• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Directory
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
The Brain Health Magazine
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Directory
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
The Brain Health Magazine
No Result
View All Result

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month

From the Editor

in Featured content
March 2, 2020
0
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month

by Amy Zellmer, Editor-in-chief

March is my favorite month of the year. Not only is it Brain Injury Awareness Month, it is also my birthday month. 

When I fell in February 2014, my 40th birthday was just a few weeks away. I had to cancel my birthday party due to my injuries and, as crazy as it sounds, I still don’t feel like I’m in my 40s. The entire first year of my recovery is a bit of a blur, with a lot of missing information that I still haven’t recovered, so when I actually turned 40 it’s like my brain didn’t even register it. 

Don’t confuse this with not wanting to admit I’m 40, it’s literally like that year was erased from my consciousness and never returned . . .  I’m sure many of you reading this will understand.

Fortunately, my memory and cognition, as well as my dizziness and headaches, have greatly improved over the years with the right treatment. However, I fell down the stairs a few months ago and jarred my neck and my headaches flared again. While I didn’t hit my head (and we all know you don’t have to hit your head to sustain a concussion) I did notice my aphasia and cognitive delay creep back in on top of the headaches. 

Headaches can often be debilitating. Mine will last an entire day or two if I am not able to get on top of them before they flare. Mine typically come from an incredibly tight neck, so I usually have warning when it is starting to tighten up. I am lucky that I now have the tools I need and can pull them out when I have a recurrence. I try to pull out my yoga poses to release the neck, and follow that with ice (ice is your friend, people!) and peppermint essential oils. I also use a topical gel, ProloGel that penetrates deep to relieve nerve pain, and OptiMag Neuro, a fantastic magnesium supplement. Magnesium is known to help with headaches as well as muscle tension. 

This issue of the magazine on headaches is deeply personal. I have struggled with headaches my entire life, which were compounded after my brain injury. As I said earlier, they can be completely debilitating. Fortunately, there are doctors who understand the root causes of most headaches and how to treat them more holistically, non-invasively, and without pharmaceuticals.

Medications can work for some patients but trying a more natural route that doesn’t involve pumping chemicals into my still-healing brain is always going to be my first choice. A neurologist originally suggested Botox injections for my neck to relieve the tightness but I wanted to solve the root issue, not just put a Band-Aid on it.

I am fortunate to have found Functional Neurology. After struggling with headaches, Dr. Schmoe was able to help relieve them, as well as decrease their frequency. Through the use of ArpWave, laser therapy, manual muscle work, clavicle adjustments, vestibular rehab, and eye exercises, my headaches lessened significantly.

I truly hope you are enjoying the magazine, and wish you all a fabulous Brain Injury Awareness Month!

Amy Zellmer is an award winning author, keynote speaker, and TBI survivor and advocate. She is Editor-in-chief of The Brain Health Magazine, and hosts the Faces of TBI podcast series, as well as TBI TV on YouTube. 

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare Via EmailPinterest
Next Post
sam black tarot, brain injury, tbi, concussion, pcs,

April Tarot Reading: Skipping Stones

SIGN UP

BLOG

Neuroplasticity and Meditation

Neuroplasticity and Meditation

By Dr. Shane Steadman, DC, DACNB, DCBCN, CNS We often think of meditation as a metaphysical or religious practice. Many use activities such as mindfulness, deep breathing, and meditation to calm down the sympathetic system (fight or flight) to help us get through the day. But what if we thought of it from a neurological […]

Read more
How to Use Turquoise for Mindfulness

How to Use Turquoise for Mindfulness

By Kristen Brown Creating a calm and focused mind can be tricky in today’s world, but when you tap into the power of turquoise you can bring back the mindfulness you seek. Whether you use it as a tool during meditation or yoga, wear it as jewelry, or simply keep loose stones around your house […]

Read more
Setbacks After Brain Injury

Setbacks After Brain Injury

By Amy Zellmer, Editor-in-chief Setbacks. They’re a fact of life, right? After a brain injury, setbacks can be devastating. They can feel like the end of the world, wrapping you in a feeling of isolation and despair. Throughout the course of my recovery, it was only natural that I would encounter setbacks. Most of these […]

Read more
Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps

By Amy Zellmer, Editor-in-chief What You Need: 1 ¼ cup (280g) tuna in olive oil, drained 1 tbsp. tomato puree 1 small red onion, finely chopped ½ Granny Smith apple 8 lettuce leaves Put the tuna and half of the oil from the can in a bowl and mix with the tomato puree. Chop the […]

Read more
Mindfulness Proving Powerful for Injured Brains

Mindfulness Proving Powerful for Injured Brains

By Deborah Zelinsky, O.D.  “For many brain injury survivors, mindfulness is an essential practice that helps regulate their mental health, mood changes, and memory.” That comment – from the Headway Company, which works with affordable mental health services – suggests why mindfulness meditation has undergone scientific scrutiny as a technique to bring relief to patients […]

Read more
Why is Mindfulness Important for Your Workout?

Why is Mindfulness Important for Your Workout?

By Amy Zellmer A workout for the sole purpose of physical exercise can only provide limited health benefits. It can help you stay fit to some level and boost your serotonin levels to some points. But, when you add mindfulness into your workout, it becomes the secret ingredient to overall well-being, including physical and mental […]

Read more
Mindfulness and TBI

Mindfulness and TBI

By James A. Heuer, PA In recent studies, mindfulness proved to help improve the cognitive state of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)  patients. It is said that mindfulness assists TBI patients with keeping their focus on the present moment. In short, mindfulness is the state of awareness resulting from consciously paying attention. Since healing from a […]

Read more
Mentally Mindful

Mentally Mindful

By Amy Zellmer “Mindfulness clears the windshield of the mind so that we can see things as they really are.” Travis Eliot What is Mindfulness? A state of nonjudgmental awareness of what’s happening in the present moment, including the awareness of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and senses. You act mindfully when you listen to a […]

Read more
Caregiver Corner: Art as a Means of Mindfulness

Caregiver Corner: Art as a Means of Mindfulness

By Ian Hebeisen Mindfulness comes in many shapes and forms. It doesn’t have to be hardcore meditation for a solid hour once a day – that’s simply not realistic for everybody. For some people it might be a simple prayer and reflection at the end of the day, for others it might be doodling in […]

Read more

INSTAGRAM

Follow Us!

  • Some of our book award goodies arrived today … the swag looks pretty good with this book 🥇 

#ConcussionDiscussions #author #publisher #writer #blogger #braininjury #tbi #concussion #pcs #anthology #FunctionalNeurology
  • I am thrilled to share that Concussion Discussions has won TWO book awards for excellence in publishing. A huge thanks to all of the contributors who helped make this book award-winning:
@steadmanshane 
@dr.perry.maynard 
@integratedbraincenters 
@dockeiser 
@portlandchiropracticneurology1 
@midcoastbrain 
@drszimmerman 
@neurowellnessdoc 
@learningrx_brain_training 
@healingresponse 
@dr.habanova 
@rezzimaxpaintuner 
@bagnell_brain_center 
@nurenbergparis 
@frameworktms 
@northwestfunctionalneuro 
@drerikreis 
@mindeyeinstitute 
@functionalhealthunlimited 
@michironeuro 
@deltasperformance
  • #kindness
  • Comment below!
  • #kindwords
  • Yoga or Pilates? Comment below!
  • #blazeyourownpath
  • Congrats to Jeffrey M Heller recently named the newest partner of @nurenbergparis
  • It’s officially March … and that means Brain Injury Awareness Month!! Join us on March 16th for a FREE virtual event with over 20 survivors and professionals sharing their experience. Register now for FREE! www.FACESOFTBI.com/event

© Copyright 2019 | The Brain Health Magazine

  • Advertise With Us
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Contact Us

DISCLAIMER: THIS MAGAZINE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE - View PDF

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Directory
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used.