Stroke Recovery Treatment
Are you experiencing weakness, numbness, pain, balance problems, or other stroke after-effects?
Dr. Brossfield delivers a breakthrough treatment to improve brain communication and function, bringing new hope for stroke recovery.
Comprehensive Treatment to Help You Recover from the After-effects of a Stroke
A stroke can be a frightening experience. And after the stroke has been treated, there’s still the recovery process. This recovery can be long and often frustrating, depending on the severity of the stroke. That’s why it’s so important to do everything you can to help your brain recover.
Dr. Jeralyn Brossfield and our team at the Brain Care Performance Center in Rancho Mirage can help. We offer a breakthrough technology called MeRT®, or Magnetic e-Resonance Therapy, to aid in that recovery.
We are passionate about helping people recover from the after-effects of stroke, and MeRT can be a highly effective treatment for post-stroke symptoms. It’s drug-free and non-invasive and can be performed either with or after other stroke therapies. Plus, our treatment is tailored to your exact situation and your unique brain using well-established medical testing, including EEG brain analysis.
How a Stroke Can Affect the Body
A stroke is when an area of the brain is damaged from a lack of oxygen. While every stroke is unique, strokes tend to affect people in similar ways. If a stroke happens and blood flow can’t reach the region that controls a particular body function, that part of the body won’t function as it should. If a stroke occurs toward the back of the brain, for example, it’s likely to affect vision.
The effects of a stroke will depend both on the location of the stroke and how much brain tissue was affected. And since one side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body, a stroke on the left side of the brain will affect the right side of the body, and vice-versa.
Types of Strokes
Because the brain controls every function in the human body, many areas can be affected, sometimes permanently. However, the after-effects of stroke can also be helped immensely by rehabilitation and therapy. The length of time for recovery can take weeks to months to years, depending on the severity of the stroke.
TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack)
The TIA is often referred to as a “mini-stroke,” where a temporary clot blocks blood flow to the brain. This type of stroke doesn’t cause permanent damage but must be taken seriously, since a TIA may signal a full-blown stroke in the future.
Ischemic Stroke
An ischemic stroke occurs when a clot obstructs a blood vessel in the brain, preventing oxygen and nutrients from reaching the affected part of the brain. Per the American Stroke Association, ischemic strokes are the most common, seen in 87% of patients.
Hemorrhagic Stroke
Also called a “brain bleed,” a hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a weak part of a blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding tissue. The leaked blood causes pressure to build up within the skull and brain, causing further damage to the brain cells. The most common hemorrhagic stroke is an aneurysm (when a blood vessel bursts), caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure.
Cryptogenic Stroke
In some cases, the cause of a stroke can’t be determined, despite testing. This is referred to as a cryptogenic stroke, and per the American Stroke Association, approximately one in three ischemic strokes is cryptogenic.
Brain Stem Stroke
A brain stem stroke occurs in the brain’s stem instead of the brain itself. This type of stroke can affect both sides of the body and may leave a person in a “locked-in” state, unable to move or speak below the neck.
How MeRT Treatment Can Help with Stroke Recovery
When a stroke happens, some brain cells are damaged while others die. In the days or weeks following a stroke, the brain works to repair the brain cells that were injured but did not die while also cleaning up and removing the dead brain cells.
Following this, the brain works to restructure and repair the damaged area, by changing the connections in the brain. This process is known as neuroplasticity. And this incredible ability for the brain to correct itself is a major reason why the MeRT treatment protocol can be so helpful in stroke recovery.
MeRT is a well-tolerated and highly effective approach to treating the after-effects of stroke. It’s non-invasive and drug-free. Simply stated, MeRT uses a magnetic field to stimulate and balance brain function, guided by sophisticated imaging and diagnostics. And while MeRT can’t repair areas of the brain where the brain cells have died, it can help the brain create new pathways around the injured area.
Think of the brain like a series of highways: when a road has been damaged or destroyed, detours can be created to keep the traffic moving. MeRT can do the same thing by helping your brain generate these new pathways. In essence, MeRT can help your brain to do what it naturally wants to do, so it can heal.
Talk to our New Patient Coordinator
She is happy to explain how it all works and answer any questions you may have, with no obligation.
Or fill out the form at the bottom of the page and we will contact you.
My husband suffered an anoxic brain injury. The Braincare Performance Center was willing to work with us and went to great lengths to make sure the treatments wouldn’t interfere with his defibrillator. The treatments my husband has done are showing great results and he continues to progress in his recovery. If you’re looking for a doctor who will work with you on your health journey, look no further!“ – Rachel S.
BrainCare Performance Center Medical Director
Dr. Jeralyn Brossfield
In January of 2018, Dr. Brossfield launched XO Health, a private Functional Medicine practice in Rancho Mirage, combining relationship-based care with an integrative
perspective.
The addition of the BrainCare Performance Center has allowed Dr. Brossfield to offer Magnetic Resonance Therapy or MeRT as an adjunctive treatment to improve brain function.
Addressing insomnia, anxiety, autism, depression, traumatic brain injury, stroke recovery, post-Covid conditions, memory issues and more, these treatments can provide lasting restoration of function.
How Does MeRT Work?
Your brain’s electrical activity, brain waves, or thought patterns are unlike anyone else’s. That’s what makes MeRT therapy so compelling: we customize the treatment for each patient. This cutting-edge protocol uses the combined technologies of:
Diagnostics
• qEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram) – a non-invasive procedure that involves placing electrodes along the scalp to map your brainwaves. We use this information for highly targeted rTMS treatments.
• ECG/EKG (electrocardiogram) – a similar procedure to the qEEG that measures electrical signals coming from your heart.
By measuring brain-heart coherence, we can target the rTMS therapy to be as accurate as possible.
Treatment
• rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) – a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic induction coils placed along your scalp to stimulate specific areas of the brain.
The results of the qEEG and EKG tell us what is functioning normally and show us areas of dysregulation. We then use this information to create a precision treatment protocol using rTMS.
MeRT is an entirely non-surgical, non-invasive, and drug-free treatment.
Dr. Erik Won, President and Chief Medical Officer of Wave Neuroscience, spoke about MeRT on the Broken Brain Podcast.
“It’s tapping into our natural biological mechanism.”
Functionally what’s happening is we’re reminding the brain where it wants to be, where it’s most comfortable. It’s tapping into our natural biological mechanism.
“Mother nature engineered us as healing organisms, whether it’s putting two ends of a broken bone together, allowing it to heal, or two ends of a wound together. In this case, sometimes our brain will get stuck in a frequency that it’s not comfortable at. And for whatever the reason, maybe we’re just giving it that friendly reminder to go back… and giving it that stimulation where it can move back.
“And over time, if we get EEGs every two weeks, we can start seeing these changes. And then the body does most of the work for you. So, we’re not trying to overpower the brain with high-power stimulus. It’s more of just a gentle reminder of where the brain needs to go and then the body does a lot of the work for us.”
The Four Steps of MeRT Treatment
By assessing the communication quality between the networks of neurons in your brain, we can hone in on and gently stimulate and “wake up” those areas to improve function.
Testing & Evaluation
On your first appointment, we will perform the qEEG, also often referred to as a brain scan, and an EKG as described above. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
These tests are painless, easy to do, and straightforward. They are performed right in our office.
Once testing is completed, our scientists and physicians will interpret and analyze the results to determine the exact function of the brain.
Analysis
We carefully analyze the test results using a scientific and patented approach. Once the testing is completed and results evaluated, we will schedule a consultation with the Doctor to discuss the results and how these relate to symptoms being experienced.
Based on this analysis, we develop a treatment plan customized to your specific condition and schedule your assessment period of treatment.
MeRT Treatment
Once your treatment protocols are in place, you will come to therapy, five days a week, in two-week intervals. You simply sit in a comfortable chair while a highly-trained neuro-technician places a magnetic coil on your head. This device produces a low-frequency magnetic field to induce mild electrical signals in the targeted areas of the brain.
Time spent in the chair is typically 30 minutes. The stimulation occurs for 6-8 seconds every minute.
Progress Evaluation
We will monitor your progress throughout your daily treatments to confirm how you feel and track improvements. After two weeks of treatment, we will perform another qEEG and EKG to review your progress and make any needed modifications.
If there is a positive response to treatment during the assessment period, you will likely notice some symptom improvements. At that point, we will schedule treatment in two-week intervals.
Got Questions?
Talk with our New Patient Coordinator.
Our New Patient Coordinator is available to answer any questions that you may have about how MeRT can help you. She’ll take the time to listen to your concerns, answer your questions, explain costs, and any other details. She can also assist you in getting scheduled should you decide to move forward with treatment.
We understand what you may be going through, and our goal is to help guide you through the process with quality care in a warm and compassionate environment.
You don’t have to make any big decisions right off. You can start with an EEG and a consultation with the doctor, and together you can decide if you may benefit from MeRT.
While MeRT is a relatively new treatment protocol, it has shown some remarkable results. It doesn’t cost anything to call us and talk. Our New Patient Coordinator is here for you.
Talk to our New Patient Coordinator
She is happy to explain how it all works and answer any questions you may have, with no obligation.
Or fill out the form at the bottom of the page and we will contact you.
Contact Form
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