Concussion – causes shearing of neurons and disrupts communication
Allopathic or (typical) concussion recommendations:
- Physical and mental rest
- Relative rest, which includes limiting activities that require thinking and mental concentration, is recommended for the first two days after a concussion. However, complete rest, such as lying in a dark room and avoiding all stimuli, does not help recovery and is not recommended.
- Rest (for 1–2 days after the concussion)
- Relax at home.
- Avoid or cut down on screen time.
- Don’t drive.
- Avoid all sports and any activities (such as roughhousing with friends, or riding a bike or skateboard) that could lead to another head injury.
- Sleep
BUT what is missing from traditional concussion protocols? The REAL truth of how to heal but also tools that help in the long term and can actually improve mental function drastically.
The pituitary and growth hormones are often affected first
- It is really important to activate the pituitary gland with sacred frankincense pressed to the roof of the mouth several times a day
- Omegas also nourish the pituitary so Omegagize, Mindwise and good quality animal fats like Ghee, Grass fed butter and beef tallow.
- DHEA/Regenlogone cream applied to the neck area often
Post concussion nutrition
- Rest not the answer
- Reduce LPS, repair the gut – probiotics (life 9/Mighty Pro depending on age and detoxzyme, mightyzyme or allerzyme)
- Reduce inflammation – copaiba on the injury site topically often
- These speed up recovery
- Also provide neuroprotection
- GF, low sugar, no fried food
- Healthy fats
- Sleep habits – immupro chewables 1-2 per night
- Hydrated – with minerals (mineral essence, multigreens and or CT minerals
- No caffeine, alcohol
Carbs have a hard time getting through an inflamed blood brain barrier – ketones are smaller and can pass BBB during times of inflammation.
-exogenous ketones –
Exogenous ketone supplements provide a multitude of benefits. These include athletic performance enhancement, more efficient weight loss, cancer prevention, cognitive improvement, anti-inflammatory properties, and even healthier skin. Ketones are not intended to be a diet supplement.
- Cerebral blood flow impaired (7-10 days in)
- The brain is starved for glucose after concussion (7-10 days)- need alternative source of fuel
- Ketones can fulfill up to 70% of energy requirements***
- Ketones for any neurogenerative condition- mandatory***
- Both- keto and exogenous**
- Intermittent fasting good for neurodegenerative conditions****
Changing metabolic flexibility of tissues*
Omegas (omegagize, mindwise)
- Supports brain white matter integrity
- Grey matter volume
- Increased BDNF – The BDNF protein helps regulate synaptic plasticity, which is important for learning and memory. The BDNF protein is found in regions of the brain that control eating, drinking, and body weight; the protein likely contributes to the management of these function
- Every cell Is made up of lipids
- Makes it more gooey
High EPA and DHA blood levels could reduce the oxidative stress developed in brain due to TBI
increased DHA levels inhibit neuronal cell death
DHA more important for TBI (brain and nerves)
EPA is more for the body
DHA reduces:
- inflammation
- oxidative stress
- NT decline
- Cognitive impairment
- Apoptosis
- Axonal and neuronal damage
Magnesium (unwind for kiddos and adults, adults also mineral essence and CT minerals) *MegaCal is another great option
- Drives Mg into CSF
- Enhanced synaptic density and plasticity*
Acetyl l carnitine (only acetyl passes the blood brain barrier)
Increases levels of NTs for memory, focus, learning
Repairs brain
Glutathione (rosemary EO and sulfurzyme powder)
reduced brain tissue damage by 70%!!!!!
BDNF
Exercise, turmeric, dha, prebiotics, ketones, probiotics, ala
Why Essential Oils for the Brain? *and only Young Living for quality and purity
LESSON 2
THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER
It was thought for years that the interstitial tissues of the brain serves as a barrier to keep damaging substances from reaching the neurons of the brain and the cerebrospinal fluid.
Instead of a barrier, it would be more accurate to consider it acts as a sieve or filter through which only molecules of a certain size or smaller can pass.
Most of the molecules of the substances used in chemotherapy are too large to pass through the blood-brain filter, which is why doctors say that chemotherapy doesn’t work on brain cancer. Some of the smaller molecules get through, but not the whole suite of drugs intended.
Doctors don’t know for sure, but it seems that in order to cross the blood-brain barrier, only molecules less than 800-1000 atomic mass units (amu) in molecular weight can get through. Lipid solubility seems to be another factor which facilitates passing through the blood-brain barrier. Water soluble molecules don’t usually penetrate into brain tissue, even when very small. The molecules of essential oils are all not only small, but lipid soluble as well.
In fact, when it comes to essential oils, small molecules (less than 500 amu) are what they are made of. That is why they are aromatic. The only way for something to be aromatic is for the molecules to be so small that they readily leap into the air so they can enter our noses and be detected as odor and smell.
That is why oils for cooking or massage, such as corn, peanut, sesame seed, safflower, walnut, almond, canola, olive and other oils pressed from seeds are not aromatic. Sure, they have a smell, but you can’t smell them across the room in minutes as one can when you open a bottle of peppermint, hyssop, or cinnamon oil.
Essential oils of every species cross the blood-brain barrier.
This makes them uniquely able to address disease, not only from a physical level, but from a more basic and fundamental level-that of the emotions which are often the root cause of physical illness.
LESSON 3
A QUICK COURSE IN CHEMISTRY
Because of the tiny molecular structure of the components of an essential oil, they are extremely concentrated. One drop contains approximately 40 million-trillion molecules. Numerically that is a 4 with 19 zeros after it: 40,000,000,000,000,000,000. We have 100 trillion cells in our bodies, and that’s a lot. But one drop of essential oil contains enough molecules to cover every cell in our bodies with 40,000 molecules. Considering that it only takes one molecule of the right kind to open a receptor site and communicate with the DNA to alter cellular function, you can see why even inhaling a small amount of oil vapor can have profound effects on the body, brain, and emotions. Sometimes too many oil molecules overload the receptor sites, and they freeze up without responding at all, when a smaller amount would have been just right. This is why we say that when using oils, “sometimes less is better.” Sometimes more is better, too. Knowing the difference is the art of aromatherapy.
Essential oils are mixtures of dozens, even hundreds, of constituents, all of which are composed of carbon and hydrogen and sometimes oxygen. All essential oils are principally composed of a class of organic compounds built of “isoprene units.”
An isoprene unit is a set of five connected carbon atoms with eight hydrogens attached. Their molecular weight is only 68 amu, which is very small indeed. Molecules built of isoprene units are all classified as “terpenes.” Terpenes are what make essential oils unique in the world of natural substances.
PHENYLPROPANOIDS
Phenylpropanoids are compounds of carbon-ring molecules incorporating one isoprene unit. They are also called hemiterpenes. There are dozens of varieties of phenylpropanoids.
They are found in Clove (90%), Cassia (80%), Basil (75%),
Cinnamon (73%), Oregano (60%), Anise (50%), Peppermint (25%). While they can create conditions where unfriendly viruses and bacteria cannot live, the most important function performed by phenylpropanoids is that they clean the receptor sites on the cells. Without clean receptor sites, cells cannot communicate, and the body malfunctions, resulting in sickness.
MONOTERPENES
Monoterpenes are compounds of two isoprene units, which is ten carbon atoms and sixteen hydrogen atoms per molecule-molecular weight 136 amu. There are an estimated 2,000 varieties of monoterpenes.
Monoterpenes are found in most essential oils: Galbanum (80%), Angelica (73%), Hyssop ((70%), Rose of Sharon (54%), Peppermint (45%), Juniper (42%), Frankincense (40%), Spruce (38%), Pine (30%), Cypress (28%), and Myrtle (25%).
While offering a variety of healing properties, the most important ability of the monoterpenes is that they can reprogram miswritten information in the cellular memory. With improper coding in the DNA, cells malfunction and diseases result, including lethal ones such as cancer.
SESQUITERPENES
Sesquiterpenes are compounds of three isoprene units, which is fifteen carbons and twenty-four hydrogens per molecule- molecular weight 204 amu. There are more than 10,000 kinds of sesquiterpenes. Sesquiterpenes are the principal constituents of Cedarwood (98%), Vetiver (97%), Spikenard (93%), Sandalwood (Aloes) 90%, Black Pepper (74%), Patchouli (71%), Myrrh (62%), and Ginger (59%). They are also found in Galbanum, Onycha,
and Frankincense (8%).
Sesquiterpene molecules deliver oxygen molecules to cells, like hemoglobin does in the blood. Sesquiterpenes can also erase or deprogram miswritten codes in the DNA. Sesquiterpenes are thought to be especially effective in fighting cancer because the root problem with a cancer cell is that it contains misinformation, and sesquiterpenes can erase that garbled information. At the same time the oxygen carried by sesquiterpene molecules creates an environment where cancer cells can’t reproduce.
Hence, sesquiterpenes deliver cancer cells a double punch-one that disables their coded misbehavior and a second that stops their growth.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has said that if they could find an agent that would pass the blood-brain barrier, they would be able to find cures for ailments such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Such agents already exist and have been available since Biblical times. The agents, of course, are essential oils-particularly those containing the brain oxygenating molecules of sesquiterpenes.
THE TRIPLE WHAMMY
The big triple punch combination of “PMS” (Phenylpropanoids, Monoterpenes, and Sesquiterpenes) found in essential oils is very powerful in addressing many illnesses, injuries, and disease conditions. That is because this combination offers the following:
First, you clean the receptor sites allowing the proper transfer of hormones, peptides, neurotransmitters, steroids, and other intracellular messengers. (The Phenylpropanoids do that.)
Second, you deprogram or erase the wrong information from cellular memory stored in the DNA. (The Sesquiterpenes take care of that.)
Third, you reprogram the cells with the correct information so they can function properly. (The Monoterpenes do this.)
These three classes of chemical components are why essential oils can sometimes affect a healing that is nearly instant and also permanent. What they simply do is to restore the body back to its natural state of balance and health. While a specific oil may have one or two of these three classes of compounds as its predominant chemistry, all the Biblical oils contain some of all of them. This is one secret to their amazing healing abilities.
Frankincense or Sacred Frankincense can be used to treat brain injury patients because it has anti-anxiety effects and reduces inflammation and nausea. However, its primary benefit is that it delivers oxygen molecules directly to cells. They can also pass through the blood-brain barrier, which means they bring more oxygen to damaged brain cells. In fact, research has shown that when frankincense is used on an animal with a brain injury it can prevent further damage while also boosting brain function.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3294134/
Acute concussion protocol – 2 weeks
- Keto diet
- Mct oil
- Exogenous ketones
- Creatine 20 g
- Omega – 6g 1 week, 3 g after
- ALA 1200 mg
- Spms – 2250 mg/day (specialized pro- resolving mediators)- metagenics has this*
- D3- 10k day
- Mag threonate 2g
- Turmeric 1g (Golden turmeric is an amazing option here for the oils in it as well)
And Hyperbaric Oxygen ASAP. I cannot stress enough how much this matters. Typical will be 3 dives a week for several weeks totaling up to 20 ish. To find a local place you can begin by googling “hyperbaric oxygen”. You may need to make a drive depending on where you live but even a week of HBOT will make a difference.
If you are in Colorado or near Newport Beach California I recommend https://www.mcwhortercnr.com/
We cannot forget about the emotional trauma that has occurred both for the athlete (or person) and the caregiver/parent. Releasing this is just as important as the physical tools. Do not ignore the emotional imprinting that occurs on the DNA itself..
How Do You Calm Down the Parasympathetic Nervous System?
Meditation and progressive relaxation.
Identifying and focusing on a word that you find peaceful or calming.
Exercise, yoga, tai chi, and similar activities.
Spending time in a serene natural place.
Deep breathing.
Play! Play with your kiddos and pets and get silly
QUICK RECAP of what we do IMMEDIATELY with a concussion
- Immediately apply copious amounts of frankincense (I only use and trust YL), cedarwood and helichrysum essential oil to the brain via the brain stem, top of the head, neck and big toe. Apply often and you will most likely go thru a few bottles depending on the severity
- Gut health – increase probiotics, life 9 or mightypro as the brain is feeding off the gut
- If nauseous apply digize to the lower belly
- Omegagize or mindwise 2-3x a day
- Increase good fats and lower carbs – Ghee, Grass fed butter, avocado oil, beef tallow
- Get into HBOT within a day/24 hours
- Magensium (also epsom salt baths)
- Longevity softgels (2-4)
- Raw Camel Milk (for the gut)
- Immupro at night for sleep and repair
- Super D
- Super B
- Rosemary EO topically on the head and feet
- Sulfurzyme powder
Gyrostim (vestibular therapy)
The sensorimotor system is what enables the body to understand and respond to the world around you. The speed at which your brain can receive sensory information, interpret that information and respond with motor, verbal, or cognitive output is constantly in flux based on the health of your sensorimotor system. GyroStim is a one-of-a-kind training system that challenges the functionality of your sensorimotor system to help you perform better.
What Is GyroStim?
When the daughter of the GyroStim inventor, Kevin Maher, was prescribed a vestibular training routine that included hundreds of chair spins, log rolls, and somersaults on a daily basis to support her therapies for spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, Maher thought to himself: “There has to be a better way.” Leveraging 25 years of experience in robotics engineering, Maher developed a rotating chair that could spin on both axes.
Initially, GyroStim provided passive vestibular stimulation. Simply put, there was no interaction in the original design of the GyroStim. After seeing the results from the original design, Maher hypothesized that an additional interactive element would add benefits to the GyroStim therapy experience. These additions to the GyroStim model transformed the experience from exclusively providing vestibular stimulation, to a full-fledged performance enhancement therapy that targets the sensorimotor system. Today, the chair is paired with a laser-targeted program that collects data to refine the training protocol that challenges function and performance.
How Does GyroStim Work?
GyroStim is unique in its facilitation of a dynamic environment for brain training that synchronizes and improves the brain’s cognitive processing and reaction time. When you do GyroStim, you’ll start slow – at or below your current processing rate. Patients will not invert immediately so as to prevent over-stimulation.
While these rotations, or runs, are happening, you’ll use a laser to hit targets as they come into your field of vision. The GyroStim will collect this data and adapt to your performance level to continuously challenge you as your skill level improves. A typical GyroStim session will last about 30 minutes total, with runs lasting 30-60 seconds each time.
Who Should Try GyroStim?
GyroStim can come into play in a number of different circumstances. From injury recovery to performance enhancement, this innovative training challenges your sensorimotor system to achieve results.
GyroStim + Injury Recovery
If you’ve experienced a concussion, traumatic brain injury or another neurological condition and are struggling through the recovery process, you may want to consider looking into GyroStim. This training solution is highly beneficial for those who need the support of vestibular stimulation that simultaneously challenges the sensorimotor system to regain lost function that occurred as a result of an injury.
GyroStim + Performance Enhancement
In addition to treating chronic symptoms and supporting recovery efforts, GyroStim is also a popular method for improving athletic performance. The focus of this therapy is to improve processing and reaction time. With both of those elements being essential to performance, this concentrated focus on pushing mental and physical barriers can take the athletic ability to the next level in no time.
What Are The Benefits Of Gyrostim?
Experiencing GyroStim has a number of health benefits that you can’t get anywhere else. This innovative treatment can:
- Improve balance
- Support brain performance
- Increase reaction speed
- Improve interaction between different functional regions within the brain
- Reduce headaches and migraines
- And much more
GyroStim targets the most basic
HBOT (Hyperbaric oxygen treatment)
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has become an increasingly popular therapy option in health and wellness circles. The trendiness of this particular therapy sometimes overshadows the very real benefits that patients can experience with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)?
HBOT involves breathing normally in a highly pressurized room or chamber. The nature of this room means the lungs are able to take in much more oxygen than you would be capable of doing with normal air pressure. This increases the flow of oxygenated blood which, in turn, promotes the natural healing and detoxification of diseased tissues. In addition, this process also stimulates the release of stem cells to help support your healing process. All in all, HBOT supports the body’s natural ability to heal itself.
HBOT can seem intimidating at first, but it’s simpler to understand than one may think. There are two different ways to experience hyperbaric oxygen therapy: a monoplace chamber and a multiplace chamber. At McWhorter CNR, we utilize what is called a monoplace chamber. This means the hyperbaric chamber is designed for one person. The chamber looks similar to an MRI machine, giving you just enough room to lie down comfortably.
The key difference between HBOT in a monoplace chamber and a multiplace chamber is that a multiplace chamber requires you to breathe pure oxygen through a mask. Alternatively, a monoplace chamber seals itself so that the pure oxygen fills the chamber and you can breathe normally as if you were in a regular room.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy usually lasts roughly 1 hour. The number of treatments you’ll need can vary widely and will depend on the specific condition that is being treated.
Who Should Try HBOT?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be an instrumental treatment for a variety of different conditions that range in scale and severity. HBOT became more widely recognized for the role it can play in helping patients recover from decompression sickness, which can happen when scuba diving, however, HBOT is still a key therapy for countless other problems that many patients may face.
HBOT + Physical Healing
Serious infections and wounds that won’t heal are common reasons to consider hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The nature of HBOT lends itself to healing by increasing the volume of highly-oxygenated blood that’s flowing through the body. The high air pressure and increased amount of oxygen play a key role in stimulating the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
HBOT + Brain and Sports Injuries
Much like exterior wounds that won’t heal, your brain can also be incredibly slow to recover from a traumatic injury, like a concussion. Your joints and soft tissue can suffer from this same extended healing. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can streamline the recovery process by increasing oxygen in the bloodstream to promote innate healing.
HBOT can also be instrumental in treating a variety of other conditions, including:
- Arthritis
- Crush injuries
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
Both the brain and the body stand to benefit greatly from an increased oxygen flow through the bloodstream thanks to HBOT. For some conditions, HBOT alone can restore the body to ideal function. For other conditions, your hyperbaric oxygen therapy should be applied in conjunction with other treatments to provide the best results.
What Are The Benefits Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers plenty of benefits from workout recovery to improved brain health. This improved blood flow helps your body operate more efficiently and recover from injuries with less downtime.
DynaVision
Athletic performance is as much physical as it is mental. After a certain amount of practicing, strength training, and flexibility work, you’ll be pushing the limits of your physical capabilities. In order to take that next step toward improving your performance, you have to dig deeper and start training at the most basic biological level: your brain. This is where DynaVision D2 comes into play for athletes who want to push beyond their physical limits to improve their athletic abilities.
What Is DynaVision D2?
DynaVision is a light-training device that focuses on reaction to visual stimuli to improve sensory-motor skills. Simply put, the DynaVision light board will trigger a stimulus for the participant to process and react to. Often, you’ll be asked to hit switches when you see a light come on. As the training progresses, the tasks will get more complex so that you can push the cognitive boundaries to improve your processing and reaction speeds. The entire process is measured and recorded to provide both the participant and the trainer with quantitative data that can be used to direct a treatment and training protocol to move forward and achieve specific goals.
How Does DynaVision Work?
DynaVision D2, will be assessing the participants’ ability to:
- React to various stimuli
- Proactively track stimuli
- Facilitate efficient cognitive processing
- Establish peripheral awareness
- Make smart decisions in a timely manner
All of these elements make a big difference in athletic performance and DynaVision D2 is one of the only vision reaction training systems that operates the way it does to increase the degree of focus and facilitate the streamlined cognitive processing that produces proactive and reactive behaviors that contribute to better performance.
DynaVision For More Than Athletic Performance
DynaVision is widely renowned in athletic circles. It leverages the benefits of DynaVision in his treatment of UFC fighters, as well as NBA, NFL, and NHL players. DynaVision is also highly beneficial for amateur athletes who want to take their game to the next level as they work toward scholarship opportunities or a chance at the pros.
While DynaVision is becoming a standard practice for athletes looking to improve their performance, the benefits of DynaVision training can be applied to a number of other different scenarios. In particular, DynaVision has been recognized as an instrumental tool to be used in concussion and stroke recovery.
DynaVision + Stroke Recovery
A stroke occurs because blood flow to a specific part of the brain is cut off. In some cases, the side effects of a stroke are relatively minor, but in others the effects can be catastrophic. Regardless of the level of physical impact that a stroke has on a patient, DynaVision can support the cognitive recovery from the medical emergency and help a patient regain some semblance of normalcy as they return to their everyday life.
DynaVision + Concussion Recovery
The DynaVision D2 board can be programmed to aid in concussion recovery, as well. By nature, DynaVision lends itself to be beneficial to patients overcoming the side effects of a concussion. The protocol helps improve cognitive processing speed and capabilities, hand-eye coordination, motor performance, and general awareness, all of which can be impaired by a concussion.
Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback is the quintessential drug-free treatment for any and all mental health conditions. When your brain has been affected – whether by injury or imbalance – the rest of your body suffers.
What Is Neurofeedback?
Neurofeedback is not unlike any other kind of training you may participate in to break a bad habit or build a new skill. The key differentiator for neurofeedback is that it is designed specifically for your brain. The purpose of this therapy is to bring subconscious reactions into your awareness so that you have more control over your desirable and undesirable behaviors in response to specific stimuli.
The process for neurofeedback features a qEEG brain map that will analyze neurological pathways in your brain that may be over or under-performing. The qEEG scan provides a road map for your clinician to base your neurofeedback therapy around. This means it is a completely customized therapy that can be used to address symptoms of mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression, as well as supporting recovery from accidents and injuries that can occur from concussions or strokes.
Neurofeedback uses a positive feedback system, much like the system of Pavlov’s infamous experiment, to help you mitigate any unwanted responses to specific stimuli – like feeling anxious and nervous in a room full of people. The positive reinforcement used in neurofeedback therapy also supports the continued improvement of positive behaviors – like fast reactions to a ball being passed on the field.
Look for Neurofeedback that is well versed in:
- Amplitude Training
- Low-Frequency Training
- Z-Score Training
- Coherence Training
- Referential Training
- Alpha/Theta Training
- Synchrony Training
Who Should Consider Neurofeedback?
Neurofeedback is a widely applicable treatment option that supports countless conditions and goals. From performance enhancement to TBI recovery, neurofeedback can play a strategic role.
Neurofeedback + Performance Enhancement
Neurofeedback helps you identify both your physical and cognitive strengths and weaknesses. The very nature of this awareness lends itself to improved physical and mental performance. Whether you’re a professional athlete working to improve specific skills, such as reaction time, or you’re an executive in a corporate setting who wants to be more efficient in the office, neurofeedback ensures your brain and body work together to support your ability to perform.
Neurofeedback + Mental Health Support
Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are becoming more and more prevalent today. Our lifestyles are becoming increasingly more demanding and stressful, which means we require expert management of our emotions in order to thrive. Many individuals struggle to cope with new and stressful situations, which is where neurofeedback can be highly beneficial.
