Concussion Treatment in Fargo, ND

Concussion Recovery Support Near You in Fargo, ND

Most concussions revolve in a week or two. The problem is the ones that don’t. If you’re reading this, you or your athlete are probably in that group. The headaches haven’t stopped. Screens are exhausting. Reading takes twice as long. You’ve been cleared by the doctor, told the scan was normal, and to give it time. But it’s been six weeks and something still isn’t right. Here’s what often gets missed: the same force that shook your brain also whipped your neck. You cannot concuss a head that is attached to a stationary neck. And research has repeatedly shown that headache, dizziness, neck pain, and balance problems are the symptoms that most commonly linger. They arise from the cervical spine and vestibular dysfunction at least as often as from the brain injury itself.

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What We Do – And What We Don’t

Let’s be direct, because this matters for your safety. We do not treat the brain injury. A concussion is a medical condition that belongs under the care of a physician, and acute concussion management which typically includes cognitive rest, graded return-to-learn and return-to-play, and medical clearance. That is their role, not ours.

What we address is the neck. When post-concussion symptoms persist beyond the expected recovery window, we evaluate whether cervical spine dysfunction is driving or amplifying them, and we treat that component. We will work alongside your physician, athletic trainer, and school, and we refer promptly when something falls outside our scope.

Seek emergency care immediately for any of these

• Worsening or severe headache
• Repeated vomiting
• Seizures or convulsions
• One pupil larger than the other
• Slurred speech, confusion, or unusual behavior
• Weakness, numbness, or decreased coordination
• Drowsiness or inability to wake up

These are red flags for a serious brain injury. Go to the emergency room. Do not come here first.

Why The Neck Explains So Many Lingering Symptoms

The upper cervical spine is one of the most densely innervated regions in the body. Its joints and deep muscles are packed with mechanoreceptors that feed your brain constant information about where your head is in space. Your brain integrates that input with signals from your inner ear and your eyes to produce balance, stable vision, and spatial orientation.

When the neck input is disrupted, and those three systems fall out of agreement. The result is dizziness, visual strain, difficulty focusing, and a foggy, unsteady feeling. These symptoms look exactly like a brain injury and are frequently attributed to one.

Research supports this overlap directly. Studies of people who have had concussions have found persistent cervical spine sensorimotor deficits which include impaired head repositioning accuracy and painful upper cervical joint mobility. These can even present in individuals who report minimal remaining symptoms. A randomized controlled trial of young athletes with persistent post-concussion dizziness, neck pain, or headache found that adding cervical spine and vestibular rehabilitation produced dramatically faster medical clearance to return to sport than standard care alone.

Post-Concussion Symptoms With a Cervical (Neck) Component)

• Headaches, especially starting at the base of the skull
• Neck pain and stiffness
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Difficulty with visual focus, or fatigue from screens and reading
• Feeling off-balance or unsteady
• Brain fog and difficulty concentrating
• Sleep disruption
• Sensitivity to light and noise

Our Approach to Post-Concussion Neck Care

Structural Assessment

We start with a detailed history which includes the mechanism of injury, symptom timeline, what’s improved, what hasn’t, and what your medical team has already done. Our exam also includes cervical range of motion, joint positioning error testing, orthopedic and neurological screening, and a full posture evaluation.

Where clinically indicated, digital X-rays let us measure the cervical curve and head position precisely. This matters because the same collision or impact mechanism that causes concussion frequently produces the same loss seen in whiplash. A flattened or reversed cervical (neck) curve changes the mechanical load on the structures generating your symptoms.

Restoring Normal Cervical Function

Care is gentle and graded, matched to where you are in recovery. Depending on your presentation, it may include specific low-force adjustments, soft tissue therapy for deep neck flexors and suboccipital muscles, sensorimotor retraining to restore head positioning accuracy, and once tolerated [cervical remodeling traction] to address curve (neck) loss.

Frequently Asked Questions About Concussion Care

Can a chiropractor treat a concussion?

Not the brain injury itself, as that requires medical care. What a chiropractor can address is the neck injury that almost always accompanies a concussion and what frequently drives persistent headaches, dizziness, and balance symptoms. The most effective model is co-management: your physician oversees the concussion, and we address the cervical spine component.

My scan was normal, so why do I still feel awful?

CT and MRI are excellent at ruling out bleeding, swelling, and fracture. They are not designed to detect concussion, which is a functional injury, and they don’t assess cervical joint dysfunction or altered spinal alignment at all. A normal scan is genuinely good news, but it doesn’t explain your remaining symptoms.

Is it safe to adjust the neck after a concussion?

Safety comes first, and technique is chosen accordingly. After a thorough exam and imaging we select the most effective approach. In the early stages we often utilize low-force instrument work, soft tissue therapy, and sensorimotor exercises rather than manual adjusting. If anything in your presentations suggests care isn’t appropriate yet, we’ll say so and refer you.

How soon after a concussion should we be seen?

Once you’ve been medically evaluated and a serious injury has been ruled out, and early cervical assessment is reasonable and can prevent a small neck problem from becoming a long one. If symptoms have already persisted past two weeks, don’t keep waiting!

My child plays hockey and football. Should we do anything preventatively?

A baseline structural assessment before the season is genuinely useful. Knowing what your athlete’s cervical (neck) curve and posture look like when they’re healthy makes it far easier to identify what changed if they take a hit. Strong, well-aligned necks also handle impact forces better. See our athletes page.

Let’s Find Out If Your Neck Is The Missing Piece

If concussion symptoms have outstayed their welcome, call (701) 532-0823 or schedule online.

References – Schneider KJ, Meeuwisse WH, Nettel-Aguirre A, et al. Cervicovestibular rehabilitation in sport-related concussion: a randomized controlled trial. Br J Sports Med. 2014;48(17):1294-1298. – Cervical spine sensorimotor deficits persist in people post-concussion despite minimal symptoms. Ann Med. 2024;56(1). – Moustafa IM, Diab AA, Hegazy F, Harrison DE. Demonstration of central conduction time and neuroplastic changes after cervical lordosis rehabilitation in asymptomatic subjects: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2021;11:15379. – Oakley PA, Harrison DE, et al. Positive outcomes following cervical acceleration-deceleration (CAD) injury using Chiropractic BioPhysics methods. J Clin Med. 2023;12(19):6414.