Amazing Spine Care in Jacksonville, FL, treats concussions with chiropractors and medical providers who coordinate your care. A concussion evaluation checks your symptoms, memory and concentration, balance, and neck. Because the same impact that shakes the brain often strains the neck, we examine both at your first visit. According to the CDC’s list of danger signs, anyone with a worsening headache, repeated vomiting, slurred speech, seizures, or loss of consciousness after a head injury needs emergency care first.
Concussions can occur as a result of a:
- Car accident
- Military hazard
- Fall
- Contact sports injury
Fluid inside your skull cushions your brain and helps absorb direct blows. A concussion happens when a blow or jolt moves the head so fast that the brain bounces or twists inside that cushion, causing chemical changes that affect how the brain works for a time.
After a crash, our car accident chiropractor in Jacksonville checks for a concussion alongside whiplash and other neck injuries. Under Florida’s 14-day rule, getting evaluated within 14 days of the crash keeps your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) medical benefits available.
To ask how treatment could help your symptoms, contact our Jacksonville concussion treatment team at (904) 320-0808 today.
Common Concussion Signs and Symptoms
The CDC sorts concussion symptoms into four groups. Thinking and memory symptoms include mental fogginess, confusion, trouble concentrating, and amnesia about the injury. Physical symptoms include headache, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, extreme fatigue, and sensitivity to noise and light. Mood changes can show up as irritability, sadness, anxiety, or personality changes that family members often notice first. Sleep may change too, with some people sleeping much more than usual and others struggling to fall asleep.
A person can have a concussion without ever losing consciousness. Some symptoms don’t appear until hours after the injury, or until you try to concentrate at work or school. Lingering head pain can come from the concussion itself or from neck and jaw muscles strained in the same impact. Any of these symptoms after a blow to the head is a reason to get evaluated, even when you feel mostly fine.
Concussion Recovery and Post-Concussion Syndrome
According to the CDC, most people with a concussion return to work, school, and their usual activities within a few days to a few weeks. Recovery can take longer for older adults, young children, and anyone who has had a concussion before.
The first day or two usually call for rest. After that, the CDC recommends easing back into light activity, such as a short walk, even with mild symptoms. Pushing back into demanding work, screens, or sports too quickly can make symptoms worse. Our providers bring activity back in steps as your symptoms allow and help you judge when it’s safe to drive or return to work.
Some people develop post-concussion syndrome, a set of symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and trouble concentrating that lasts for months after the injury. If symptoms don’t improve within two to three weeks or get worse once you return to normal activities, the CDC advises seeing a provider. At that point, a follow-up visit checks whether the brain injury, a neck injury, or both are keeping your symptoms going.
How Chiropractic Care Helps After a Concussion
Accidents that cause concussions often injure the upper cervical spine as well, leading to neck pain, stiffness, headaches, or numbness in the arms. In a car crash, the rapid back-and-forth motion behind whiplash can cause both injuries at once. Researchers at the University at Buffalo, writing in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, found that neck injuries and concussions share symptoms such as headache and dizziness, making the two hard to tell apart from symptoms alone.
Dr. Michael Miller, D.C., C.C.S.P., a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician with postgraduate training in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and whiplash, is Amazing Spine Care’s mTBI specialist.
Your chiropractor examines your neck and spine for tenderness, muscle spasms, and limited range of motion, ordering imaging such as X-rays when the exam calls for it. From there, the two of you build a plan that may include gentle chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue work for tight neck and shoulder muscles, and exercises that restore comfortable movement. How much neck care helps depends on the injury. Your chiropractor reassesses your progress regularly and adjusts the plan as symptoms change.
For the brain injury itself, our chiropractors work alongside our medical providers, who handle medical screenings and refer you to a neurologist or other specialist when your symptoms need one.
Get Concussion Care at Amazing Spine Care in Jacksonville, FL
At Amazing Spine Care, our team of chiropractors and medical providers evaluates the brain injury and the neck together, giving you one plan for both from the first visit. Our care builds on a 50-year community legacy that traces back to the Amunategui Chiropractic merger. Same-day appointments are available at our seven Florida offices, including four in Jacksonville, with care in five languages: English, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Kreyòl. If you think you’ve had a concussion, an early evaluation means you start your recovery knowing what’s been injured and what to do next.
Call (904) 320-0808 or request an appointment online to start with our current $125 New Patient Special.
