Author: Kelsey Woods

What Is Functional Neurology & How Can It Help Patients Like You?

At Lancaster Brain & Spine, we aim to improve your health and lifestyle longterm by exploring alternative approaches and methods. This is what we call functional neurology.

Functional neurology is a field of healthcare that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of neurological conditions or diseases without the use of pharmaceuticals or surgery.

Because we want to get you back to living your life as soon as humanly possible. So who can we help and how does this approach work? Let’s start here.

Who Can Benefit From Functional Neurology

The short answer? Anyone with a neurological condition, disorder or injury. Especially if you want to… 

  • Improve your focus
  • Stand or walk better
  • Have less pain
  • Think more clearly
  • Reduce dizziness
  • Improve at sports

Functional neurology has been proven to be helpful in each of these instances, as well as many others. For example, if you’re struggling with a lack of inhibition, or maybe you’ve noticed a decrease in your ability to control speech or other functions, functional neurology may be the help you’re looking for.

What Does Our Evaluation Process Look Like?

At Lancaster Brain & Spine, we start every patient’s journey with a comprehensive evaluation process. We use both conventional neurological and orthopedic evaluations, as well as state-of-the-art technologies, to identify and understand your issues. This combination of methods provides the best diagnostic tools available to pinpoint dysfunction in the brain and nervous system. 

During the diagnostic exercises, we take into account all aspects of your individual situation. In addition to asking about localized pain or specific symptoms associated with your condition, we also inquire about things like:

  • Are you sleeping enough, and is it good quality sleep?
  • What does your exercise routine look like?
  • What are you eating, and how often?
  • How does your gut feel day-to-day? Does it change?
  • Do you smoke or drink regularly? 

By taking a comprehensive, holistic look at your lifestyle, this helps us understand the pain and concerns you’re currently experiencing, but also any potential factors that may be exacerbating those symptoms. 

Let’s See Functional Neurology In Action

For example, if you’re not sleeping well, we need to focus on that, because the nervous system repairs and remodels while you sleep. This means that if you’re not getting enough shut-eye, your body isn’t getting the chance to heal itself. When patients have sleep issues, it’s often harder for their nervous systems to repair properly, which can lead to more serious health problems.  

We also often see people with sensitivities or allergies to food with inflamed stomach tissues, which can actually lead to neurological inflammation and problems in the brain. These can then cause or worsen other symptoms, such as fatigue or headaches.

So as you can see, there are many factors that can affect how successful your treatment is — whether you drink alcohol or not, what kind of medication you’re taking or not taking, if your blood pressure is too high or too low, the list goes on. When we take each of these elements into account, our team gets a clearer picture of what might be “off” in your body and are able to provide you with a treatment plan to help. 

That’s why our patients’ first appointment length varies person-to person, as we spend as long as necessary getting to the root cause of their issues. In our experience, initial diagnostics can take between 30 minutes and 2 hours, before we even get to treatment. 

Our Personalized Treatment Plans

Once our team of experts has made a diagnosis, we work with you to develop a custom tailored treatment plan. These consist of various methods to treat your specific circumstances. For example, we use a variety of stimulation therapies, eye exercises, brain based therapies and somatosensory stimulation to help patients in a wide range of areas. 

Our integrated approach to rehabilitation based on current scientific research and evidence is designed to promote neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout experiences. This process is essentially the strengthening or wiring of neurological pathways within the brain — and it’s extremely important in the treatment of neurological disorders. 

We’ve seen time and time again that firing off neurological pathways with the right exercise at the right intensity and frequency can increase the number of connections and synapses between neurons and ultimately strengthen existing connections. And this is the reason why we provide weeklong intensives to treat neurological problems.

Can Functional Neurology Help You?

We understand that functional neurology may be an entirely new approach for you, and that you may have never experienced it before. That’s why we offer a complimentary consultation with one of our highly skilled professionals to see if this is something that would be beneficial for you. If you’re interested in an alternative approach to your health, book your free consultation here. 

Laser Therapy: How It Works & Why We Highly Recommend This Treatment

At Lancaster Brain & Spine, we’re specialists in restoring functionality and repairing damage to the nervous system. At our clinic, we use only the most advanced treatments and tools available to ensure you receive optimal healing. One of these treatments is laser therapy, which has been scientifically proven to accelerate the healing process.

But what is laser therapy, and how can it help you? We’ll walk you through the different classes of lasers, what conditions we treat, and how this new-age tool can help you heal faster.

How Laser Therapy Works

Laser therapy is a specific treatment that uses non-invasive light to create a cellular response in the body when applied to a specific area that has been injured or damaged. This means your body reacts to the light deep underneath the skin’s surface to activate or accelerate repair in the tissues.

Unlike temporary heat-relief practices like applying heat packs, laser therapy actually works long-term to provide relief. Rather than just “numbing” or “distracting” you from the pain, it actually activates and improves the rate of healing, meaning the effects continue long after the light treatment is applied.

This process is also called photobiomodulation (PBM). PBM is just another, more technical name for laser therapy, but it means the same thing.

4 Different Classes Of Laser Therapy

Numerous medical professions offer laser therapy, from low-level to surgical applications. Here’s a quick guide so you know how to distinguish between the different types:

Low Level Laser Therapy (Class 2 & 3)

Also known as LLLT, low level laser therapy is also known as cold laser therapy, because it does not produce heat — it actually uses an infrared light source. LLLT is effective with some types of pain and injuries, especially in conjunction with other therapies or treatments.

High Power Laser Therapy (Class 4)

Also known as HPLT, high power laser therapy is what we offer and specialize in here at Lancaster Brain & Spine. Not only is it effective, but HPLT has also been FDA-approved since 2003, making it a safe, recommended treatment option. It uses a level of power scientifically proven to aid in the healing process without any other outside help.

Surgical Laser 

You may be familiar with laser eye surgery, a corrective vision procedure that uses a laser to change the shape of your cornea. This type of laser therapy is surgical and includes cosmetic procedures, such as laser hair removal.

Why We Use Class 4 High Power Laser Therapy

At our Lancaster Brain & Spine clinic, we believe in using the best possible technology for our patients to achieve the quickest, long-term results, which is why we only use Class 4 laser therapy. Not only is this type of therapy FDA-approved, but it also achieves the best outcomes. That means Class 4 patients receive the best possible results, whether they use other treatments simultaneously or not.

The amount and frequency of the light used during Class 4 treatment depends on the severity of your condition and how much healing is possible. As experts in laser therapy, we customize the application for each patient to ensure your unique healing journey begins.

Through scientific studies, Class 4 laser therapy has been proven to:

  • Reduce inflammation. By stimulating different cellular components within our tissues, we can create a more advantageous situation for the cells.
  • Increase blood circulation. The laser removes chemical imbalances in order to stimulate blood flow. This increases blood circulation and improves overall health. 
  • Improve tissue oxygenation. To heal, your body needs fuel in the form of nutrients, and laser therapy tools infuse the affected area with oxygen to promote healing. This creates the optimal environment for the body to repair and restore.

What Conditions Can Class 4 Laser Therapy Treat?

Class 4 laser therapy is excellent for treating conditions when the pain is not always visible to the naked eye. You sense the discomfort in your bones, or feel it somewhere in your body, but it’s not easily seen. 

A good example would be an injury you might get from playing sports. Let’s say you sprain your ankle — you may experience some bruising or swelling initially, but typically the pain from the injury will linger long after the external symptoms have disappeared. If you are experiencing any pain, aches or soreness, laser therapy could help alleviate those symptoms.

Here is a list of some, but not all, conditions that Class 4 HPLT is helpful in treating:

  • Soft tissue injuries
  • Acute musculoskeletal injuries
  • Arthritis
  • Sprains
  • Knee, shoulder or hip replacements
  • Nerve injuries
  • Nerve compressions
  • Brachial plexus
  • Sciatica
  • Numbness
  • Tingling
  • Spinal conditions

How Can Class 4 Laser Therapy Help You

At our Lancaster-based clinic, we have helped numerous patients experience extreme relief from ongoing, invisible pain thanks to laser therapy treatments. Not only does this treatment option reduce your current aches and pains, but it also improves your rate of healing long after the treatment is finished.

If you’re curious whether laser therapy can work for your particular situation, please contact us for a free 15-minute phone consultation. One of our experts would be happy to discuss it with you.

While there is no obligation to work with us specifically for treatment, we’ll help determine if laser therapy is an option for you. If you are interested in getting started with laser therapy, get in touch today.