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The Long Road Home

Returning to Freedom and Flexibility

By:  Dr. Dennis Maness

It was 10:40 PM as Evelyn made her way home through a rural farming area in her new 1966 Mustang. Dark and cold, Eve had the heater and the radio on. She had made the drive hundreds of times. From her friend’s house to her home was exactly 9.2 miles and she knew every curve and hill between her friend’s house and her home. As Eve drove up the small hill that separated their houses unaware that a large truck had just picked up the harvest from a nearby field had just pulled onto the road on the other side of the hill. Eve, unable to see the truck cleared the top of the hill, started her decent. By the time she saw the truck it was too late. What happened next changed Eve’s life. “All I remember was the loud crash, the scraping metal, the terrible smell that I could never describe; then I passed out”. Eve had run under the trailer being pulled by the truck. That night, Eve received head injuries that would leave her left arm and hand paralyzed for the next forty-two years.

Physical paralysis and long term emotional dysfunction can happen to anyone following a traumatic event. It may not be a physical paralysis; it may be an emotional upheaval that is relived over and over again paralyzing emotions, evoking undesirable behaviors of anger, violence and depression to physical problems in various parts of the body.

When an unsettling event happens, the brain will react. A primary function of the brain is to protect the body; to trigger activities which will keep you alive and safe. When you are upset, a chain reaction usually started by the release of a hormone called adrenaline, goes to work to excite your bodily system to react in a protective mode. An adrenaline rush and the behavior called ‘Fight or Flight’ operate en masse for your self preservation.

Let’s follow the adrenaline rush in Eve following the accident. Just before impact, stress hormones and chemicals flood Eve’s body as it prepares her for fight or flight. This makes her heart beat faster, constricting blood vessels in her limbs keeping blood in the trunk, increasing her breathing and perspiration and tensing muscles. At this point some people will faint due to the trauma; it is one of the brain’s options to reduce panic and further injury to oneself.

For many, any attempt to return to what was normal after a significant trauma is greatly compromised because of damage to tissues, muscle and- nerves. Capillaries throughout the body were constricted during the accident. Heart muscles were stressed and muscles throughout the body retain some physical tension which is one of the reasons the body may feel sore following an event.

For the next forty two years Evelyn was unable to use her right hand and arm which have become paralyzed. A close friend suggested that she may get some improvement if she came to see Dr. Maness for NeuroPlasticity sessions.  Dr. Maness has had success working with accident survivors suffering with non-structural close brain injury, stroke and depressive symptoms following accidents.

Dr. Maness ran a NeuroPlasticity test to see if Eve’s brain could relax itself to allow her arm and hand to release. When Evelyn said she felt tingles in her arm and hand it was an indication that she would be a good candidate for NeuroPlasticity sessions. 

In Evelyn’s case, the sessions helped free her body and mind to attempt to return to its original healthy state, but at that moment the underlying stress issues related to being in a prolonged trauma state and the resultant coping mechanisms had not been resolved yet thus causing those issues to remain. When these health issues are still present, the brain makes adjustments to a new homeostasis (a new acceptable norm). As Evelyn began to recover, she became more aware of the anxiety, depression, headaches, stomach and bowel problems and a variety of other pains that was masked by her focus on the paralysis.

To address these health challenges, Dr. Dennis Maness used a variety of sound frequencies, vibration and lobe specific / neuro specific exercises to counter the current homeostasis and to return Evelyn to the more desired homeostasis. By the end of a week of sessions, Evelyn began to regain feeling to her hand and arm and experienced increased overall wellbeing. She was able to make a fist, hold a glass of water and had improved movement in the fingers. Now that back she is back home in the Midwest, Evelyn continues to improve.

In low doses, stress alerts us, organizes us and makes us more productive. In high amounts and in cases of physical trauma like Evelyn’s or in depression, mood swings, depressive behaviors and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, our Neuro Plasticity treatments have helped many on their road to recovery.

Dr. Dennis Maness developed the NeuroPlasticity procedures and holds the patents. These protocols have been utilized by over 9,600 individuals since 2002 and are offered exclusively through Certified health care practitioners  who have attended classes and passed the certification test offered through the International Brain / Body Institute.  Certified BrainTek^tm Practitioners offer a complete program to help brain and body functionality.  BrainTek^tm Institute works with you to address the root causes of the health issues to help you regain and your optimum health and peak performance.

Research
• BrainTek Institute continues to stay at the cutting edge of brain / body research.  Our research has helped us become successful with  traumatic brain injury, stroke, Attention / Focus and other cognitive challenges.  We are also studying how early detection of irregular brainwave behavior is a valuable predictor of potential challenges.