Neurology Services in Georgia
There are a number of ways in which chiropractic care, pain management, regenerative therapies, and neurological care intersect. Concussions, traumatic brain injuries, auto accident injuries, and some degenerative conditions can lead to a variety of symptoms ranging from headaches and dizziness to chronic pain and changes in blood pressure.
We think of the brain as the center of the body’s nervous system, and this is true. But nerves stretch all along the body, carrying information back to the brain, which reacts based on that information. This means that a problem nearly anywhere in the body can be due to a compressed nerve or another cause of nerve dysfunction. At the same time, a problem in the brain or spinal cord can cause pain and other symptoms in nearly any part of the body. As a result, it takes a diagnostic expert to determine the origin and cause of a patient’s pain.
The neurology professionals at Optimum Health Rehab use various diagnostic tools to identify underlying neurological damage and develop comprehensive management and therapy programs to improve your quality of life. Our goal is to restore our patient’s ability to operate normally without discomfort, pain, dizziness, or other aftereffects of neurological traumas.
Neurology Services
- Neurological evaluations
- Exercise and oxygen therapy
- Physical therapy
- Pain management injections
- Regenerative therapies
What Happens During a Neurological Evaluation?
An Optimum Health Rehab specialist will ask you questions about what you’re experiencing and perform a physical exam. The physical exam will help establish a baseline for your current neurological health by checking autonomic nerve function, muscle strength, and your ability to sense stimuli.
Your healthcare provider will test the following areas:
- Mental status. This part is an oral evaluation, where a specialist will ask you questions to learn more about your cognitive function. They may ask seemingly simple questions about where you are or what the date is to determine if you’re having any difficulties. The idea is to find out if you’re aware of your surrounding or have any challenges that need to be addressed.
- Motor function and balance. This part of the exam is a little more physical, so if you are in pain or are unable to do something, just let us know. We want to identify any physical obstacles you may be experiencing. Your Optimum Health Rehab specialist may ask you to push against their hands with your arms or legs to measure your strength. They might assess your balance by asking you to stand and walk. Joint tests may be performed by asking you to do certain movements or feeling your joints.
- Sensory function. This is mostly focused on the sense of touch. Your specialist may ask if you feel anything when they touch you or ask you to close your eyes and identify a material they place in your hand. Sometimes they will ask if you feel a hot or cold sensation. These tests can indicate if and where there is a loss of nerve function.
- Cranial nerves. The specialist may test the twelve cranial nerves of the brain by evaluating your other senses. This includes asking you to identify various scents with your eyes closed, shining a light in your eyes to see how your pupils react, following the movement of your eyes, touching the face, or asking you to smile. Additionally, they could test your hearing by checking to see if you notice certain sounds. Another test focuses on the nerves leading to your shoulders and neck, which are often a source of pain and discomfort for patients. In this test, the healthcare provider will probably ask you to turn your head from side to side despite minor resistance or to shrug your shoulders. Finally, you might be asked to stick out your tongue and talk in order to test the nerves leading to the tongue.
- Coordination. In a coordination test, you might be asked to walk a straight line – yes, it’s a little like a sobriety test. In fact, both tests are actually meant to measure coordination. In a sobriety test, a lack of coordination is assumed to mean that the person has been drinking, but a patient with nerve issues might also experience difficulty walking in a straight line. Other coordination tests include asking you to tap your fingers or feet or quickly touch an object like a chair or doorknob.
- Infant and child reflexes. We have a series of non-invasive neurological tests for babies, including checking their reflexes and eye motion. Older children are tested with the standard “reflex hammer” you may remember from the pediatrician’s office.
Once your evaluation is completed, we’ll review your results and establish a care plan to work on your nerve issues.
We also provide the following services at Optimum Health Rehab.
- Personal Injury Treatment
- Car Accident Treatments
- Chiropractic Treatments
- Physical Medicine
- Physical Rehabilitation
- Neurology
- Regenerative Medicine
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy (PT) serves two important roles in neurological rehabilitation. PT can be a valuable diagnostic tool for determining the extent of impairment or neurological damage. Your neurology team may use physical therapy to ascertain your flexibility and your dexterity, such as your ability to grasp objects, climb steps, and maintain your balance. Your vitals may also be monitored to track heartbeat and blood pressure while you perform physical therapy to better understand the full effects of any neurological issues.
After learning more about your specific challenges, the Optimum Health Rehab team will establish a plan to relieve strain and pressure on nerves and promote healing. This may include physical therapy exercises to increase flexibility, improve blood flow, build up muscle strength, and reduce compression on certain nerves.
Physical therapy is a valuable part of a neurology treatment plan. You and your team will work towards specific objectives as determined by your evaluation and diagnosis. The ultimate goal is to improve your function and help you live a more pain-free and fulfilling life.
Interventional Pain Management Injections
People struggling with neurological issues related to injuries or degenerative conditions frequently experience various levels of chronic and acute pain. It can be difficult to participate fully in various rehabilitation therapies, such as physical therapy, with debilitating chronic pain. We understand the difficulty of wanting to work on therapy exercises but being unable to do so because of pain or lack of function, and we want to help. Your neurology team may recommend pain management injections, such as epidural steroid injections, to provide temporary pain management. How long these injections provide relief varies for patients. Some may experience noticeable relief for weeks, while others may notice months of improvement.
Pain management injections are generally not a permanent solution but a temporary way to bridge the gap between a prescribed therapy and its accessibility. They must be combined with other rehabilitative therapies to treat the underlying cause of your discomfort.
Chiropractic Care
Understanding which nerves are compressed, damaged, or causing pain can give your chiropractor a better idea of how to help you with spinal manipulation. The idea of performing spinal adjustments is to relieve tension, reduce inflammation, and increase blood flow to afflicted areas of the body. By doing so, we may improve nerve issues and support other treatments.
Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative therapies, like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, may be an appropriate therapeutic tool for some patients experiencing neurological challenges. Whether you’re a good candidate for PRP depends mainly on your injuries or the degenerative condition you’re experiencing.
You should speak with a specialist at Optimum Health Rehab to learn more about PRP therapy and how it may help you.
Do You Require Neurologic Care in Georgia?
People who have experienced concussions, traumatic brain injuries, or even recent dizziness or headaches may benefit from a consultation with our neurology team at Optimum Health Rehab. Sometimes people with chronic pain are also suffering from nerve problems, but may not realize it, as there can be numerous reasons for pain. If you’ve been struggling with pain or other symptoms, we encourage you to call us at 877-704-1761 or visit us online to schedule an appointment