Thanks for the heads up Mark,

I'll do some follow-up reading!

Well, I have since had a couple of CranioSacral therapy sessions by a very experienced person. She understands brain injuries not only from her work, but she had a life threatening event herself after contracting a severe and rare form of erlichiosis that made all her organs shut down, intensive care, etc. etc. She has fully recovered...or at least enought to resume her life. Anyway, she felt that the "whoosh" I felt (remember, mine was the very next day after my accident) was cerebrospinal fluid releasing from the pressure of my chair on a key spot on the back of my head. She said that probably saved me from increased swelling in my head and that I was very lucky it happened. That makes sense to me, as it felt like something was moving inside my head as the warmth traveled on the right side of my head. I cried as the adjustment was made inside my skull perhaps? Anyway, this far along I am doing so much better, but still wary of things...am I just getting used to the way I feel or is it actually better. I made several mistakes telling time on a non digital clock this week...I feel like I may have disinhibition, saying things to people that I might not normally share so quickly, my processing sometimes is slow, like a massage client will give a sypmtom and it will take until the next session or so for me to put it together as to how to help them (where in the past, it woud have been immediate). I don't want to use the accident as excuses for my behavior or lack there of, but I think it is still a major factor. It gets hard when people want to forget that I even had an accident and that I look fine now.

eponagirl,

When a client tells you a symptoms, you might try repeating it out loud. This may help you process it better. Repeating it out loud puts the thought through a different part of the brain than if you just try to keep it silently in your mind.

You can even repeat it out loud as you touch the body part that it is related to. This adds touch senses to the brain's processing.

I have learned to use this work-around almost subconsciously. It can make it appear like your brain is fully functional.

The concept is called 'multi-sensory' processing. By including other senses in the process, you improve the brain's ability to remember and properly process the issue.

The clock thing is common. The brain needs to process two different bits of information and sometimes gets them out of order. In the past, you could easily do this multi-task processing. Now, you may need to stop, consider the hour hand, then process the minute hand.

It sounds like you have some similar visual memory/processing symptoms like I have. Accepting that you have these struggles allows you to use work-arounds to solve visual problems.


What benefit did you get from the Cranial Sacral Therapy? A good CST therapist can be good for the cervical spine.

My best to you.

Thanks Mark for your last post...actually I was already speaking out loud by repeating what they said and touching the area in question...I didn't even know consciously that was a good thing for my brain, it just seemed a natural thing to do, yet not something I was necessarily doing before the accident (probably because I didn't need to). However, sometimes it helped and other times, it still took time for the correct information to get to my conscious brain. It is not something I would ponder in between sessions, more like an aha moment out of the blue...like it just took time to route its way through processing. It has gotten somewhat easier, but since I am not aware of it until that aha moment, it's hard to tell. The other odd thing is that last year I took a horse hoof trimming class and I now have trouble processing that information to something useful. Like the info is there, but jumbled...I knew by looking at my horse's hoof that there was a problem, but couldn't specify what, and then didn't know how to go about fixing it. I have to have someone else come out to trim their feet still. I now have fear that I cannot access this info correctly and don't trust myself yet to trim their feet myself. It involves things like geometry and measurments, not to mention a living conscious being at the other end of the hoof that might not be so cooperative while I "remember". I'm afraid about learning and retention, which doesn't help. This course was the last major thing I've learned as far as a new skill. I've been a massage therapist for 12 years, so it is much easier to trust my judgements on that....it is in my muscle memory if not in my brain. Not the case with the hoof trim training.

The CranioSacral work I received was the most helpful thing to date and I have more treatments set up but not until Sept, she is really booked up.

eponagirl,

You likely have a dysfunctional short term and immediate term memory in auditory and possibly visual areas. This makes learning new things difficult. You can still do it but you must make changes to how you learn. You will likely need many more repetitions and hands-on experience as you learn.

There are three learning senses, tactile (touch), visual and auditory. By using as many of these three as possible with many repetitions, you should be able to learn new things. It may help to put time spaces between each repetition. You need to be able to get the information into long term memory. You have massage skills that are both muscles memory and what is called an "over-learned skill."

As you learn or study, do the repetitions and then repeat with the time between repetitions getting longer as you go. The lengthening of the interval between causes your brain to work harder to find the path to the memory. This sort of beats down a path to the memories. It also allows the memories to become stored in multiple places within the brain.

With your hoof trimming information, you will need to have a visual presentation (papers or a work book) that you can refer to as you handle your horses hoof. If someone can be reading the directions to you as you examine your horse's hoof, you can convert the information into a real life experience. Straight book or lecture learning will likely be very difficult if your memory skills are weak.

You might try examining each hoof with this assistant prompting you. After you have examined all four, take a break and plan what you need to do. Separate the examining from the trimming. After enough repetitions of this technique, you will likely have the skill learned.

Those of us with PCS memory dysfunctions can still do most things. We just need to do them in a different way.

btw, You could help me by putting a paragraph space every 4 to 6 lines. I struggle to follow from the end of one line to the start of the next if there are more than 6 or so lines.

With your massage practice, can you get a muscle diagram on a dry erase board? You could then chart the complaints so you have a visual reminder. It also may help you educate your clients so they keep their bodies in better shape.

Hope this helps.

My best to you.