Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion happens from a powerful movement to one’s head. Traffic accidents, playing sports and every day slips and falls are all sources of concussions. Brain injuries affect different people in different ways resulting in a great deal of subjectivity in diagnoses and treatment.
Symptoms can range from very mild and temporary to severe long-lasting and debilitating. MRI and CT scans are often normal and symptoms can be delayed confounding a proper diagnosis. Patients can manifest a variety of symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, headache, nausea, insomnia, memory deficits, concentration issues, mental and emotional changes and sensitivity to light and noise. These post-concussion symptoms can persist affecting one’s return to normal life. Anyone that has experienced long lasting symptoms from the injury can attest that the symptoms can be life altering.
How can we help as Naturopathic Doctors?
At The Nardella Clinic we have extensive experience treating post-concussion syndrome using hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We have seen patients regain their professional and personal lives after treatment programs. The number treatments vary for each patient depending upon the severity, the frequency of injury and the length of time since the injury. As few as five to a many as sixty hyperbaric oxygen treatments have been successful in individual patient circumstances.
Many studies have reported that mild traumatic injury patient’s noted significant improvement in executive cognitive function and quality of life on standardized testing after hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Improvements even happen many years after injury. These positive results are attributable to hyperbaric oxygen inducing neuroplasticity allowing for repair of damaged brain tissue. In studies where SPECT scan imaging was used, it confirmed that there was increased brain activity after the treatments. Below are links to several articles and a presentation by Dr. Shai Efrati about mild traumatic brain injury and hyperbaric medicine at Tel Aviv University.
- The Brain Therapeutic Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen
- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Can Induce Angiogenesis and Regeneration of Nerve Fibers in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients
- Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on chronic neurocognitive deficits of post-traumatic brain injury patients: retrospective analysis
- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Can Improve Post-Concussion Syndrome Years after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury – Randomized Prospective Trial
