A concussion can leave you dealing with painful and frustrating symptoms that linger long after the initial injury. Headaches, dizziness, fatigue, disrupted sleep, brain fog, mood changes, and neck pain are all common post-concussion symptoms, and for many patients, they don’t resolve on their own as quickly as expected.
At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, our physiatrists and licensed acupuncturists can work together to help you address these symptoms. We use a holistic, nonsurgical approach, and acupuncture is one of the most promising tools we have.
How Acupuncture Works
Acupuncture involves the insertion of hair-thin needles at precise points on the body to stimulate the central nervous system. This stimulation prompts the release of endorphins, the body’s natural pain-relieving compounds. It can also reduce neuroinflammation and support nervous system recovery.
In traditional East Asian medicine, acupuncture is thought to restore Qi, the balanced flow of energy through the body’s meridians. Modern research has begun to explore how this manifests on a biological level. Recent findings have suggested that acupuncture may help to regulate neurotransmitters, improve circulation in the brain, and reduce cellular damage after injury.
Symptoms Acupuncture Can Address
Post-concussion symptoms respond to acupuncture in several well-documented ways. At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, our acupuncturists can treat concussion symptoms like:
- Post-Concussion Headaches: Acupuncture can stimulate endorphin release and reduce the kind of neuroinflammatory activity that drives headache pain, which makes it one of the most effective applications for concussion headache recovery.
- Sleep Disturbances: Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that acupuncture significantly reduced sleep disruption in patients with mild traumatic brain injury, with and without co-occurring PTSD.
- Dizziness and Vertigo: Needle stimulation at specific acupoints can recalibrate the body’s neurological signaling, which can reduce dizziness and vestibular disturbance after a concussion.
- Neck and Shoulder Pain: Some concussions involve trauma to the cervical spine, the portion of the spine located in the neck. Acupuncture can address the muscular tension and nerve irritation in this area that contribute to neck and shoulder pain.
- Fatigue and Brain Fog: Acupuncture can reduce the cognitive fatigue that many concussion patients experience by improving brain circulation and supporting the metabolism on a cellular level.
- Anxiety and Depression: Acupuncture supports neurotransmitter regulation, which can stabilize mood and reduce the kind of anxiety and depression that frequently accompany post-concussive syndrome.
What the Research Shows
Clinical support for acupuncture as a promising concussion recovery treatment continues to grow. The US Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have both incorporated acupuncture into concussion and traumatic brain injury care recommendations. These agencies have deployed certified acupuncturists to treat active-duty soldiers and have even authorized acupuncture as part of veterans’ medical benefits packages.
Numerous published studies and systematic reviews support acupuncture’s role in reducing post-traumatic headaches, improving sleep, and lowering patients’ long-term risk of stroke and dementia following brain injury. This is still a developing area of research in Western medicine, but the preliminary results are encouraging.
Acupuncture as Part of Your Recovery Plan
At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, we don’t treat symptoms in isolation. Our physiatrists take a whole-person approach to every patient we see. For concussion patients, that often means combining acupuncture with other therapies, such as physical therapy or pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF), to support a fuller recovery. Our licensed acupuncturists apply deep clinical knowledge to each treatment plan they develop, and they work in close coordination with our physicians across our five Long Island offices.
If you’re experiencing persistent concussion symptoms, contact Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine to arrange an initial consultation. You can call us at 1-888-SPINE-1-1 or reach out to us online to get started.