PREVENTION IS KEY – When dealing with concussions, we are finding that it is far more beneficial to prevent concussion than to try to fix the damage after the fact.
At Oasis Chiropractic PA we evaluate athletes with a baseline concussion test to have a starting point for comparison in the event the athlete suffers a head injury.
This is the first article in a 3 part series on ways to reduce the risk of concussion. The first is adding Omega 3 fatty acids to your diet….
1. ADD OMEGA-3
Multiple studies are now talking about the effects of inflammation increasing the odds and severity of concussion. Omega-3 from fish oil is an anti-inflammatory fat. Fat makes up a large portion of the brain and nerves. Less inflammation has a huge benefit for prevention. In addition to adding fish oil, avoiding or reducing inflammatory things like sugar and grains will be beneficial. Curcumin is also being shown to benefit concussion in a similar anti-inflammatory effect. (J Am Coll Nutr. 2016 Jul;35(5):469-75. doi:
10.1080/07315724.2016.1150796. Concussions,Traumatic Brain Injury, and the Innovative Use of Omega-3s. Lewis MD.)
Omega-3 testing can now be done at home with the Omega-Quant take home test. The Omega-Quant test is done at home with a simple finger prick and the blood sample is then mailed in for analysis. The desired
result is in the range of 8 – 12 %. If found to be low, we recommend adding additional Omega-3 from fish oil to your diet to increase the levels and then retest in 120 days.
The second way to reduce the risk of concussion is to increase neck strength……
Stop back next week for the details!!
