Month: March 2017

There continues to be a rising concern about concussion, not only in the NFL but also among children’s and adolescents’ sports. High school athletes’ concussion rates have risen 200% in the past decade.  Here are some interesting and alarming sports concussion statistics:

• 3,800,000 concussions reported in 2012, double what was reported in 2002
• 33% of all sports concussions happen at practice
• 39% — the amount by which cumulative concussions are shown to increase catastrophic head injury leading to permanent neurological disability
• 47% of all reported sports concussions occur during high school football
• 1 in 5 high school athletes will sustain a sports concussion during the season
• 33% of high school athletes who have a sports concussion report two or more in the same year
• 4 to 5 million concussions occur annually, with rising numbers among middle school athletes
• 90% of most diagnosed concussions do not involve a loss of consciousness
• An estimated 5.3 million Americans live with a traumatic brain injury-related disability (CDC)

Football is not the only sport where this is happening. Following right behind football is boys’ ice hockey and lacrosse, then girls’ soccer and lacrosse.

Fortunately, new therapies have proved extremely effective for recovery from a concussion, otherwise known as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). One of these is LED Light Therapy.

LED Light Therapy increases blood flow in the brain, as shown on MRI scans.  It also appears to have an effect on damaged brain cells, specifically on their mitochondria (the cell’s power house for energy).  These are bean-shaped sub-units within the cell that put out energy in the form of a chemical known as ATP.  The red and near-infrared light photons penetrate through the skull and into brain cells and spur the mitochondria to produce more ATP.

The clinical treatment result is that patients experience significant reduction in their symptoms of TBI, such as headache, sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, mood swings, irritability, impulsivity, anxiety, and balance problems.  Patients have been able to return to work and repair their relationships with loved ones.  They found improvement in neurological function based on functional brain scans.

You can find this LED Light Therapy at Living Well Health & Wellness.  Clients are able to get back to school or work quickly after their LED Light Therapy and once again living normal, fulfilling lives. There is actually a HEAD HARNESS designed to specifically address the symptoms caused by TBI. Embedded in the head harness are near-infrared and red LED lights, which penetrate the skull to bring quick relief of symptoms and recovery from the condition.

Even if your TBI occurred years ago, you can still benefit greatly.  Call our office at 972-930-0260 to find out more or to schedule a therapeutic session for you or your child.