Can you remember a day where you were just “on”? Everything in your brain was clicking, you felt great and were ready to take on the world? For many patients that come to my office those days are just a memory and for some it is hard to recall that kind of day.
Brain fog has become a bit of a buzzword but, I think it is a perfect description. Your head feels like it is a fog. Thoughts, actions, decisions and reaction times are all delayed and most everything feels like a struggle.
Brain fog can develop for a variety of reasons. Extreme stress or emotional upheaval, toxicity, medication issues etc. One of the most common and most overlooked is an upper neck issue. If the upper neck is out of alignment a variety of events can lead to brain malfunction and fogginess.
One key event is restriction of blood flow. Two big arteries that run up each side of your neck, called the vertebral arteries, take about 30% of blood to your brain. They actually run through the top four bones in your neck and carry blood primarily to the back of your brain. If the upper neck gets misaligned in certain directions it can limit this blood flow on one or even both sides of the neck.
One of the big parts of the brain it supplies is the cerebellum. The cerebellum is largely responsible for balance and coordination. If you drink alcohol and get wobbly, it is because the cerebellum has been affected.
Decreased cerebellum function (due to decreased blood flow) impairs the balance system which can in turn lead to brain fog and unclear thinking.
Other reasons you may find yourself experiencing brain fog are pregnancy (Some women find that it is harder to remember things during their pregnancy), medication (Certain types of drugs, both over-the-counter and prescription based, can also cause brain fog.), multiple sclerosis (This disease impacts your central nervous system and often changes the way your brain “talks” to your body.), cancer (chemotherapy uses exceptionally strong drugs which can often lead to what is sometimes referred to as “chemo brain.”), menopause (women often find it more difficult to learn or remember things as they reach this stage in their life.), chronic fatigue syndrome (with this condition, the body and the mind are often tired in conjunction with one another for a long time leaving you feeling confused, absent-minded, and hard to focus.)
At Upper Cervical Health Centers in Fort Myers, FL, we evaluate both the upper neck and balance to find out if it is contributing to brain fog. Upper neck corrections are then performed along with in office and home therapy for the cerebellum and balance system. Adding these together we have seen tremendous improvement in brain fog patients.
