What is Functional Neurology?
Functional Neurology provides effective, drug-free solutions for many difficult-to-treat conditions, including:
- ADHD and learning disabilities
- Brain injuries and strokes
- Problems with memory and balance
- Headaches and long-term pain
It is based on the principle of neuroplasticity, your brain’s ability to grow and change, and on the ability of your brain to affect physical, mental and emotional health. When your brain works better, you are healthier and you feel better.
Functional neurology is a new field being developed by a multidisciplinary group of research scientists and clinicians from around the world, working to find new ways to help your brain work better. It applies principles from cutting-edge brain research and uses innovative, drug-free procedures to change your brain and improve your health. The results are often remarkably fast and long-lasting.
The emphasis in Functional Neurology is on your brain’s ability to change and to work better. In conditions like ADHD, learning disabilities, memory and balance problems, headaches and chronic pain, the problem is usually not that your brain is broken or defective. It simply needs a tune up. Some pathways in your brain are not being used as much as they should be, and some areas are dormant when they should be active.
And we can also harness the power of neuroplasticity when there is damage like a brain injury or stroke. When an area of your brain is damaged, it has a remarkable ability to regenerate and reorganize and regain lost function.
This ability of your brain to grow and change can also have negative consequences. For example, harmful changes in your brain underlie many cases of chronic pain, and a functional neurologist will help reverse the changes in your brain that are contributing to chronic pain.
A functional neurologist will identify those areas of your brain that are working well, those that aren’t, and devise a treatment program to get you back to health.
A functional neurology treatment program includes neurological exercises that you do at home for 10 to 15 minutes a day. These are usually physiological exercises more than mental exercises. They include balance, coordination, and eye exercises, and sensory input like listening to sounds that help your brain work better.
A functional neurologist will also help you identify and address stressors that might be limiting your progress, physical problems in your neck, back, and the rest of your body that might be affecting your brain, and talk with you about daily habits of work, rest, and diet.
If you have been struggling with a health condition, or not getting the results that you want with your efforts to improve your health, then it might be that negative changes in your brain are limiting your progress.
Functional Neurology fills an important need in modern health care, both traditional and alternative, because it offers an effective way to help your brain work better, and provides effective relief for many otherwise difficult-to-treat conditions.