WGME 13 Report - PCN Concussion Treatment Specialists

January 27, 2020

Portland Chiropractic Neurology was recently featured by WGME 13 in an investigation about concussions, entitled "No two concussions are the same: What they are and the healing process." Check out the article and watch the video to learn more about concussions, how no two concussions are the same and how Portland Chiropractic Neurology specializes in...

There’s No Business Like Snow Business: Proper Snow Removal Techniques

January 23, 2019

Winter Storm Harper has come and gone, but we are still bound to have more snow in the winter weeks ahead, it is a great time to discuss proper snow removal techniques.  Every winter we see a lot of patients after they have injured themselves removing snow from their sidewalks, parking lots, decks and driveways.  Lower back, middle back, shoulder...

Plantar Fasciitis: What a Pain in the Foot!

January 22, 2019

In our office, we see patients for a variety of musculoskeletal issues, not just neck and low back pain, though we do treat a lot of people with those problems successfully.  One of the more common complaints patients come in with is foot pain.  This is often caused by plantar fasciitis, or inflammation of the soft tissue in the arch of the...

Kids at the Chiropractor

February 7, 2018

The nervous system controls every single process in your body.  The brain is the leader of this operation, but it gets the information that guides its decision-making from the rest of the nerves in your body.  These nerves travel from the brain into the spinal cord, which is housed in the spinal canal of the vertebral column (your spine), and then travels...

Chiropractic in Pregnancy: The Webster Technique

January 25, 2018

Chiropractic in Pregnancy: The Webster Technique Nothing causes a life change quite like a pregnancy.  Making sure the physical needs of the baby will be met with all of the newborn supplies, clothing and furniture.  Rearranging schedules to be sure the baby is cared for at all times.  Baby-proofing the house to keep the newest addition safe from harm. ...

Migraines: Why do my eyes hurt?

August 7, 2017

Eye pain is a common symptom associated with Migraines. Migraines are due to central neurological changes within the brain that suffer from abnormal discharge of cells associsated with vascular changes within the walls of blood vessels. This causes constriction and dilation to occur, which is the cause of the throbbing pain experienced during a migraine....

A simple way to understand how mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy heals injured tissue

May 18, 2017

Under Hyperbaric Therapy (HBO2), Oxygen, which is a much smaller molecule than a Red Blood Cell (RBC), is pulled from the larger RBC, which is carrying the oxygen molecules to tissues via hemoglobin. RBC's are the vehicle transport for all oxygen within our body. After extraction, it is now concentrated within the surrounding plasma. This allows the smaller...

Maintenance for your Brain: Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to reach limitless potential

May 18, 2017

At our clinic, we often utilize mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to aid in the treatment of brain injury, concussion, movement disorders, autoimmune disorders, neuropathy, neurological degenerative conditions and so forth. We are able to help our patients achieve incredible results where other treatments have failed. What I'm particularly interested in is how...

Podcast on : Concussion Management

May 10, 2017

Listen to a recent podcast on breakthroughs in Concussion Management: Interview with the Founder and Clinic Director of Portland Chiropractic Neurology, Dr. Aaron MacArthur as he discusses how we've been able to help so many concussion patients ...

Engage your core this winter!!

February 16, 2017

Many of us spend most of our time with our core disengaged, that's just the nature of the 21st century I'm sorry to say. A Physical Therapy friend and colleague of mine, Brandon Freeman at Portland Physical Therapy, and I had a recent discussion on core, lumbar disc and lower back injury. Yes, I know what you're thinking, do these guys actually talk about...

When we experience a concussion our nerve axons (connections) are stretched!

February 16, 2017

If you connected all of our neurons, they would stretch around the earth four times. That's 100 billion neurons that make up our brain, all connected to create a framework that allows for incredible function, allowing us to love, create, think, imagine, dream, move, plan, focus, speak and the list goes on. However, our brains are so miraculous, not based...

Rib pain after coughing/sneezing during the long winter months in Maine

January 11, 2017

Good ol' Maine. We love our beautiful state, but it can be a pain sometimes. Literally. Upper back, neck and rib pain to be specific. Most of the time, patients don't remember the exact time is occurred, but upon questioning, we're often able to connect it. We see a lot of this in our practice, and certainly have more recently. We really enjoy treating it,...

Migraines: A complex disorder simplified

August 20, 2016

I hear from many people that their Migraines are due to diet, stress or lack of oxgyen, but what most people do not understand is that Migraines are a complex disorder that incorporates multiple systems within the body. It is described as a disruption in blood vessel activity in the scalp and brain by some, and abnormal activity of pain processing areas of...

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Brain Wellness

May 7, 2016

A patient recently said to me, "that Oxygen chamber is better than a cup of coffee." Brain wellness, why don't we discuss this topic more? We're so obsessed with nutrition and exercise that we forget about a fundamental requirement for the brain, Oxygen. Unfortunately, many of us do not get enough Oxygen required by the brain to work at our full potential....

The importance of treatment frequency and following your doctor's plan: Neuroplasticity

April 8, 2016

Many of our new patients are seen 3-5x times per week for a duration of time in order to maximize results. Why is it important to follow a treatment plan so rigorous? In simple terms, the nervous system responds to repetition. Much like learning something new requires time and effort to sink in, so does the required changes occurring within our body and...

Migraines: Why we are getting tremendous results with Chiropractic Neurology

April 5, 2016

To understand Migraines, you need to understand the mechanism that causes them. So often, I am puzzled by the care that I see Migraine sufferers receiving in an attempt to "control" migraines. I have since realized that there aren't many practitioners out there that truly understand migraines and their cause. Migraine pain is severe, often one sided,...

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Neurological conditions and Brain Injury

April 5, 2016

It is widely understood that oxygen is important in our body's innate healing mechanisms. What isn't understood is that even though we are breathing, oxygen is not perfusing areas of the body sufficient for optimal function and healing. Our brain, specifically the autonomic nervous system, regulates where blood flow will be increased or decreased in...

Do Disc Herniations Heal?

April 5, 2016

The answer is simply- YES, they do. Discs are made of fibrocartilage, which is a very strong, supportive material made to withstand a lot of stress. Their inner materials are softer, and when a disc ruptures, or herniates, the inner material wedges through the crack like squeezing a jelly donut. This tear in your disc is analogous to a cut in your skin. You...

Neuroplasticity Exercises to Restore Brain Health

April 5, 2016

What is Neuroplasticity? It refers to the ability of the brain to adapt, reorganizing to create new neural pathways so that we can CHANGE our brain function as needed. Why is it needed? Many of us go through life changing head injuries, major life events that alter us in some way, illness, accidents, postural changes and every day stress that can effect the...

Maintenance for your Spine equals Maintenance for your Brain

March 31, 2016

Once you're experiencing pain, it's too late. By that I don't mean that it's not treatable, but I do mean that your system has already been compensating for some time. Unless you have recently injured yourself, your issue has most likely developed over time from chronic strain due to posture, sleeping positions, habits, work ergonomics, weekend activities...

Knee pain is not the end: It could be originating from your Pelvis, Hip or Lumbar Spine

March 21, 2016

If your Hip, Pelvis and Lumbar spine are not working properly, it is impossible for your knee to function normally and absorb pressure during gait. This is because when we step, our foot transmits forces into our knee, which then transmits into our hip, pelvis, lumbar spine and so forth. This is known as shock absorption, and functions by redistributing...

20 Tips for reducing Headaches and Migraines

March 8, 2016

Drink more water Increase Antioxidants (fresh fruits) Supplement with Magnesium and B-complex vitamins Eat smaller meals throughout the day (keeping blood sugar level) Eat a big breakfast Discontinue drinking caffeine High protein, low carbohydrate diet Exercise more frequently Improve posture/ergonomics of sitting and standing Discontinue eating dairy...

Migraines

March 4, 2016

A common condition that isn't always classified with neurological sectors is the Migraine. Migraines can be extremely debilitating, often associated with throbbing, pain sensations along with auras. Many of these auras are associated with visual changes and occur shortly before the Migraine, indicating that it's on the way.  Many of these people...

Vestibular Migraine: the second most common cause of vertigo

March 4, 2016

Migraines are one of the more common neurological conditions seen in our office. And while Migraines are often associated with pain and throbbing sensation, they are also connected with the vestibular, or inner ear systems within the brain that control balance, hearing and motion. These Migraine variants are known as Vestibular Migraines, and are the second...

Vestibular Therapy for dizziness, vertigo and imbalance

February 20, 2016

The vestibular system is a complex organ that is located in the inner ear. It looks like the combination of a seashell and a set of bagpipes. When there is a problem in these structures, the result can be debilitating- feelings of spinning, motion, disequilebrium and nausea. The most common cause of this is from BPPV, or Benign Paroxysmal Positional...

Trigger points: a more effective treatment

February 20, 2016

Trigger points are most effectively retrained by shortening and lengthening the muscle along its contractile elements with simultaneous myofascial release, known as Active Release Technique. If you're a patient in our office, this is when you are moving a body part and it feels as if we're digging our thumbs into you. This resets the neurological patterns...

Feeling disoriented? Is it vertigo, dizziness, light-headedness, post-concussion syndrome, syncope, vestibular migraine, lack of sleep or my diet?

February 20, 2016

Feeling off, or disoriented is a common thread seen within many individuals, and most certainly within the patient population treated at our office. The question is, what could be the cause? What makes a person feel like they are not centered, or balanced in their environment. The answer is simple, but the reason behind it may be complex.  If your gaze is...

The many benefits of mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

February 20, 2016

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Concentrated oxygen at a pressure of 1.3 ATA causes an increase in oxygen delivery to injured or hypoxic tissues at a level 400% deeper than our normal blood supply can penetrate. This utilizes the properties of liquids and gases under pressure (Henry’s Law), which causes oxygen (a gas) to become dissolved into fluids such...

Whiplash: It's More than just a Neck Injury

February 5, 2016

Whiplash is often considered an injury ot the Neck, but emerging evidence and certainly our clinical experience illustrates the association of mild traumatic brian injury, or concussions associated with the force of a whiplash event. We have wondered in the past why some patients respond slower, or have emotional symptoms, fogginess, dizziness,...

Why is Portland Chiropractic Neurology Different: An emerging paradigm in healthcare?

January 31, 2016

We are a large team that has a wide array of knowledge within Chiropractic, Neurology, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Nutrition, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. This allows us to provide better care for our patents as we work as a TEAM to understand the proper diagnosis and treatment for your particular complaint. We are one of the few practices in New...

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Portland Maine

December 13, 2015

What is happening during Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT? Under pressure, increased amounts of oxygen are transferred into the plasma of your blood, which usually contains about 3% oxygen. This increases to about 97% oxygen during hyperbaric therapy, allowing oxygen to diffuse into tissue 400% deeper than would normally be allowed. This allows tissue to...

Treatment of Concussion and other Brain Injuries with Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

December 13, 2015

What is rather interesting and ultimately very important about the human brain is that it is the control center of blood flow, where it is distributed and at what particular volume. This is accomplished through control of our blood vessels, either constricting or dilating as needed. However, in many patients, the injured brain is affected in such a way that...

Chronic Neck and Back Pain Generated from Faulty Eye Movements?

April 26, 2015

Yes, the brain and body are linked, but how could an eye movement change the tone of our neck or lower back muscles? The answer starts with stability and balance, when you move your eyes in a direction, you must stabilize the opposite sided musculature of the spine to brace for the sense of inertia that occurs. For instance, when we perform a saccade, or a...

What causes Vertigo, Imbalance and Dizziness?

April 11, 2015

The answer is both extremely complicated and simple at the same time. How does that occur? Well, In order to understand simplicity, you must first understand complexity. That is the case with Vertigo, Imbalance (spatial disorientation) and Dizziness. They are so common within our population that it is unnerving (no pun intended), yet with advancements in...

Massage

March 17, 2015

Massage is much more than just a relaxing experience. Massage is a great tool to use in rehabilitation of injuries of many types. Some massage techniques include myofascial, deep tissue, and stretching. Myofascial works with fascia, which is the stuff that covers nearly everything in our bodies; muscles, muscle bundles and muscle fibers.  It can become...

Are Posture and Biomechanical issues causing your pain?

February 17, 2015

Is shoveling really what’s causing your injuries or are there other underlying mechanisms that may be contributing to your discomfort. Why is it that some people end up in crippling pain from a night of shoveling and some walk away with a little muscle soreness from the great workout they got? Underlying postural and biomechanical issues can cause your...

Depression/Anxiety: Brain Imbalance

February 16, 2015

Depression and anxiety are common threads among our culture these days. Our current medical model of treatment consists of pharmaceuticals to balance neurotransmitter levels. Yet, they often create other, more harmful symptoms than depression or anxiety. I guess the question I would ask, is it worth it? Much of Neurology is now considering inflammatory...

Falling into the mental rut of winter in Maine: What can I do?

February 9, 2015

We all fall into that slightly depressed mentality during those long, cold, snowy winter months. It's unavoidable if you choose the Maine lifestyle, which has many rewards for those who can deal with a few dark wintery months. What can we do to help, though? Nutritionally, Vitamin D, Fish oils and smaller portions of organic red meats 3-4 times per week (6...

Post Concussion Syndrome : Why isn't my brain working?

February 9, 2015

Post Concussion Syndrome is a more recent diagnosis that has allowed us to describe multiple symptoms wrapped up into one unfortunate bouquet that consists of: Dizziness, Vertigo, Imbalance, Headaches, Migraines, Neck Pain, Confusion, Irritability, Slower Processing, Word Retrieval and Memory Issues. These are to name a few and are a result of mild...

Bilateral Arm Tingling: The Upper Thoracic Component

February 7, 2015

We see a tremendous amount of patients who have upper extremity tingling, pain or numbness. Most often, this stems from a cervical root impingment from disc related injury, hypertonicity or spasming of muscles in the scapular(shoulder blade)/rotator cuff region with associated costovertebral (rib/spine articulation) joint fixation. These are all treatable...

The Anterior Canal: Vertigo Has a New Player

February 7, 2015

Think about what you do all day. If you are like many of us in the American culture you probably thought about texting, watching television, sitting at work, computer usage, some exercise and a myriad of other activities that you do throughout the day. There is a common theme among most of us, we're in chronic flexion, or head forward/down position. Well,...

The Thyroid Puzzle

January 15, 2015

Thyroid dysfunction can manifest itself in many ways. Why so many differing symptoms? Because every cell in the human body has receptors for thyroid hormone in their DNA. What does this mean? This means that in order for any system in the body to function, we need the Thyroid gland working optimally.   When we think of thyroid issue many of us tend to only...

Chiropractic Neurology: The New Model

November 21, 2014

Why a new model? Well, I think we can all agree that, while pharmaceuticals and surgical intervention are appropriate in some situations, the majority of issues cannot be solved with those approaches. We must ask ourselves, are people better off after surgery? Are we truly better off taking drugs for mood, attention, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety?...

Why Chiropractic Neurology is your answer for Cluster Headaches

November 13, 2014

Cluster Headaches are known as a neurovascular headache (which most headaches truly are if you understand neurology). They also go by Histamine headaches. These headaches are extremely debilitating, affecting one side of the head/face, particularly in and around the orbit, or eye. These headaches can be so bad that people often have thoughts of suicide....

Center of Pressure: What this means to posture, joint and spinal pain

October 29, 2014

If I drew a line right down the center of you, it should land in between your ankles. If I looked at you from the side, I should be able to draw a line from your ear and connect it straight down to your shoulder, then hip and finally your ankle. This is perfect center of pressure.  Now, if you think about this from an engineering perspective, it allows...

The Pain-Gate Theory: How chiropractic care creates motion to inhibit pain

October 29, 2014

Our body is a network of nerves that signal the brain as to whether we experience fine touch, pressure, vibration, temperature changes or pain. Pain nerves are tonically firing, which means that they are always sending signals toward the brain. This is important and explains why we react so quickly to a hot stove, or a pin prick. Thus, the question should...

When a Doctor bulges their disc, what do they do?

October 29, 2014

About a month ago, I was performing deadlifts at the gym, and apparently doing them incorrectly. I felt a pull in my lower back, having realized immediately what I may have done- I discontinued my workout. I was hoping I didn't bulge a disc, but the symptoms were consistent with a bulge, and unfortunately, I was right. I had created a disc bulge at the...

What is Functional Neurology?

September 25, 2014

Functional Neurology is a new branch of healthcare that allows the human brain to change. It does this by restructuring pathways and signaling within the infrastructure of the brain- these changes are known as neuroplasticity. Functional Neurologists are experts in detecting these errors in signaling within the nervous system, enabling specific treatment...

Most common food sensitivities

December 24, 2013

Those foods which are the most common among those individuals with food sensitivities include grains (including wheat, rice, quinoa, oats, barley, spelt), gluten (a component in wheat, and used as a binder in many processed foods today), dairy (primarily the casein component).  There are other foods and food particles which can cause sensitivities but...

Posture

December 24, 2013

Posture Many people that come into our office are uncertain as to why they have neck, shoulder or back pain.  The common statement is that, “it came out of nowhere.”  However, as practitioners we have come to realize that there is a cause for these symptoms, and it’s due to postural strain over time.  As sedentary individuals, we don’t move as...

Chiropractic Neurology: A multi-modal approach

November 11, 2013

When we look at the human body, we are not looking at only one system, but of multiple systems that work in cooperation to create normal function.  In turn, one of the most common mistakes in healthcare is to compartmentalize conditions, looking at them segmentally, instead of analyzing all the potential causes.  Chiropractic Neurology utilizes sophistic...

Non-surgical Spinal Decompression: A new and effective approach to chronic pain, disc injury and degenerative disc disease (osteoarthritis), migraines and headaches

November 11, 2013

Spinal decompression offers a great alternative and conservative method to aid in the treatment of chronic injuries that relate to the discs of the spine.  Many individuals who do not respond to Physical Therapy, Chiropractic or other types of treatments by themselves often experience great results when those are combinated with disc decompression.  Disc...

Chronic Daily Headaches (CDH)

November 11, 2013

These are headaches that are experienced more days than not-at least 15 days per month, for three months.  It is not a specific type of headache, but rather a term used to describe persistent forms of other types of headaches such as: Chronic Tension Headaches, Chronic Migraines, New Daily Persistent Headaches and Hemicrania Continua.  Chronic Migraines...

Co-treatment

November 11, 2013

Co-treatment is an important aspect of the healthcare paradigm at Portland Chiropractic Neurology.  We are not always the appropriate treatment for your condition. Recognizing this is something that i've found to be overlooked by many healthcare professionals, even myself in the past.  At our office, we are able to combine many effective therapies, but if...

Primary vs. Secondary Headaches

November 11, 2013

Primary headaches are those that do not have a known cause, which we refer to as idiopathic.  These are the Tension Headaches, Migraines, Cluster Headaches and the Occipital Neuralgias of the world.  Secondary headaches are those in which there are more severe neurological implications and can be caused by tumor, aneurysm, CSF blockage, infection,...

Not every condition has a name or a diagnosis

October 5, 2013

We evaluate many patients who have often seen a variety of practitioners with little to no help.  These people have been labeled with a diagnosis, but are still without answers.  Functional Neurology is able to explain and treat many of these conditions, but laying the label of vertigo, Migraines, Headaches, Non-epileptic seizures, et cetera, hardly...

Whiplash and its involvement in Post-Concussion Syndrome

October 5, 2013

  Headaches and Migraines are common symptoms that individuals often experience after even mild trauma to the head.  Concussions are a mild traumatic brain injury, as they create inflammation and swelling in our cranium.   These injuries can take weeks, months or even greater amounts of time to resolve if not rehabilitated appropriately.  The headaches...

A new way to evaluate brain function

October 5, 2013

functional Videonystagmography (fVNG) allows us to carefully look at specific eye movement that would not be seen with the naked eye, as they relate to brain function.  Different regions of our brain control different types of eye movement, pupillary response and optokinetic function and testing these eye movements is one of our greatest windows into brain...

How does your neck or back pain affect the brain?

October 4, 2013

The results are quite profound Receptors(signaling structures) within your joints and muscles that comprise every region of your spine, shoulder, elbow, hip, knee et cetera are primary activators of your brain.  Through various sensory pathways (Dorsal Column Medial Lemniscus, Spinothalamic, spinocerebellar tracts) we send information to our brain that...

Disequilibrium (balance)

October 4, 2013

Balance occurs when our spine, surrounding muscles and brain are effectively signaling back and forth. If this doesn’t occur due to some error in either of the aforementioned systems, then balance and equilibrium will be affected. When we sway to one side, we stretch, or trigger sensitive spinal stabilizing muscles on the opposing side. Consider a sway...

Food sensitivities versus food allergies

July 2, 2013

Many people do not understand that there is a difference between food allergies and food sensitivities, however there is a significant difference between the two, between the mechanism behind them, and the effect that they have on the nervous system. Food allergies occur when there is an immediate immune-mediated reaction to antigens in the ingested item by...

Vestibular Fellowship: A letter from Dr. MacArthur

July 2, 2013

As a provider with a diplomate in Chiropractic Neurology, I noticed that many of my patients would arrive complaining of dizziness and vertigo symptoms.  Although I had a lot of training in these areas with my degree in neurology already, I felt there was more to ascertain about this particularly interesting subject.  I had also noted that there...

Nutrition, Brain Function and Overall Health

July 2, 2013

Proper nutrition is vital to the health of every cell in our body from skin, to bone, to intestinal, to brain cells, as well as the formation of every single neurotransmitter which are essential to the function of all of our systems.  Our world today is full of conditions that, along with several other contributing factors, are the result of food that...

The Gut-Brain Axis

July 2, 2013

The function of our brain directly affects the function of our gut, and vice versa.  This is a continuous cycle, unless each of the components is addressed appropriately and in concert (if it is determined that both are involved).   Inadequate brain function, whether it be the result of abnormal brain maturation (such as with disorders that...

Developmental Disorders

July 2, 2013

What are developmental disorders? Developmental disorders are disorders which occur during normal developmental growth which can occur from the time a fetus is in utero through childhood.  These disorders can be due to a number of factors, but in all cases there is either complete lack of, or, a delay in maturation of certain areas of the central...
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