Functional Neurology
Many people have never heard of functional neurology, let alone understand how it works to improve an individual’s health and quality of life.
You might find yourself wondering what functional neurology is and how it can help you. Simply put, functional neurology uses specific, non-invasive treatment procedures to rehabilitate nerve cells.
Functional neurology treatments usually target specific areas of the nervous system as the nervous system is directly responsible for coordinating and balancing all other areas of the body. If there is an imbalance in your nervous system, your physical and mental health can be thrown off and you can suffer the consequences. By managing and balancing the nervous system, balance can be restored in other body systems and health often improves.
Functional neurology, sometimes referred to as chiropractic neurology, is a health care specialty focused on the assessment, quantification, and rehabilitation of the human nervous system, using evidence-based sensory and cognitive based therapies, to promote neuroplasticity, integrity, and functional optimization. Functional neurology uses neurological based rehabilitation strategies aimed to manipulate the cells and connections of specific areas of the nervous system. For many years, it was commonly believed that the brain did not change after maturity. Breakthroughs in neuroscience have since revealed that the brain is able to change and learn throughout one’s entire life, including after an injury or disease process. This ability of the brain to change in structure and function is referred to as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the foundation of how functional neurology works. Activation of the brain influences multiple neurotransmitter systems and promotes not only new connections within the brain and spinal cord, but also leads to the creation of new neurons and blood vessels in the brain and spinal cord. Dr. Savage will prescribe therapies in a very specific manner in order to get the best possible outcome for you.
How does functional neurology work?
Functional neurology treatments begin with a thorough examination to discover the location, type, and severity of the neurological imbalance. Additionally, the doctor will seek to understand the root cause of the imbalance and resultant symptoms. A medical neurologist will typically use drugs or surgery to treat abnormal nerve function. A functional neurologist will typically use physical non-invasive stimuli to restore or improve nerve function. Examples include the following:
- Specific eye movements: Pursuits, saccades, optokinetic reflex
- Vestibular activation, head movements to stimulate specific inner ear structures: Semicircular canals and otoliths
- Sensorimotor stimulation, such as the Interactive Metronome, to improve response time to visual and auditory cues
- Balance therapy: Force plate exercises and vestibular rehabilitation therapy
- Neurologically specific exercises, adjustments, and muscle balancing manual therapy
What conditions can be treated with functional neurology?
It’s important that patients receiving functional neurology treatments understand that functional neurology is still viewed as a natural, holistic method of therapy and doesn’t claim to cure any illness or disease. Despite not being the total cure for various illnesses, functional neurology has been known to help individuals suffering from vertigo and other balance disorders, concussion, mild traumatic brain injury, post-concussion symptoms, early Parkinson's symptoms, early Alzheimer's symptoms, neurobehavioral and neuroacademic dysfunction, dystonia, chronic migraines and headaches, spinal stenosis, tremor disorders, and peripheral neuropathy.
These are just a few of the vast number of conditions that functional neurological has been known to help. While functional neurology might not be the end-all cure for these conditions, it has been known to reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life of individuals suffering from these conditions.
Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a health-care profession that focuses on the spine and other joints of the body, and their connection to the nervous system. The word “chiropractic” means “to be done by hand.” Chiropractors use adjustments to both restore joint function and support the nervous system. They help patients maintain optimal health while avoiding unnecessary drugs or surgery. An estimated 50 million Americans see a chiropractor each year. A chiropractic adjustment is a very safe, specific, controlled force applied to a joint to restore proper function and mobility. An adjusting tool can also be used for gentle and specific adjusting and spinal joint stimulation. Accidents, falls, stress, overexertion, even gravity itself can negatively impact your spine or other joints. These changes impact tissues, the nervous system and other areas of the body. Left unresolved, this can make you more susceptible to chronic problems. Chiropractic adjustments reduce pain, increase movement and improve performance. During your chiropractic adjustments, you may or may not hear a "pop" sound from the joints.
Laser Therapy
Laser is light amplification at specific wavelengths that have been scientifically proven to create healing properties in human cells. Like a plant cell uses sunlight for growth and health, human cells have been shown to respond to light in a similar way. There are heavily researched wavelengths and doses of laser light that have been shown to be the most therapeutic and safest. Research demonstrates that lasers in the range of 630 – 830 nM and doses levels ranging from 0.5 – 10 J/cm2 to be the ideal “sweet spot” for optimal health benefits. This is the reason why Savage Wellness only uses lasers that meet these specific requirements. When used in the ranges mentioned above lasers are one of the safest devices currently used in healthcare. They are non-ionizing, non-thermal, non-invasive, non-toxic applications so you don’t receive any harmful byproducts. When lasers get too powerful they serve a different purpose, such as surgical lasers. The only tissues that class 2 lasers are contraindicated with are directly onto the retina.
Research has shown lasers to be helpful in almost every tissue of the human body including brain, muscle, bone, cartilage and ligaments. They stimulate nerve function and growth, decrease pain, decrease inflammation, stimulate anti-oxidant pathways, promote wound healing, decrease scar tissue formation, increase blood flow, stimulate new blood flow and speed up recovery time in almost every injury. Lasers have been shown to be safer and more effective than many drugs and surgeries. Cold laser does not give any perception. The only sensory perception the patient has is if the laser is used with other modalities like electrical stimulation.
What are the differences between lasers and regular red light sources? Although red light does range in the same wavelengths as cold laser, it is just scattered photons of energy that aren’t easily absorbed into the body. Red light therapies like infrared do have some therapeutic value on the surface (like burn healing) but don’t have penetration and downstream tissue effects like parallel, coherent waves from true laser diodes.
Lasers can either be used as a stand-alone or used in conjunction with other modalities and therapies. Because of our vast scope of therapies and conditions we treat, you will receive various treatments based on what your needs and exam findings show. If it is indicated that you only need laser therapy, it will be provided by itself.
Brain Wave Entrainment & Biofeedback
The science behind the brain wave entrainment technology relies on four key elements:
1. Binaural Beats
When two different tones, separated in frequency by only a few Hertz, are introduced — one in each ear — the brain perceives a third, unique tone. Binaural beats work by creating this phantom frequency, which the brain then mimics. For example, if we play a 220 Hz carrier tone into the left ear and a 226.5 Hz carrier tone into the right ear, your brain perceives the difference between the two, which is a subtle beat frequency of 6.5 Hz, the same frequency associated with deep, meditative states. Your brain naturally follows this frequency, and you experience this deeply relaxed state.
2. Guided Visualization
In general, the visual imagery process involves the individual setting aside a period for relaxation, during which he or she contemplates mental images depicting a desired result or goal. This exercise is done during spoken-word sessions to help the listener envision a consistent image (either literal or symbolic) of the results desired from the session. Visualization has been studied for decades, having been shown to have the power to affect mental states, improve physical and athletic performance and even heal the body.
3. 10-Cycle Holographic Music
Another aid to the guided meditation is 10-cycle holographic music, which is a sonic technology that produces a 360-degree sound environment. In this sonic environment, the visualizations become more real to the mind, helping the user take full advantage of the power of the visualizations by creating a more receptive learning state.
4. Isochronic Tones
Isochronic tones are equal intensity pulses of sound separated by an interval of silence. They turn on and off rapidly, but the speed depends on the desired brain frequency. The discrete nature of isochronic tones makes them particularly easy for the brain to follow. While binaural beats rely on balanced hearing in both ears, isochronic tones work effectively for nearly everyone, except for someone with complete hearing loss.
Relax, find calm, and stay focused with our biofeedback device, which uses advanced signal processing to interpret your mental activity to help guide you. When your mind is calm and settled, you hear peaceful weather (or other peaceful sound, depending on the program selected). Busy mind? As your focus drifts, you’ll hear stormy weather (0r other more boisterous sounds) that cues you to bring your attention back to your breath. Research has documented benefits other than relaxation, like increased grey matter density, reduced thinning of the prefrontal cortex, decreasing amygdala activity (associated with stress response), and increased resilience – basically, an overall beneficial change of the brain’s structure and function.