Calorics: A small amount of warm water in the ear will stimulate the semicircular canals in your inner ear. They send massive signals through the vestibular nerve in a chain reaction to several important brain areas: the cerebellum….the cortex….then down to the lower brainstem (pontomedullary region). Caloric stimulation is also fantastic for treating dizziness.
We might do things such as do some vestibular therapies using head tilts and rotations and body motions to fire off the inner ear, and then thus the cerebellum and then the cortex.
We can also do things like different balancing sorts of exercise. We have you stand on one leg and throw a ball up in the air. We might have you on the floor doing specific core exercises to activate your cerebellum. We also use vibration because vibration is a powerful stimulator to the joints, muscles and the cerebellum.
Tactile stimulation is great because it stimulates the parietal lobe. When you feel something, an object or texture, your parietal lobe really starts to fire. So we use what we call a “grab bag” full of all sorts of objects, and shapes—and we do different exercises with them that activate the parietal lobe.
Targeting is great for the parietal lobe and the cerebellum because the parietal lobe is what helps you know WHERE things are. Being able to accurately target something depends on knowing WHERE it is. So if you have a parietal lobe problem, we would use targeting exercises for your hands, feet, fingers, or toes.
We use a special computer program called Hemistim. We can program this software to make these squares flash at a certain speed with certain colors that will stimulate a certain side of your brain. On top of that, we can make the red ball move in different directions that you have to follow with your eyes. This is called smooth pursuit tracking.
Now, these are just a few of the treatments that I may use to help your brain increase its firing. There are literally over one hundred ways we have to specifically activate and stimulate the brain. The key to the success of Johnson Brain Based Rehab is to be extremely specific in diagnosing the weak brain areas and applying activations or stimulations to those specific weakened areas. Other treatments we use involve eye movements, gross motor activities, light therapy, cognitive activities, puzzles, etc. The list is HUGE, and specific to each individual’s needs.
The main thing you have to understand is that we stimulate the brain by using the receptors on the outside of the body that are wired and connected to the various areas of your brain. So if we find weakened areas in your right parietal lobe then we are going to use receptors that are wired to the parietal lobe. It is complex. Everything we do is non-invasive, non-drug, and promotes proper function in the brain. The brain has an amazing ability to adapt, change, and rewire if we give the proper fuel and activation. We can make the weak area strong again.
But it is not just as simple as stimulating weakened areas. We have to consider how much stimulation the brain can handle. We have to consider things like blood sugar delivery, oxygen delivery, neurotransmitter deficiencies, stress physiology, etc. For some people we have to make a series of nutritional changes before we can provide any stimulation. For some people we have to work really slowly. Too much stimulation for a neuron is called exceeding metabolic capacity, and if we do too much we can cause your symptoms to flare. Luckily we have ways to monitor fatigue and are very careful not to exceed your metabolic capacity.
We have incredible success with fibromyalgia, dizziness, and other chronic neurologic conditions, using our advanced Johnson Brain Based Rehabilitation. If you suffer with a chronic neurologic condition, call our office at 586-731-8840 to schedule a case review and full neurological examination.
