The most comprehensive and effective concussion care in Cherry Creek: Get back to feeling yourself and doing what you love most with The Axon Concussion Healing Program.
Welcome to Axon Integrative Health’s Concussion Rehab Program in Denver, Colorado! We are the leading concussion center in Denver and the Western United States. Our concussion specialists focus on optimizing the brain, body, and mind through a variety of evidence-based modalities designed to improve blood flow, stimulate parasympathetic tone, facilitate healing, decrease inflammation, stimulate cellular health, and encourage neuroplasticity. Whether you received your concussion from sport or from a motor vehicle accident or slip and fall – we will get you back to full function free from symptoms.
What is a Concussion?
Simply put: A concussion is a physical trauma from the brain moving within the skull, resulting in a stretching of the neuronal cell membranes.
This causes a diffuse inflammatory response triggering complex neuro-metabolic cascades and inducing an energy crisis and dysregulation of Calcium/ Potassium pumps, Glutamate metabolism, and neurotransmitter production. This can lead to blood flow dysregulations like migraine fatigue and exercise intolerance neuro-psychological effects like anxiety, physical effects like dizziness and visual disturbances, excitotoxicity effects like brain fog and inflammatory hyperresponses from the dysregulation of the blood brain barrier, gut effects like IBS from the disruption of the gut brain axis, and hormonal disturbances like menstrual and libido changes.
Concussions can also occur from a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth, without direct hit to the head.
A concussion cannot be seen on a CT scan, an MRI, Bloodwork, or any other imaging style.
Most athletes do not have loss of consciousness (knocked out) with a concussion.
Signs and symptoms of concussion can be in four areas: Physical, Cognitive/Thinking, Emotions/Mood and Energy/Sleep.
Rarely, athletes with head trauma may have a potentially life-threatening head injury such as bleeding, bruising or swelling of the brain or fracture of the skull.
*Females and Children/Teens are shown to have longer recovery times and more severe symptoms.
*Whiplash from MVA looks alot like Concussion – however is a different treatment paradigm, we at Axon also treat whiplash and can help you discern between the two.
Most Common Symptoms;
- Dizziness
- Brain Fog (not feeling yourself)
- Exercise Intolerance
- Vision disturbances
- Vestibular/ Equilibrium dysfunctions
- Migraine
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Cervical (neck) proprioceptive dysfunction
Other Signs and Symptoms of Concussion:
PHYSICAL
Headache, Nausea/Vomiting, Blurred Vision, Numbness/Tingling, Dizziness, Sensitivity to light or noise, Poor balance, Seeing “stars”, Ringing in ears, Neck pain, Vacant stare/Glassy eyed
COGNITIVE
Disorientation and/or confusion, Feeling mentally “foggy” or “slowed down”, Memory loss or difficulty remembering, Difficulty concentrating, feeling easily distracted, Slowed and/or slurred speech
EMOTIONAL
Irritability, Feeling anxious/nervous, Personality change, Sadness, Feeling more emotional, Inappropriate emotions
SLEEP/ENERGY
Drowsiness, Increased sleep, Fatigue, Trouble falling or staying asleep
Risk Factors (less force needed to cause symptoms, and a predominance of symptoms experienced)
- Poor Sleep
- Poor Exercise
- Anxiety
- Migraines
- Dysautonomia
Sports with the highest incidence of concussion:
- Hockey
- Football
- Snow Sports (skiing and snowboarding)
- Soccer
- Lacrosse
- Equestrian Sports
- Mountain Biking
Ways to Reduce the Risk of Concussion:
- Wear a mouthguard
- Strengthen Neck Muscles
- Improve Peripheral Vision Acuity and Processing
*Helmets DO NOT reduce the risk of concussion they protect against skull fracture (in fact, they increase likelihood of risk taking which could arguably increase your risk of concussion).
The Axon Concussion Healing Program
We start with a full health history conversation to understand you better.
Then we move to extensive testing to determine your specific subtype or combination of subtypes of concussion. This allows us to properly treat you rather than guessing and not being effective- like many other “concussion specialists” tend to do.
Our battery of assessments includes:
- Neurocognitive Testing
- Cranial Nerve Testing
- Cervical Spine Evaluation
- Vestibular Testing
- Autonomic Testing
- cTSIB (Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance) and BESS (Balance Error Scoring System) balance tests
- Oculomotor Testing
- VOMS (Vestibular Ocular Motor Screen)
- BTT (Buffalo Treadmill Test)
- qEEG Brain Map (qualitative ElectroEncephalogram)
Once we have completed a full assessment (sometimes taking multiple days) we will sit down and review all of your findings, educating you about your injury, and answering any and all questions.
Once we have determined your subtype of concussion then we move into treatment – a mix between in clinic treatments and at home exercise plans.
Our proprietary program incorporates a range of intensive therapies, including exercise tolerance and programing, chiropractic care, neuromodulation, oculomotor training, vestibular therapy, exposure training, mindset therapy (busy and external thoughts rather than internal symptom monitoring), photobiomodulation (red light/laser therapy), corrective exercise, sensory motor integrations, neurocognitive training, neuromuscular reeducation, IV infusion, PEMF, HBOT, metabolic interventions, applied psychology, and functional medicine. By combining these powerful methods, we aim to provide a comprehensive approach to concussion rehab that empowers patients to take control of their recovery and get back to what they love.
*Concussion Recovery is NOT linear- you will likely experience undulating symptoms througout care. A spike in symptoms does not mean a regression of care – it is simply a result of working weak areas (much like muscle soreness in resistance training)
Once we have completed care, we move into Return to Play and Return to Learn Protocols
What makes our paradigms and protocols the most effective?:
Our exercise tolerance training help to re-establish proper blood flow up to the brain to address the energy crisis involved with concussion. chiropractic care focuses on improving proper proprioception feedback in the spine and neck which can contribute to concussion symptoms if dysfucntional. We utilize neuromodulation techniques to stimulate the brain and promote healing, while red light/laser therapy is used to promote cellular health and reduce inflammation. Exposure training of busy environments helps to reintroduce things like grocery shopping and going to concerts. Neurocognitive training to support proper cognition, reaction times, executive function, and memory. Corrective exercises and sensory motor integrations are incorporated to help patients regain strength, balance, and coordination, and neuromuscular reeducation helps retrain the brain and body to work together more effectively.
In addition to these therapies, we also offer IV infusion therapy to provide essential nutrients and vitamins to the body, which can help support healing and recovery. Functional medicine is also utilized to identify and address any underlying imbalances or deficiencies that may be contributing to concussion symptoms.
Our program is designed to provide intensive therapy and support to patients who are looking to optimize their recovery and get back to their daily lives as quickly and effectively as possible. By empowering the mind and body to work together in harmony, we believe that we can help patients achieve optimal health and wellness. We work with patients from all over the US and even other countries, if you are a patient or know someone with a Concussion or TBI we can arrange for Fly-In programs.
