What We Treat

Concussion recovery in Murray.

The headache that won’t quit. The brain fog that makes a normal workday feel impossible. The dizziness every time you turn your head too fast. Recovery isn’t just waiting it out in a dark room, it’s a guided, symptom-paced plan back to your normal life.

Post-concussion headaches Dizziness & brain fog Light & noise sensitivity Talk to a Specialist

Sound Familiar?

Does this sound like you?

  • A headache that hangs on for days, or comes back every afternoon
  • Feeling dizzy or off-balance when you stand up or turn your head quickly
  • Brain fog that makes reading, screens, or a full conversation exhausting
  • Bright lights, busy rooms, or loud noise setting off your symptoms
  • A stiff, sore neck left over from the same hit or fall
  • Symptoms that flare back up the moment you try to exercise or go back to work

Two or more? Keep reading.

Why It Happens

A concussion is a whole-system event. Recovery treats it that way.

A concussion disrupts how your brain processes information, and it rarely acts alone. The vestibular system that keeps your balance steady, the eyes that track and focus, and the neck that took part of the impact all get affected too, which is why symptoms show up in so many different ways: headaches, dizziness, fog, light sensitivity, or a stiff neck that won’t loosen up.

The first step after any head injury is always a medical evaluation to rule out anything more serious. Once you’re cleared for rehab, that’s where a cause-first physical therapy evaluation comes in: sorting out which of those systems is actually driving your symptoms, so your plan targets the real problem instead of just waiting for time to pass.

Physical therapist assessing a patient's neck and head movement after a concussion

The Honest Truth

Resting it out isn’t always the fastest way back.

If you keep waiting

  • You avoid screens, exercise, and busy places, and your tolerance for them keeps shrinking
  • The stiff neck from the original hit never gets addressed, and keeps feeding the headaches
  • Weeks turn into months without a clear sense of what’s actually improving

If you start this week

  • You know which systems, neck, vestibular, or visual, are driving your symptoms
  • Your activity is dosed at a level your brain can actually handle right now
  • You get a plan with an endpoint: a real one, not an open-ended wait for time to pass

Nobody regrets getting a real plan early. Every week, someone in our clinic says they regret waiting.

How We Fix It

The same four phases. Built for a concussion.

You want your normal day back: work, school, screens, exercise, all of it. Once you’re medically cleared to start rehab, every plan has an endpoint. Here’s what the four phases look like after a concussion.

Weeks 1–2

Pain

Calm the symptoms down.

Gentle, symptom-guided care settles the headaches and the strained neck, and helps you find an activity level your brain can tolerate right now.

Weeks 2–6

Prime

Retrain balance and focus.

Targeted vestibular and eye-tracking exercises, paired with neck mobility work, start rebuilding the systems that took the hit.

Weeks 6–10

Perform

Build your tolerance back up.

Screens, exercise, and busy environments get reintroduced step by step, at a pace your symptoms can actually keep up with.

Weeks 10+

Prevent

Return cleared, not just tired of waiting.

Work, school, and sport get tested under real conditions before you’re cleared to go all-in: that’s the endpoint, not just another appointment.

Thank you for the most in-depth and insightful evaluation I’ve ever experienced! Amazingly personable in providing valuable insights regarding the muscle skeletal relationships that were significantly beneficial in analyzing my physical issues.

Shared by Jack L. · Concussion

Week 1: a headache and brain fog that made a full workday impossible

Week 10: back at a full desk day, screens and all

Concussion 10 weeks

Related Conditions

A concussion rarely affects just one system.

Balance, vision, and the neck often need attention together. Here’s what else we treat.

1

Vestibular Rehab

The dizziness and off-balance feeling that lingers after a hit to the head.

Learn More 2

Neck Pain & Headaches

The headache that creeps up from the base of your skull by mid-afternoon.

Learn More 3

Auto Accident Injuries

The whiplash and stiffness that showed up days after the crash.

Learn More

Questions, Answered

What people ask before booking for a concussion.

Yes. Any head injury should be evaluated by a physician first to rule out anything more serious. Once you’re medically cleared for rehab, that’s when a cause-first physical therapy evaluation can help you recover fully instead of just waiting for symptoms to fade on their own.

It can, if it’s not dosed correctly, which is exactly why complete rest for weeks on end is no longer the standard advice. A Doctor of PT finds the activity level your brain can currently tolerate and increases it gradually, so you keep making progress without setting your symptoms off.

It depends on how your symptoms respond, which varies more with a concussion than with most injuries. A full plan typically runs through all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform, and Prevent, over roughly 8-10 weeks. Either way, you get a plan with an endpoint: you’ll always know which phase you’re in and what’s left, not an open-ended string of appointments.

Book Your Visit

Ready when you are.

Request a time and a real person calls you back, usually within two business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.

  • Hours Mon, Tue & Thu: 8:00am-6:00pm, Wed: 2:00pm-5:00pm, Fri: 8:00am-1:00pm
  • (385) 743-2757 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
  • Same-week appointments available

4.9 · 70+ Five-Star reviews

Typical response: under 2 business hours

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Lodestar Physical Therapy

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