Treatment approaches for Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion
Assisting your recovery when traditional treatment success has stalled
Treatment approaches
In New Zealand, ACC has a dedicated rehabilitation pathway for TBI and concussion. There remains however, a disparity in what amounts to recovery.
Post concussion syndrome (symptoms lasting beyond 3 months) affects between 5 – 43% of individuals and beyond 3 months just 27% of these people will recover within a year, with no real chance after that. (i)
In children and adolescents, Swedish data (published by Oxford University) on more than 1,000,000 children and adolescents showed that even a single TBI, leads to low educational achievement, receiving welfare, disability benefits and early death (ii) with rural and the underprivileged being more at risk (iii).
Head injuries have an increased risk of the neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimers diseases.
Based on published research, our treatment approaches include Photobiomodulation and Vagus nerve stimulation.
We believe the poor outcomes of post-concussion syndrome cases deserve all we can do. At times we have achieved improvement when all else has failed. It may be that some patients require regular and ongoing treatment to retain improvements.
References: (i) Hiploylee, et al. Journal of Neurotrauma, 2016; (ii) Sariaslan, et al. PLOS Medicine, 2017; (iii) Yue,et al. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2023
What to expect in your consultation/s & treatment
1.
We will take your history and fill out a form to understand your current symptoms.
2.
Pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories and steroids are medically contraindicated. On the other hand, curcumin at the right dose is safe and highly recommended.
We treat patients with one or a number of the following:
We use VNS (vagus nerve stimulation) in TBI, as a TBI causes dysfunction (dysautonomia), of the autonomic nervous system, a situation where the sympathetic fight or flight branch overrides the braking parasympathetic system. Sympathetic dominance causes brain inflammation and has emerged as a major contributing factor in the symptomatology of mild to moderate traumatic brain injury.
Vagus nerve stimulation stimulates the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system to bring the accelerator branch – the sympathetic, back into balance.
Using photobiomodulation to:
- Remove cellular waste
- Increase brain blood flow and brain oxygenation
- Promote anti-inflammatory effects
- Promote neurogenesis (formation of new brain cells)
- Promote synaptogenesis (promotes new connections)
Inflammation control with natural supplements and anti-inflammatory dietary recommendations
Review existing diet and lifestyle choices and provide recommendations based on the latest studies which can positively influence wellness.
Upper cervical assessment. This is an area to be seriously considered as symptoms from a neck injury can overlap with other TBI symptoms.
Regarding TBI, the frequency of any reported neck pain was 68.4% at 3 days, with 41. 9 % still suffering neck pain after 45 days. This is an area to be seriously considered, especially as there can be symptom overlap.
References:
Dimitri Esterov and Brian D Greenwald. Brain Sci. (2017), 7(8), 100.
Lamb, et al. Front. Med. (2017), 4:24.
Hamblin M. R. Photobiomodulation for traumatic brain injury and stroke. Journal of neuroscience research, (2018). 96(4), 731–743.
Western diet aggravates neuronal insult in post-TBI: Shaito, et al. eBioMedicine (2020). Part of the Lancet Discovery Science.
Molecular Mechanisms of Curcumin in Neuroinflammatory Disorders: A Mini Review of Current Evidence. Hatami, et al. Immune, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders, (2019) Volume 19, Number 3.
Note: There have been 25,000 studies published in 2024 on curcumin.
Lyon Heart Study supporting Mediterranean diet: de Lorgeril, et al. (1996). JACC vol 28.
Upper cervical assessment: King, et al. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. (2019).
Further information about photobiomodulation
Photobiomodulation (aka Low Level Laser, Cold Laser or Light Therapy), improves cellular health so the body can heal. The treatment is non-invasive and drug free. There are no side-effects and it’s painless to receive, so patients of all ages are able to be treated for conditions such as Parkinson’s, Migraine, Depression and Traumatic Brain Injury (also commonly used for musculo-skeletal conditions).
When certain wavelengths of light and certain doses are applied, the light is absorbed and converted into energy. As that energy (ATP) is restored to the cell, oxidative stress is reduced and this stimulates the body’s healing response. The scientific mechanism by which this works is well understood and documented.
With over 6ooo thousand research studies published (in 2018 – one every 37 hours), this treatment is at the cutting edge of conventional therapies. The Thor unit, which we use at Bioelectronic Medicine, is the best available. Please watch the video for a deeper explanation.
Supporting your recovery in difficult to treat Post concussion syndrome
Contact Dr Paul Brunton at Bioelectronic Medicine today to book your appointment.