Real People. Real Results.

OUR PATIENTS HAVE STORIES AND UNIQUE BRAIN NEEDS. HEAR ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE IN THEIR OWN WORDS.

Brain trauma symptoms vary widely – from mild issues to debilitating problems that can last for weeks or decades. That’s just one of the many reasons it’s so challenging to find answers and treatments that can work for you.

When it comes to treatments, it’s not a one size fits all approach. At Plasticity Centers, we specialize in personalized treatment plans to help treat your unique symptoms and provide you with real, measurable results.

Welcome to Real People. Real Results. a series where we share the very real and very personal stories of people who have experienced life changing treatments that give them both hope and results they can see.

Patient Name: Elle Woolley, 2024 Hopeful Paralympic Rider, Concussion Patient

History: Elle began riding horses at a young age. She had an unrelated, life altering brain aneurysm at the age of 11 that caused paralysis in her left arm. She has continued riding but has had several concussions and three brain bleeds resulting in extreme fatigue, loss of balance and lack of motivation.

Issues:

Extreme fatigue, loss of balance and lack of motivation.
Inability to ride and perform daily tasks.

Plasticity Treatment:

Increase in functionality beyond what she was experiencing prior to the concussions.
Reengaged Elle’s brain, making it aware of the left side of her body again.

Results:

Elle regained inspiration, has better balance and a huge improvement in her riding.
In her words, her “inner fire is back!”

Elle tells her story, concussion patient.

As Seen In

Horse & Rider Magazine & Practical Horseman does a deep dive with Elle Woolley to explore the lasting effects she has experienced after treatment at Plasticity Centers. Join them and Dr. Kalambaheti while they talk about how concussions affect equestrians and what you can do to keep your brain safe at the barn.

Patient Name: Dan Brandenburg, Retired NFL linebacker for the Buffalo Bills

History: Dan experienced hundreds of concussions over his professional football career. Dan's concussions have impacted his quality of life in a significant way, causing him to suffer from anxiety, fatigue, and emotional ups and downs.

Issues:

Anxiety, depression, ruminating thoughts, exhaustion, ongoing feelings of emptiness, overstimulation, sensitivity to noise/light.

Results:

Dan’s concussion symptoms reduced by over 80%, his balance scores improved by over 10%, and he is feeling much better after Plasticity Centers treatment.

Dan Brandenburg, Retired NFL linebacker

Plasticity Treatment:

Plasticity found that his “flight and fight” system was in overdrive and his vestibular system was miscalibrated, meaning that his brain didn’t accurately know when he was in space. We used lasers and electricity to increase blood flow and improve the function of different areas of his brain and a combination of body movements, eye exercises, and full-body rotation to create neuroplasticity.

Patient Name: Jessica, lifelong hockey player

History: Jessica experienced a head injury while playing hockey in January 2020. She suffered from ongoing symptoms for over 2 years before seeking treatment at Plasticity Centers. She didn’t ask for help and thought she would heal on her own.

Issues:

Jessica presented to Plasticity Centers with Post-Concussion Syndrome following 6 diagnosed concussions. Her main symptoms included word finding issues, light/noise sensitivity, memory lapses, and headaches. Jessica hoped to see a decrease in her migraines, decrease in brain fog, and decrease in light/noise sensitivity as a result of coming to Plasticity Centers.

Results:

Jessica's balance improved by 113%. Processing speed improved by 37%. Reaction time improved by 48%. Visual acuity improved by 79%. King Devick score improved by 34%. Jessica has a new lease on life after treatment at Plasticity Centers. She has “found herself” and has a hope again that she can get back to all the activities she loves and has missed.

Jessica, lifelong hockey player

Plasticity Treatment:

The treatment plan focused on restoring function to the subcortical or fundamental areas of Jessica's brain. Her brain was working EXTRA hard and things that were supposed to be happening automatically in the background shifted to the forefront due to her injuries. Once these functions became automatic and efficient again, her brain was able to operate more effectively, leading to a reduction in her symptoms.

Patient Name: Professional Olympic snowboarder, Jake Pates

History: Jake Pates suffers from multiple concussions due to hitting his head while snowboarding and he experiences ongoing lingering symptoms.

Issues:

Jake Pates presented to Plasticity Centers with post-concussion symptoms following multiple head injuries as an Olympic snowboarder. His main symptoms included neck pain/stiffness, headaches, sound sensitivity, and difficulty concentrating. Jake hoped to decrease his neck pain, headaches, and anxiety by seeking treatment at Plasticity Centers.

Results:

Jake's subjective symptoms improved by about 70% in just 5 days. His Trails Test improved by 50% and Choice Reaction Time improved by 24%. Visual Acuity also normalized, allowing him to have better visual acuity while his head was moving. Jake's balance and eye movements also improved and further contributed to him noticing a decrease in his symptoms.

Jake Pates, Professional Olympic Snowboarder

Plasticity Treatment:

The treatment plan prioritized stimulating the parts of Jake's brain involved with muscle regulation. It was identified that his headaches were the result of referred pain from his tight neck. His upper neck structurally did not have any dysfunction or damage, so the question was what is responsible for causing tight neck muscles? There are certain parts of your brain involved in controlling neck muscle regulation. Our therapy plan was designed to target those areas and stimulate them in a way to allow for better control over these muscles. The result was a decrease in neck tightness and, therefore, a decrease in headaches.

Patient Name: Hershel, pediatric brain injury & developmental delays

History: Hershel was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome prenatally. After he was born, it was found that a defect in his heart that was causing pulmonary hypertension. Unfortunately, during the surgery to correct the defect, he went into cardiac arrest and suffered a hypoxic brain injury leading to cerebral palsy at 2 months old. Both sides of his brain were affected, with the right side worse than the left. Since then, he has had cortical visual impairment and left-sided body paralysis. He cannot talk, sit up, or maintain eye contact. His amazing parents brought him to Plasticity Centers to learn more about his brain and what therapies and treatment options may benefit him.

Results:

After the first day, Hershel's parents were able to walk away with more information about what areas of his brain showed dysfunction and by the 5th day, they left with a list of exercises and other recommendations to continue to help his brain heal. What Hershel's parents weren't expecting was the improvements in his eyes. After the 5 days at Plasticity Centers, Hershel was able to keep his eyes still for longer which allowed him, for the first time, to gaze at his parents' faces.

Hershel, pediatric brain injury & developmental delays

Plasticity Treatment:

Hershel's treatment plan was designed to strengthen his neurological foundation and reflex systems. This involved a customized mix of visual hemi-stimulation, eye reflex (optokinetic) stimulation, vestibular rehabilitation, trans-cranial photo-biomodulation, noninvasive nerve stimulation on his face, legs, and left arm, neuro-muscular re-education, and primitive reflex attenuation. He loved his time spent in the multi-axis rotational chair which helped to stimulate the centers in his brain that perceive movement.

Patient Name: Leilani, pediatric autism spectrum disorder

History: Leilani's mother brought her to Plasticity Centers just a week before her 4th birthday. After a difficult birth and a regression at 12 months, Leilani was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Her mother reported delayed milestones, babbling but no speech, unable to hold eye contact, and attention challenges.

Results:

Improvement in eye contact, following directions, vestibular and oculomotor function, and began speaking some words and interacting more with the world around her.

Plasticity Treatment:

Non-invasive electrical nerve stimulation, neuro-muscular re-education, rotations in the MARC, coordination and timing exercises, and self-identification exercises.

Leilani, pediatric autism spectrum disorder

Patient Name: Genevieve, Post-Concussion Syndrome

History: Genevieve had been dealing with the lingering effects of a concussion for 11 years before she finally found help at Plasticity Centers. She previously had seen over 39 physicians and continued to struggle with chronic headaches, neck pain, fatigue, brain fog, and issues with balance and vision.

Results:

67% reduction in self-reported symptoms, 17% improvement in balance, improved gaze stability, and eye tracking.

Plasticity Treatment:

Electrical stimulation targeting the brainstem, parietal lobe, vagus nerve, gaze stability therapy to re-calibrate the visual and vestibular systems, whole body vestibular rehabilitation to correct gravity/environmental perception, balance therapy to improve limits of stability, orthoptic therapy to improve eye movement accuracy.

Genevieve, Post-Concussion Syndrome

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HEAR MORE DIRECTLY FROM PATIENTS TREATED AT PLASTICITY CENTERS:

Autism improved attention, following directions, & awareness: Leilani

Reading and tolerance issues addressed after 5 concussions: Matt