Quick Answer

Yes. A chiropractor may be an important part of concussion recovery when the injury also affects the cervical spine, muscles, joints, balance, or other parts of the neuromusculoskeletal system.

evaluation with Dr. SchloempA concussion is a traumatic brain injury, so chiropractic care should not be presented as a way to “cure” the brain injury itself. At the same time, the impact that causes a concussion can also affect the neck. Because cervical symptoms may overlap with concussion symptoms, an athlete may experience headaches, dizziness, neck pain, restricted movement, or balance difficulties for more than one reason.

For that reason, parents of young athletes should remember:

Don’t think brain OR neck. Think brain AND neck.

At Chandler Chiropractic, the first step after a concussion or significant sports injury is not automatically an adjustment. Instead, we begin with a thorough history and examination. That process helps us determine what may have been injured, whether chiropractic care is appropriate, and whether another healthcare professional should also be involved.

Why Would a Chiropractor Be Involved in Concussion Recovery?

When most parents hear the word concussion, they understandably think about the:

Brain.

They may also think about a pediatrician, athletic trainer, sports medicine physician, neurologist, or emergency department. Each of these professionals can have an important role in concussion care.

However, another part of the injury may be overlooked:

The neck.

Consider what happens during many sports-related concussions. A football player gets tackled, a soccer player collides with another athlete, a basketball player falls backward and strikes the floor, or a gymnast falls from the beam. In each situation, the head may rapidly accelerate, decelerate, rotate, or change direction.

Those forces do not magically stop at the skull. Instead, the cervical spine—the neck—moves as well.

Therefore, rather than asking only:

“Does my child have a concussion?”

parents should also ask:

“What happened to my child’s neck during that impact?”

That question highlights one area where a chiropractor can bring an important perspective to the concussion healthcare team.

A Concussion Is a Brain Injury—But the Impact Can Affect More Than the Brain

This distinction matters because a concussion is a traumatic brain injury. We are not saying that every concussion is actually a neck injury, that adjusting the neck heals the injured brain, or that every athlete with a concussion needs chiropractic care.

Instead, we are saying that a concussion-producing event can affect multiple systems at the same time.

The brain may be affected, while the cervical spine, muscles, joints, balance, visual system, vestibular system, coordination, and movement may also be affected. Consequently, modern concussion care increasingly looks beyond one symptom or one test.

The athlete needs to be evaluated as a whole person.

The Neck Can Produce Symptoms That Look Like Concussion Symptoms

This is where the conversation becomes especially important. Some symptoms associated with cervical dysfunction can overlap with symptoms commonly experienced after a concussion, including:

  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Neck pain
  • Restricted neck movement
  • Balance-related complaints
  • Muscular tightness or soreness

For example, imagine an athlete who has been recovering for several weeks. The initial concussion symptoms have improved, yet headaches and dizziness continue. The assumption may be:

“The concussion just hasn’t healed yet.”

That may be true. Nevertheless, another question deserves attention:

“Has anyone thoroughly evaluated the cervical spine?”

This question does not mean the neck is definitely causing the symptoms. Instead, it means the neck should not automatically be ignored.

Research increasingly recognizes cervical symptoms as an important part of the post-concussion picture, particularly when headaches, dizziness, and neck pain persist.

What Does the Research Say About the Neck and Concussion?

The connection between cervical function and concussion recovery is not simply something chiropractors discuss. For example, a systematic review published in Sports Medicine examined cervical symptoms following concussion and found that cervicogenic symptoms are common in both acute and persistent post-concussion populations.

In addition, the review reported that neck pain during the initial evaluation was associated with an increased likelihood of persistent post-concussion symptoms. Similarly, another randomized controlled trial involved young athletes with persistent dizziness, neck pain, and/or headaches after a sport-related concussion. Participants who received combined cervical spine and vestibular rehabilitation had improved medical-clearance outcomes compared with those who received the control intervention.

Furthermore, the international Amsterdam Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport recognizes cervicovestibular rehabilitation as an important consideration when dizziness, neck pain, and/or headaches persist after a concussion.

The takeaway is not that chiropractic has been proven to cure concussion.

Instead, the takeaway is that the cervical spine matters. For selected patients, appropriate cervical assessment and rehabilitation may be an important part of concussion management.

So What Exactly Is the Chiropractor’s Role?

At Chandler Chiropractic, our role begins with one question:

Is there a cervical or neuromusculoskeletal component to this athlete’s injury that is appropriate for us to address?

We do not answer that question by guessing. We examine.

When a young athlete comes into our office after a concussion or significant sports-related impact, we want to understand the entire story. That includes asking:

  • What exactly happened?
  • Did the head hit another athlete, the ground, a wall, or equipment?
  • What direction did the force come from?
  • Was there a second impact when the athlete hit the ground?
  • Did the athlete lose consciousness?
  • Was there confusion or memory loss?
  • What symptoms appeared immediately?
  • What symptoms developed later?
  • How has sleep changed?
  • Has mood changed?
  • How is concentration?
  • How is school going?
  • Is there neck pain?
  • Are there headaches?
  • How is balance?
  • Are there visual complaints?
  • Can the athlete perform normal activities around the house?
  • Have there been previous concussions?
  • Are there previous neck or sports injuries?

Every concussion has a story.

Therefore, we want to understand that story before making recommendations.

Your chandler chiropractorWhat Might a Chiropractic Examination Include After a Concussion?

The examination depends on the individual athlete and the injury history. Depending on the circumstances, we may evaluate:

  • Cervical range of motion
  • Muscular strength and function
  • Areas of restriction or tenderness
  • Posture
  • Head position
  • Shoulder and hip symmetry
  • Spinal and joint function
  • Balance
  • Gait
  • Coordination
  • Eye tracking
  • Pupil responses
  • Left-to-right differences
  • Other neurological or orthopedic findings when appropriate

When indicated, we may also use balance assessments, such as heel-to-toe walking or other clinical balance tests.

Throughout the examination, we are looking for something especially important:

How is this athlete functioning compared with normal?

Then, during a later reevaluation, we want to know:

Is that function improving?

What About X-Rays?

An X-ray does not diagnose a concussion. That distinction is important because a concussion generally does not need to appear on routine structural imaging to be real.

When cervical X-rays are clinically appropriate in our office, we are evaluating the neck, not trying to see the concussion. Depending on the athlete and the injury, cervical imaging may help us evaluate bony structures and identify findings that influence whether or how chiropractic care is provided.

However, if we suspect a fracture, significant instability, neurological injury, or another condition requiring different imaging or specialist evaluation, chiropractic adjustment may not be appropriate.

Examine first. Adjust only when appropriate.

Does Every Athlete With a Concussion Get Adjusted?

No. This is one of the most important points parents should understand about responsible chiropractic care.

A child should not sustain a significant head or neck injury and then simply be placed on an adjusting table without an appropriate evaluation. First, we need to determine:

Is chiropractic appropriate?

If the examination identifies findings within our scope that can appropriately be addressed with chiropractic care, we can develop an individualized plan. If we identify something concerning, we refer the athlete.

That referral may involve:

  • Emergency evaluation
  • Sports medicine
  • Orthopedics
  • Neurology
  • Physical therapy
  • Vestibular rehabilitation
  • Advanced imaging
  • Another appropriate specialist

Sometimes chiropractic is one of several services the athlete needs. At other times, another provider needs to take the lead.

Your child doesn’t need professional turf wars. Your child needs the right healthcare team.

What If My Child’s MRI or CT Scan Was Normal?

A normal CT or MRI does not automatically rule out a concussion. CT and MRI are extremely valuable when healthcare professionals are concerned about structural problems, such as bleeding, fracture, or another significant condition.

However, concussion is generally a functional injury, so routine structural imaging may be normal. As a result, families sometimes say:

“Everything was normal on the scan, but my child still isn’t normal.”

That is possible. If the athlete continues to experience symptoms, we need to ask what may still be affected:

  • The cervical spine?
  • Balance?
  • Vision or vestibular function?
  • Exercise tolerance?
  • Sleep?
  • Headaches?
  • Something else?
  • Several things?

Normal imaging does not automatically mean normal function.

What If Concussion Symptoms Aren’t Going Away?

This is another area where parents need to ask more questions. If weeks have passed and the athlete continues experiencing:

  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Neck pain
  • Balance problems
  • Visual difficulty
  • Exercise intolerance
  • Sleep problems
  • Concentration difficulties
  • Trouble returning to sport

do not simply assume:

“They need more time.”

Sometimes they do. However, persistent symptoms deserve further evaluation.

Don’t just add more time. Add more information.

Ask what has not been evaluated. Ask whether the cervical spine has been examined, and ask about vestibular function, vision, exercise tolerance, sleep, headaches, and the athlete’s ability to move and perform.

Sometimes recovery stalls because a particular component of the injury has not yet been identified or appropriately addressed.

Feeling Better Isn’t Always the Same as Functioning Better

Young athletes are especially interesting because their sports often demand much more from their bodies than normal daily life does. A child may be able to walk around the house, sit at school, eat dinner, watch television, and feel relatively normal.

However, that does not necessarily show whether they are ready to sprint, cut, jump, land, track a ball, catch, rotate, tumble, balance on a beam, react to another athlete, or safely absorb contact.

The sport may reveal what everyday life hides.

For that reason, we want to look beyond symptoms alone. We also need to consider balance, coordination, movement, exercise tolerance, neck function, and the athlete’s response as sport-specific demands increase.

When Can My Child Return to Sports?

Return to sport should follow an appropriate, progressive protocol. An athlete should not go directly from:

“My headache is gone.”

to:

“I’m playing tonight.”

Instead, activity should increase gradually so the athlete and healthcare team can observe how the athlete responds. In addition, the athlete should meet the appropriate medical, school, league, and legal clearance requirements before returning to unrestricted sport.

Don’t let Friday night determine the recovery timeline.

The game schedule does not decide when your child is ready. Their recovery does.

Chiropractic Should Be Part of a Team

I want to make this clear because healthcare works best when professionals collaborate. Chiropractic does not need to compete with your pediatrician, the athletic trainer, sports medicine, physical therapy, neurology, orthopedics, vestibular rehabilitation, or other healthcare professionals.

Instead, we can work together.

The question should not be:

“Who gets the concussion patient?”

It should be:

“What does this athlete need?”

Then, we build the team around the answer. Unfortunately most western medicine doctors do not want Chiropractic to be a part of the team but in most cases is the critical component that gets left out. In some cases medical doctors will even talk patients out of going to the chiropractor all together, so be sure to critical think and do what you feel is best for the circumstance.

Why I Want More Sports Parents Thinking About Chiropractic Earlier

After more than two decades as a chiropractor, I have seen many athletes arrive at our office only after struggling for weeks or months. Their parents have worked hard to find answers, and they may have seen several professionals. Serious medical concerns may have appropriately been ruled out. Nevertheless, the athlete still is not functioning normally.

Sometimes, no one has taken a close look at the cervical and neuromusculoskeletal components of the injury. That is the gap I want parents to understand.

I do not want chiropractic replacing appropriate medical evaluation.

I want parents to stop forgetting that chiropractic is an option.

If your child sustains a concussion, make sure the brain injury is taken seriously. Know the emergency warning signs, follow the appropriate concussion protocol, follow return-to-learn recommendations, and follow return-to-sport requirements.

Also, ask:

“Has someone evaluated my child’s neck?”

My Advice to Sports Parents

I am a chiropractor, but I am also the parent of athletic children. Therefore, when I talk to another sports parent, my perspective is simple:

I want your child to receive the care they need.

If they need emergency medicine, go there. If they need a neurologist, involve one. If they need an athletic trainer, physical therapist, sports medicine physician, vestibular specialist, or orthopedic physician, make that professional part of the team.

If the impact has affected the cervical spine or neuromusculoskeletal system:

Make chiropractic part of the team too.

Your child is not simply:

“a concussion.”

They are a student, an athlete, and a son or daughter. Hopefully, they are also someone who will continue running, jumping, competing, exercising, and enjoying an active life for decades.

The goal is not simply to get them through today’s injury. Instead, the goal is to help them return to the classroom, return to their sport, and continue doing what they love.

Lasting results for all stages of life.

Research & Resources

Patricios JS, Schneider KJ, Dvorak J, et al.
Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport: The 6th International Conference on Concussion in Sport—Amsterdam, October 2022. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2023.

Cheever K, McDevitt J, Phillips J, Kawata K.
The Role of Cervical Symptoms in Post-Concussion Management: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine. 2021.

Schneider KJ, Meeuwisse WH, Nettel-Aguirre A, et al.
Cervicovestibular Rehabilitation in Sport-Related Concussion: A Randomised Controlled Trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — HEADS UP
Concussion recognition, recovery, return-to-school, and return-to-sports guidance.

This article is intended for educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical evaluation. A suspected concussion should be appropriately evaluated. Seek immediate medical attention for emergency warning signs or worsening neurological symptoms.