and being the awesome people you are for reading this, please share these facts and the word, especially for our youth.

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With brain/injury and trauma, there is a big misconception, that you have to be playing football, or in a major sport or even just hit your head to have a concussion or brain injury.  Many individuals I ask in my practice, usually shrug off an old concussion, hitting their head or previous car accident, as “not a major head trauma”.  Even further, birth in itself is a brain injury… think about it!  So, many symptoms we chase as adults arise from this time.

In reality, any blow to the head, whether it be a straight blow, a jolting of head movement, or just hitting your head on a bar at the playground is all form of trauma to the brain.  You see, the brain needs a veryyyyy balanced environment to be able to follow through with all the daily functions it has to do.  If that environment is not perfect, then symptoms and non optimal function precludes.

This is not just me speaking either…. Many research exists that what is called “mild traumatic brain injury”, occurs in everyday life, not just NFL. 

But first, let’s define a mild traumatic brain injury…..

The name is deceiving, because although labeled “mild” because the actual head is not cracked open, it in no way produces “mild symptoms”.  In fact, it can be debilitating for many individuals just having a mild whiplash injury from a car accident.

But, if we just look at sports, there are 1.6-3.8 million sports related concussions, 50% of those being unreported, with the incident rate increasing and 20% who lost consciousness did not see a physician or anyone for care. 

Who is the most prone?!

YOUTH.  

Ages 14-18 account for 50% of sports related concussions.  
-football
-wrestling
-girls soccer
-boys soccer
-girls basketball
-cheer (the most traumatic head injuries)

Girls are more susceptible than boys because of weaker neck musculature.

And what’s the WORST?  That youth is 3.5X more likely to get another if they have a history of one.  

A study was done with pop warner football, and found that for a team of 22 players that played for 6 games, and five practices, there were 480 head impacts, players had an average of 3.7 head impacts per game and 1.5 impacts per practice.  While 11 known concussions happened.  Study here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24529219

Scary right?  Many neurologists say that youth sports like this is literally child abuse, because their brains are still forming and the trauma can be irreversible.
We know that sports are great for team support, building character, ect.  But we ask you take a second look at what it is actually doing to children’s brains with this kind of impact.  

But again..

It’s not just sports.

A car accident for instance, where you might just have your head go back and forth a bit… You might get a little sore, but not big deal?
Well the brain is like a jello like substances, and a wave of energy goes through that is rocking back and forth.  It’s a spongy material that changes with energy passing through it.

So, even though the brain moves, the nerve cells will break when the brain hits the wall of the bones of the head.  The skull normally protects the brain, but when you get a coil and recoil, the skull now becomes a problem, and the brain hits it. 

This causes breaking to happen within the neurons of the brain.  It’s actual damage to those electrical pathways.
What happens when theirs damage?

Well, it depends on the extent, but for visual purposes I will use an anecdote that I heard this past weekend.  When you are using your cell phone and you go to an area with bad reception, it’s hard to really understand that person, they may cut in and out, ect.

The same can happen with the brain, when all the connections are not working great, that brain signal is not going to work effectively.  Which then LONG TERM, causes areas of the brain to really not function well at all.

….

The point here is to say, that no matter how MILD an impact may be to your head, it can have HUGE effects, especially in those of a growing brain. 

Symptoms associated with this disruption include:

– headache
-dizziness
-nausea
-balances problems
-fatigue
-loss of consciousness
-post traumatic amnesia
-difficulty concentrating
-memory problems
-irritability
-emotional lability
-depression
-difficulty sleeping
-sleeping more or less than usual
-drowsiness

Any of all of these can be active.  Mood is a huge one that can change through head injuries. (More on this topic next week as we compare PTSD and brain injuries)

So, I encourage you.  Ask yourself this:

Have you ever hit your head, maybe remember when you were little and did?  Had a traumatic birth as a child with head compression? Do you even know anything about your birth?  ASK!

Bumped your head on something?
Rattled your head back and forth a bit too quickly?

Do you clench your teeth?  (a sign of head trauma)?

If you answered yes, or if your child has then they have a form of brain injury!  Some are mild and can resolve, but to what extent we don’t know.  The research is just not there.

So I would say, don’t take any blow or non blow to the head LIGHTLY!  If you feel even a little off, come get craniopathy care!  This is why I’m a HUGE advocate for treating babies and children.  The sooner we can take that pressure off the brain the better.  Changing future outcomes, changing future lives…

 

 

 

The oil of the week this week is Frankincense.

Frankincense has been shown in research to help heal and negate the effects from brain injury.   This is because it is such a POWERFUL anti-inflammatory.  Take a drop on your tongue every 20 minutes after a head injury to help decrease the effects.

It is also great for any inflammatory condition, autoimmune and pain syndrome.