This post explores the link between concussions and MCAS, and provides a rundown of the helpful treatments for a concussion.
I never thought much of the concussions I had. I thought that once I no longer felt the effects of a concussion, it was healed and over. But the more I’ve read about concussions, the more surprised I’ve become about how concussion symptoms can persist forever. I have also been blown away by learning that there is a link between concussions and MCAS.
The most impactful thing I’ve done to heal my concussions is the Safe and Sound Protocol. It’s gently healed my nervous system so that now when I get a little bump on my head, it no longer starts a MCAS symptom spiral.
Table of Contents
Who is Betsy Leighton?
I’m a writer, blogger, and healer dedicated to helping individuals reconnect with their innate peace and wholeness by healing nervous system dysregulation. My personal experience with chronic illness called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) shapes my work, and my content offers tools to empower those with chronic illness to improve their well-being and take charge of their health.
I created the Sacred Self-Healing Method and am a trained and certified Safe and Sound Protocol provider, an author, blogger, and A Course in Miracles Teacher. I hold a Master of Divinity in Spiritual Counseling and am a trained spiritual mentor, with certificates in sound healing, aromatherapy, nutrition, and Sacred Deathcare. I offer a self-study certificate program in the Sacred Self-Healing Method, provide spiritual counseling and coaching, courses, and supported subscriptions for the Safe and Sound Protocol.
What is MCAS?
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is a chronic condition that affects all organ systems. It can cause severe, disabling symptoms every day, including potentially fatal anaphylaxis. MCAS often occurs with other chronic conditions like Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Managing MCAS is challenging because many healthcare providers are unaware of it, and diagnostic tests can be unreliable. Treatments include antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers, as well as avoiding triggers. Check out this post on managing MCAS.
I’ve had at least a dozen concussions
My first significant concussion happened when I was six years old. The summer Olympics were being aired on TV, and I loved watching the divers make their elegant acrobatic entrances into the pool.
So, one day, I tried to do a flip while diving into a regular suburban pool. Unfortunately, I dove headfirst into the concrete side of the pool and passed out. Luckily my mom quickly got me out of the pool and took me to the emergency room. I don’t remember the impact or anything for ten or fifteen minutes after it happened, so I must have passed out. I do remember being woozy and having a headache for weeks after that incident.
What is a concussion?
A concussion is a type of head injury known as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that affects brain function.
With a concussion, the brain can move in the skull. This causes chemical changes in the brain and damage to brain cells. Both of these situations can affect brain function.
Traumatic Brain Injuries or TBIs are categorized based on the symptoms that present. A concussion is a type of TBI, which is classified as a mild TBI, and most concussions are not life-threatening.
However, concussions are still serious and can cause a lot of issues.
- Symptoms of a concussion can be immediate or may appear gradually over time.
- With a concussion, you may or may not lose consciousness.
- With a moderate or severe TBI, you will usually lose consciousness.
Having EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), a common comorbidity with MCAS, may make you more prone to concussions because of ligament damage, making it difficult for your neck to stabilize your head correctly.
The likelihood of having more concussions
Once you sustain one TBI or concussion, you are much more likely to experience another concussion. This is so for several reasons. One reason is that you are less steady while you are healing from a concussion, making it more likely for you to lose your balance.
Another reason for being more likely to have a second concussion (or third, or more) is that the brain needs time to heal, and while it is healing, it is vulnerable to any jarring. So, you are more likely to have a second or third concussion while your brain is still healing from a much smaller impact, like bumping your head on a cupboard.
In my case, I had two more pretty serious concussions in my youth — once when a hammock I was lying in fell, and another when I was hit from behind by another skier while downhill skiing. And then, while I was experiencing an intense period of caregiving stress in my life, I had a series of nine concussions within a few years. Some of the impacts were very minor, but a few of them sent me to the hospital.
Another reason for sustaining multiple concussions after you experience one is that when your brain is healing from a TBI or concussion, it is using extra resources (energy) to recover. So you have less energy for other life processes. This makes sense because the brain is so important to your overall functioning. If you experience another bump on the head, your body doesn’t have enough extra resources to deal with the second threat. This can lead to what is known as Second Impact Syndrome, which can be very serious.
Symptoms of concussions
When you sustain a concussion, mast cells are the first responders.
These are common symptoms of concussions source:
Physical
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Drowsiness
- Migraines or headaches
- Dizziness or balance problems
- Clumsiness
- Fatigue
- Nausea or vomiting
- Vision problems like blurry vision
Cognitive
- Concentration issues
- Confusion or disorientation
- Memory problems
Emotional
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
- Being emotional
- Sadness
- Behavioral or personality changes
Sleep
- Sleeping less than usual
- Sleep more than usual
- Difficulty falling asleep
You don’t need to have all of these signs to have a concussion. But you will likely have one or more symptoms from one or more of the above categories.
The link between concussions and MCAS
There can be many root causes for MCAS, such as infections, toxic exposures including mold toxicity, and trauma of any kind — physical, emotional, or mental.
All of these root causes have in common that they damage the vagus nerve. When your vagus nerve is damaged, it overreacts to perceived threats, which can trigger mast cell activation (sending more mast cells to the site), inflammation, and increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier.
In a concussion, your brain may become inflamed, leading mast cells to congregate at the site. Though this is a protective measure designed to aid healing, it can exacerbate already overreactive mast cells. You can also experience structural damage to the ligaments around the skull, leading to increased inflammation and mast cell activity.
And whenever there is a vagus nerve injury, the vagus nerve sends continuous signals to the brain that the body is under attack. This causes mast cells to rush to the site to assist with healing. Having mast cells on high alert and acting haywire after the initial impact is long over causes a spiral of mast cell activation.
Concussion treatments
Treating a concussion as soon as possible is critical to healing your brain so that you don’t experience further complications like MCAS or Post-Concussion Headaches.
- Rest and sleep are critical when you have a concussion. If you are experiencing headaches, you may need to take time off work to sit in a darkened room — for as long as it takes to heal. This can be hard if you are busy! But giving your brain the rest it needs is crucial to healing your concussion.
- Reducing your toxic load is also very important, so your body can focus on healing the brain rather than dealing with extra toxins.
- See a professional such as a chiropractor, neurological chiropractor, cranial sacral therapist, osteopath, or another gentle healer.
- Use the Safe and Sound Protocol to gently heal your nervous system.
- Use vagus nerve healing modalities such as frequency healing, FSM, and gentle vagal tone exercises.
- Take supplements that aid in healing concussions, such as turmeric or curcumin, and Tributyrin-X. Tributyrin-X helps to reinforce the blood-brain barrier and keep toxins out of the brain, modulate the release of inflammatory mediators from mast cells, and promote memory consolidation.
- And consider taking Low Dose Naltrexone, which has been shown to aid in healing from concussions.
The bucket theory
The bucket theory simplifies understanding symptom reactions with MCAS. Imagine your body as an empty bucket you don’t want to overflow. Reactions to various stimuli fill the histamine bucket at different rates, forming the total histamine level (how full your bucket is). More histamine means more symptoms. By managing triggers, reducing exposures, and taking medications and supplements, you can control your bucket’s level.
Know your typical symptom progression
Understanding your symptom progression during a flare is key to developing your rescue plan. This post discusses how to recognize symptom progression so you can be prepared to address them.
Get my free ebook, symptom log, and meal plan!
Want a tool to easily track your symptoms?
Check out these circadian health tools!
I’m an affiliate with Bon Charge, a company that makes tools for circadian health, and you can receive 15% off your order with my coupon code BETSYL.
Bon Charge offers tools such as yellow– and red-tone blue-blocking glasses, red light therapy devices, PEMF mats, infrared saunas, and EMF-blocking products.
Sign up for the SSP!
I’ve found the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) to be the most helpful bottom-up healing strategy if your nervous system has been overloaded with toxic exposures, including mold or non-native EMFs, chronic infections, concussions, stress, or trauma. The SSP is a passive listening therapy based on Polyvagal Theory that helps heal nervous system dysregulation. Many people with MCAS and other chronic conditions have nervous system dysregulation stemming from infections, toxic exposures, concussions, and trauma. The SSP is an easy-to-use app that lets you listen to specially filtered music for 30 minutes each day as part of a 5-hour cycle. Studies show the SSP has a profound effect on mental health and chronic conditions. Here’s a short podcast describing the Safe and Sound Protocol.
You can sign up for the SSP here!
Heal your mind!
While the SSP is a bottom-up, somatic therapy for healing the nervous system, the Sacred Self-Healing Method I offer is a top-down nervous system-healing modality that focuses on cognition, attention, perception, and emotion, using the mind’s higher functions. The SSP and the Sacred Self-Healing Method complement each other and together produce lasting results. Here’s a short podcast on my self-healing practice.
I provide one-on-one in-person and remote chronic illness and caregiver coaching, as well as Sacred Self-Healing Sessions based on the Sacred Self-Healing Method, a proven, novel co-creative healing modality detailed in my Books.
Order my books!
Here’s a short podcast highlighting my five books.
My latest book, Living In The Light: Healing with Forgiveness, Sound, and Light, is all about the tools that have been most helpful for me to heal: forgiveness, sound, through nervous system retraining using the Safe and Sound Protocol, and light, through entraining my circadian rhythm with the energy of the sun. Living In The Light is available here!
Rocks and Roots chronicles my solo backpacking journey on the Superior Hiking Trail and my efforts to overcome nervous system dysregulation, gut dysbiosis, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome symptoms to complete the 328-mile hike successfully.
The Sacred Self-Healing Method ebook is available here and in most ebook retailers!
The Sacred Self-Healing Workbook is available for purchase here!
Betsy’s first book, Sacred Self-Healing: Finding Peace Through Forgiveness, is available here
Companion Recordings
The companion audio recordings of chants, guided meditations, and sound healing demonstrations that accompany the Sacred Self-Healing Method are available for free on my YouTube channel here
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Disclaimer
The preceding material does not constitute medical advice. This information is for information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, cure, or treatment.
