Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment?
 

Is HBOT effective in treating concussion? Does anyone know of any risks/side effects or drawbacks to doing it?

HBOT has been and continues to be studied for concussions. The research is mixed with no finite answers. It take 40 or more sessions to even see if it makes an improvement. Dr Harch Hyperbaric oxygen therapy HBOT A proven alternative medicine has been doing a clinical study that some have participated in.

Thanks for the link; it looks like that had some success. I wonder if anyone here has tried it?

Some on NT have tried it. Only one out of maybe 5 or 6 claimed it helped.

I think a problem with it is whether the specific PCS case is due to poor blood flow at the capillary level in the brain. HBOT helps capillary growth but has not been seen to make changes to neurons or axons.

It cost $4000 to $8000 for a course of treatment.

Dr Harch claims anecdotal improvements but his clinical research is not finished yet.

What specific symptoms are your biggest struggle that you are hoping it would help ?

That makes sense. Do you know of any way to determine whether the PCS is related to blood flow problems?

For me, my worst symptom is probably short-term memory; as soon as there's a distraction, I'm almost certain to lose my train of thought entirely. That seems to go with problems in remembering many things at once, thinking about multiple ideas, remembering sequences, muti-tasking, etc. I haven't pushed myself to my limits in terms of trying to see how much I can memorize or anything like that, these are just observations in daily life.

There has been lots of improvement in this over the past few months to get to this point, however; in the first few months I would routinely find myself in a room or opening the fridge, having forgotten what I had planned on doing. Things like that have improved steadily, and now I would say what I notice most frequently is losing my train of thought mid-conversation. Some friends have told me that memory is the slowest function to be regained; do you know if there is any truth to that?

In terms of HBOT, I didn't really have any symptoms in mind that I wanted it to treat; I'm just trying to see if there exist any therapies that can help the brain recover as a whole and possibly even undo any damage done. I'm not considering doing anything rash, though, I do understand that I'm relatively early on in the natural recovery process and that I should get better given more time. It really feels like the more I look into how these things work, the less I understand about them, to tell you the truth.

I have the same struggles. Had them for 16 years. They improved a little bit over time but I also learned to not take on multi-tasking and other functions that require those weak functions to work.

Memory can be made better by learning to focus. The term to remember is we need to "Stop to Think." Try to remember that. Being more purposeful helps. The only way of casually or subconsciously taking on a task does not work like it used to. Instead, at the instigation of a thought, we need to focus on the task until we complete the task. We cannot interrupt the task.

Multi-tasking is not a realistic goal. It challenges the brain.

The concept to understand is called 'digit span.' This is the number of items the brain can juggle at the same time. It is a part of working memory function. We often have a reduced digit span. Mine was severely affected.

Some work with lists in place of using memory to track a number of tasks. Smart phones can be used for these lists and schedule reminders. We have a white board on the refrigerator. I send reminder emails to myself.

The other concept to understand is how the brain filters. A healthy brain is much better at filtering out the many distractions and meaningless stimulations so we can stay focused on the task at hand. The PCS brain often struggles to ignore these distractions. They van be visual, auditory, smell, tactile. I need a quiet atmosphere with minimal visual distractions to be productive.

Research shows that those who do best start by accepting and understanding these struggles and learning work-arounds to continue despite them.

Process thinking can be difficult as the brain has lost its shortcuts. We have to be more methodical in our thinking where previously, some processes just happened. Previously, the brain would start with processing A, B, C, D. Then, it learned to short cut past B and go A, C, D. Then, it may even short cut past C and just go from A to D. A lot of daily activities develop short cuts. We complete household tasks without ever thinking about the intermediate steps. But, now, we have to stop and think about each step. In times, the brain can relearn some of the shortcuts.

So, I've learned to not count on subconsciously processing tasks.

It may help for you to talk to yourself when you need to remember. If you hear yourself say out loud to yourself, "Call Sarah after lunch" rather than just thinking it, the brain stores it in auditory memory, too. Writing it down crates a visual and tactile memory stream. When you use multiple sensory streams, your memory will work better.

And, try to not stress when you struggle. It only makes it worse. When I can't recall a word, I think, 'I get my mords wixed up.' It sort of resets my brain to try again.

So, try calming your environment and see how that helps

And, when you have a bad day, it is likely that you did not sleep well. Good sleep is needed for the brain to be ready for a new day. Otherwise, it has the previous day sitting chaotically in memory, sort of like having a pile of yesterdays papers on your desk. Good sleep allows the brain to file the previous day's memories so it is ready for new day of memories.

My best to you.