Carrick Institute / chiro services
 

Has anyone done any concussion rehab with Dr. Carrick in Georgia? I know Sidney Crosby had some sessions with him - just curious if anyone else has tried this.

I am currently receiving treatment from a chiropractor in my region that took courses on Chiropractic Neurology from the Carrick institute. This is only my second week in, so it is hard to comment if it has helped.

I will say that I was impressed on the thorough assessment I received. It was made clear that certain things needed to be found through the assessment in order for these treatments to work/be offered to me. It was identified that I had decreased muscle tone on the left side as well as a hard time tracking objects with my eyes on the left side. Based on the assessment, I was given "eye exercises" to do every 1 hour. Right now it consists of 8 Xs diagonally on a white piece of paper, doing short saccade eye movements diagonally down to the right and tracking my finger back up the page diagonally to the left.

These exercises were customized based on my deficits identified. These treatments won't apply to everyone; it depends on the nature of the injury. From what I was told, these treatments are aimed to reconstruct the pathways in the brain that were damaged as a result of the concussion injury.

From what I see so far, it is definitely worth looking into. If you do not have access to the Carrick institute in Georgia (I heard there is a 3 yr wait list) perhaps you can look into if there are any chiropractors nearby that have taken courses from Carrick.

Hello comeback_kid_11, Good to know that you are taking this treatment. Can you please update us with your current condition. Did it help you to relive your symptoms completely.

I have not been to the Carrick institute yet but I have spoken to them on the phone. They told me they could get me in in about a month and that it cost about a thousand dollars a day. Apparently some insurers pay a portion. They also have a payment plan with a finance company :D.
I live in the Chicago area so I've decided to go to a chiropratic neurologists locally at first. He also was trained at Carrick. I have heard good things about Carrick but I'm not sure how long lasting the benefits are so I have been dragging my feet because of the expense. But as I get more desperate to recover I may head down there!

pinka,

comeback_kids comments were from December 2011 He has tried many different protocols since Carrick including a waste of money at MMTR. I have not seen him on in a while.

From what people have reported, Carrick's protocols work for some and for others, it is a total waste of time and money. Different injuries respond differently to the same treatment protocol. If you have $5000 and up to risk, who knows ????

Hi pinka,

In my situation, the chiropractic neurology treatments I received had essentially no benefit for me. I was dedicated to the exercises I was given to work on, and while the chiropractor noticed improvements in my ability to complete the exercises (ie my eye could better track a moving dot) I noticed pretty much no improvement in my main complaints of headache and fatigue.

As it has been mentioned, different injuries respond differently; so it’s hard to say the treatments don't help anyone, but it didn't help me.

A side note to update my condition: it’s been over 3 yrs now since the concussion and things are starting to look up. I've had a reduction in headaches, more energy and can handle 0.5-1 hr of exercise per day. A turning point for me was a visit with a head injury physiatrist a few weeks ago who believed my current lingering symptoms are the result of a headache/pain cycle, perpetuated by poor sleep. She has me on a strict sleep hygiene regimen (no TV/computer screens before bed, no caffeine alcohol after 2pm, no naps), set a goal of 1hr of physical activity daily and I’m now taking melatonin 3mg every night, along with vitamin b2 and magnesium citrate. I was a bit skeptical when she said the concussion has resolved, and it’s just a pain cycle that remains, but I have been doing surprisingly well since following her advice. This obviously would not apply to everyone, and looking back for me it would be hard to pick a point when it was no longer the concussion, but a pain cycle. I think we cannot know for sure until we have the advanced imaging techniques to know what a concussion looks like and to know when it is “resolved”. Also she seemed convinced my current lack of dizziness, N/V indicated this.