The Body Keeps the Score—of Concussions: How the Nervous System Reveals Hidden Trauma | E37

Think your “sinus headache,” tight hamstring, or random insomnia is unrelated to your head? We trace surprising symptom chains back to the nervous system and show how hidden concussions often sit at the center of stubborn pain, sleep issues, tinnitus, and gut flare‑ups. With returning guest Dr. Clayton Shiu, we unpack real cases where elbow or knee pain turned out to be brain-driven—and why delayed symptoms after a fall or car crash are more physiology than mystery.

We walk through the moment-to-moment clues that shift a diagnosis: eyes that won’t track smoothly at check‑in, speech that slips into transient aphasia, a neck moving like a bobblehead, or balance that subtly lags on stairs. You’ll hear how adrenaline masks pain for days, why the autonomic system can scramble circadian rhythms, and how vestibular-ocular issues make braking at a stoplight feel like your body keeps going. Then we get practical: document every accident even if you feel “fine,” recognize the pattern when “allergies” don’t behave like allergies, and understand when rehab stalls because the system—not just the sore part—needs care.

If you’re stuck chasing symptoms, this conversation offers a new map: test what matters, treat the mechanism, and let the nervous system lead your plan. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs clarity, and leave a review to help others find their path forward.

Dr. Clayton Shiu Instagram: @jadeshaman, @the_shiu_clinic

Clinic Website

Get 20% off your first order of Puori protein with code LIFEAFTERIMPACT by following this link.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Episode Focus
• 1:50 Why Concussions Go Unrecognized
• 3:35 Case Study: Elbow Pain Unmasks Head Injury
• 5:24 Hidden Drivers Behind Musculoskeletal Pain
• 7:30 Delayed Onset Symptoms And Adrenaline
• 10:15 Practical Post-Accident Advice
• 11:40 Personal Crash Story And Disorientation
• 14:52 Insomnia, Dysautonomia, And Sleep
• 16:22 Tailoring Herbs For Concussion-Linked Symptoms
• 18:27 Sinus Pressure Versus Concussion Headaches
• 20:17 Circulation As A Unifying Principle
• 22:17 Precision Neuromodulation With Acupuncture
• 24:17 Clinical Judgment Over Self-Diagnosis
• 26:27 Gut Symptoms, Fight-Or-Flight, And Head Trauma

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Someone may feel like their allergies are acting up or they have sinusitis, you know, but that same pressure area could be related to like a concussion-like headache, too.

SPEAKER_00: 0:12

Welcome to Life After Impact, the concussion recovery podcast. I'm Dr. Ayla Wolf, and I'll be hosting today's episode where we help you navigate the often confusing, frustrating, and overwhelming journey of concussion and brain injury recovery. This podcast is your go-to resource for actionable information, whether you're dealing with a recent concussion, struggling with post-concussion syndrome, or just feeling stuck in your healing process. In each episode, we dive deep into the symptoms, testing, treatments, and neurological insights that can help you move forward with clarity and confidence. We bring you leading experts in the world of brain health, functional neurology, and rehabilitation to share their wisdom and strategies. So if you're feeling lost, hopeless, or like no one understands what you're going through, know that you are not alone. This podcast can be your guide and partner in recovery, helping you build a better life after impact. Hello there. Dr. Clayton Shu, welcome back to Life After Impact. How are you today?

SPEAKER_01: 1:25

I'm feeling good. I'm so honored to be the first uh guest to return to your podcast. I I think um I should get a special t-shirt or some kind of button or something.

SPEAKER_00: 1:40

All right, I'll work on the swag. A mug. I'll I'll send you a coffee mug. How about that?

SPEAKER_01: 1:47

A beige or blue mug would be fine.

SPEAKER_00: 1:50

All right. Well, so today we were gonna tackle a certain topic, which is that many people, when they have concussions, they don't necessarily seek out acupuncture or Chinese medicine as their first or their second or even their third kind of uh, you know, healthcare practitioner. And so we are in an interesting position where uh A, when people come to see us uh for concussions, we're we're sometimes kind of the end of the road. Like we're like the last hope, right? But then we've also, because we specialize in concussions, we see a different side of the coin, which is that some patients come to us with things like neck pain or maybe even a hamstring injury or uh GI symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms. And when they walk into our office seeking help for those types of things, when we actually just observe some aspects of how they're they're functioning, we start to clue in on maybe there's something else going on. And then when we do get, you know, start asking more questions, we realize, oh wow, this this person has had a concussion or maybe more than one. And we recognize that that might actually be driving some of these other symptoms that they didn't even put two and two together. So um you've had a couple of interesting kind of situations like that recently.

SPEAKER_01: 3:16

Yeah, I think it's quite common actually, what you're what you're uh portraying um, and that a lot of patients they for some reason forget they even had a concussion or suffered from a concussion from even two weeks or a month ago. Um and we, you know, for instance, one person um she came in and she was complaining about like elbow pain. Um, but as she was signing herself in to the office visit, her neck looked like a bobblehead moving back and forth, back and forth. And the person actually, it wasn't until halfway through our initial interview process that she remembers that she did hit her head at the airport on a stairwell. But for some reason, concussion people tend to like kind of like let it go or bury it or compartmentalize that something happened. You know, they brush themselves off and they want to get going and get to what they have to do. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 4:22

There, I mean, there are times when somebody gets a concussion and they they can't just walk it off. They've got a lot of immediate symptoms, but you're right, there are there are some people who get a concussion and they are able to kind of in the moment continue on with what they're doing and then not even recognize the severity of what just happened.

SPEAKER_01: 4:43

Right, exactly, exactly. So it, you know, it takes us a moment to, even though they're coming in for one thing, to then guide the patient towards thinking about how they've been um moving through life the last couple days, and try to point out that, okay, well, this is a little abnormal for you, or you know, this took longer than expected, or you know, maybe maybe your balance should be better going, you know, up and down stairs or walking down the hallway and you know, stuff like that. Um, but yeah, that was that was um that was just one example. Another example I had someone who had um who had uh like a like a pulled hamstring, or she thought she had a pulled hamstring, you know, but actually like her sacrum and her neck were super tight. And then um it was actually because she she also had a concussion. Um, but she was riding a horse. Um, and equestrians tend to ride a horse and that horse stance on the saddle, you know, which makes them engage um the sciatic nerve pathway with all those muscles. And then she got flu she got thrown off the horse and she hit her head, you know. So she her leg hurt a lot, but she just wasn't paying attention to the concussion symptoms. Um and her um, you could tell that her eyes uh were not behaving well, they weren't tracking well. Another interesting one was this person who also had knee pain, but it took her like 10-15 minutes just to book the session. And then when she came in, she kept saying different words, you know, and everyone, I don't know why, but everyone had kind of ignored it, and then her husband didn't say anything, and and we were like, let's check your neck, and oh, there's a little bump here, you know, to the left side of your head, and we were like, We think you had a concussion, and like you're getting like a little bit of like speech aphasia right now, too, you know. She was even going to physical therapy getting her knee treated, but no one just pointed out that okay, you may be having some central nervous system issues and some vocal issues.

SPEAKER_00: 6:58

So she had fallen and injured her knee, and quite a while, like there's quite a bit of time that had passed, but while she was doing all this knee rehab and she had developed the speech aphasia, but no nobody was shedding a light on that. The way so yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:16

She was she even didn't believe us as we were trying to explain it to her.

SPEAKER_00: 7:21

This this hadn't been there before the fall?

SPEAKER_01: 7:23

No, it wasn't there before the fall. So so that was that was a pretty interesting one, you know. So so uh it's kind of interesting how because a lot of times what happens with concussions or even someone that's in a car accident, right? Um like even symptoms like whiplash and headaches can appear one week later, right? That's very common. Like most people get up from an accident, they're like, Yeah, it was perfectly fine, and nothing was wrong. And a week or two later, you know, they're they're getting migraine headaches, right? And migraine headaches can be something that can be confused too.

SPEAKER_00: 8:01

Well, and I think especially with car accidents or falls, people's adrenaline goes way up. And because their adrenaline is high, they don't feel pain in the moment. And it can take a while for that adrenaline to calm back down, and then all of a sudden, yeah, it's like three days later, oh wow, my neck really hurts, my head really hurts, or you know, all these injuries kind of rise to the surface, which honestly is why a just public service announcement, like if somebody gets in a car accident, um they should always get the other person's information and not just say, Oh yeah, I'm fine, you know, because if you then if someone then documents that you say you're fine, but then three days later, all of a sudden your pain flares up, you know, then all of a sudden it's like that this turns into a big argument, right? Over, well, no, you said you were fine. Honestly, I think when I turned 16, my dad said that to me. He's like, Hey, if you get in a car accident, don't don't ever just say you're fine and drive away. Like, you know, and admit admit nothing. Good advice. It is good, it is good advice. Thanks, Dad.

SPEAKER_01: 9:10

That's very funny. Yeah, definitely gotta get the um the insurance policy number and the driver's license. Yeah, yeah, for sure. The license plate.

SPEAKER_00: 9:19

Well, you know, one of my concussions happened when I was mountain biking, and I had been mountain biking on this really long nine-mile screaming downhill trail that's just an absolute thrill ride the whole way down. And so, yeah, my adrenaline was super high. And at the very end, I I wiped out and I hit the I hit the ground hard and definitely whiplash, concussion, and I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel any pain because my adrenaline was so high. And so I didn't realize that I had had a concussion, but I definitely got back on my bike. And then a little bit later, I come around a corner and there's a bear in the middle of the trail eating like raspberries. But and I think I was so disoriented that I was just kind of like, oh, look, a bear. I just I just kind of kept riding, right? I mean, okay. I know I was kind of like more excited about the bear and just also maybe a little disoriented that uh I was going so fast and I didn't even like react to the fact that this bear was like on the trail. Like, oh, let me just outrun this bear real quick.

SPEAKER_01: 10:31

Maybe that's an example where the concussion may have worked to your advantage. It kept you calm. Exactly. You're in a like a catatonic state. Oh man.

SPEAKER_00: 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:45

Wow, that's intense. I didn't know that. I never heard that story. It all happens so fast. So yeah, I think I think also like a lot of cases of insomnia. Yeah, right. Um, a lot of patients, we're seeing a lot more insomnia cases in general across the country. I think it's a it's a bigger problem. But like the other symptoms that appear later, like insomnia can be related to a concussion as well. So and that's because of the uh the dish, it's one of the dysautonomias that may occur, correct? With uh a sequili of post-concussion.

SPEAKER_00: 11:27

Yeah, I mean part of part of the autonomic nervous system is to help regulate circadian rhythms. So when that is affected, that can definitely throw off sleep cycles.

SPEAKER_01: 11:37

Yeah, exactly. So so I think um I think that's pretty interesting too because a lot of it it would change also the herbal approach to treating that kind of case as well. Instead of using all these calming, sedating kind of herbs, you know, we might want to actually get more circulation through the area too.

SPEAKER_00: 12:03

So well, and I think that's the beauty of Chinese medicine or especially specifically the herbal component of it, is that you could have 10 people with insomnia, but they might all get 10 different herbal formulas based on what else is going on. Um, and uh I know you use a lot of herbs in your in your clinic and with your patients. So, do you want to talk a little bit about some of your approach? Because I know you've um you've mentioned different formulas that you use that are like maybe traditionally used for sinus issues, but they actually work very well for headaches.

SPEAKER_01: 13:50

Yeah. So because there's so many sinuses in the head that like it's pretty interesting with with um concussions, like there can be like sinus blockages that appear. Someone may feel like their allergies are acting up or they have sinusitis, you know, but that same pressure area could be related to like a concussion like headache, too. And then the funny thing, the funny thing is that the herbal formula, like one of the most famous um herbal formulas for headaches, is actually all sinus clearing herb, herbal flowers and plants and stuff. So the idea that phlegm and blockage can block the sinuses, create headaches, or in both a concussion and with like an allergy presentation is is pretty interesting. So we that's where like our expertise comes in, and we have to tease through, right? Like what's in what category and what's in another category, and then and then like sometimes what I'll do is I'll mix that classic sinus herbal headache formula with like other other like liver, liver moving formulas too, or blood-moving formulas that we call it in Chinese medicine, which which helps promote healthier blood flow, which which is kind of the name of the game in in medicine today. I think I think almost everything I I look at, whether it's red light therapy, you know, or PEMF or stem cell or PRP injection, everyone's uh hijacking the whole precept of Chinese medicine, which is where there's where there is no blockage and flow, there's no disease, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 15:45

Right. Right. We we were the OG experts on circulation.

SPEAKER_01: 15:50

Yeah, that was like a 4,000-year-old poetic comment. They they teach us that like in the first semester of Chinese medicine school. Now you have like the highest, most sophisticated uh you know equipment. They're like, and they just simply say, well, it's going where it's needed, and there's gonna be healthy blood flow there, you know, and and I think that's what exactly what our medicine is really great at because we don't need a a huge pencil thick needle, we we use like micro fine instruments that are sterile, disposable, they're used once because we're because this is the right century for that. But um yeah, and so it can be it can be very precise and very elegant a treatment. And it doesn't feel anything like dry needling or sports medicine like acupuncture because you're not trying to loosen up a tendon or something like that. Like what we deal with is trying to stimulate the nervous system, the neurotissue. Yeah, I think it takes a lot more precision to actually differentiate what a true concussion symptom is from a regular symptom, but then also to figure out like, okay, what modalities are we gonna use and what percentage and what combination. Um but the first thing is is something that um AI and no other equipment can teach you. It's just that first interaction with the patient that susses out like whether or not this person's suffering from a concussion, or you have to be a living doctor or practitioner to do that and to get that information started, you know, and that's that's uh that's why we'll never work from an island now. Yeah, we gotta physically show up every day. I know, I know. That's why you and I are coffee freaks and you have a coffee uh sponsor, right? But yeah, so it's pretty it's pretty interesting. Actually, I when I figure out someone's got a concussion or a neurological issue or multi-system issue or even Parkinson's or you know what I mean, like something like that. Like, because some people can come in, right, and they think they have an essential tremor, but they don't have an essential tremor. Again, they had the concussion and the nerve entrapment was spreading down, and but another doctor might have thought they had essential tremor or Parkinson's, and we're just like, no, wait a second, let's let's look through this because when someone has an essential tremor, for instance, or in general Parkinson's, they don't necessarily have these other types of symptoms that comes with concussion, they don't necessarily get these other, like, you know, complete loss of balance all of a sudden, like it like affects. And you know, I've never heard of Parkinson's patient say, Well, when I stopped and braked in my car, my body kept going forward. Like, yeah, yeah, you know what I mean? These are vestibular ocular motor issues that you know that we discuss, but it's not something related to like Parkinson's or ALS or et cetera, et cetera.

SPEAKER_00: 19:24

No, I've definitely heard of cases where people are kind of misdiagnosed as having Parkinson's at, you know, in their 50s. And then it turns out like, well, no, wait a minute, you actually had a concussion, and it's a completely different mechanism causing this tremor that came on rather suddenly. So I it's interesting because we we obviously live in a day and age where we now have access to uh chat GPT and and all these AIs, but then also just people searching on the internet trying to self-diagnose. And so time and time again, I am getting more and more people coming in saying things like, oh, I think I have dysautonomia, or I think I have POTS, or I think I have uh, you know, this or that, or my vagus nerve isn't working. And so I think we are now in a day and age where it's so important that we do have all of this testing that we can do to shed some light and some clarity on what people are experiencing, like how their nervous systems are actually functioning. Because I've had people who have said, Oh, I think I have pots, and I run them through a lot of autonomic tests, and there's there's no sign at all that they have pots. Um, but there's other signs that other things are going on. And so I do think that people are very curious. They want they want to get to the bottom of what's happening. So that curiosity is great, but it people are also coming in with sometimes preconceived notions of what they think is going on, and uh, you know, also still looking for further clarification.

SPEAKER_01: 21:02

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and just to add like another different kind of symptom besides pain, but you know, someone could come in for irritable bowels or um gastric issues or like acid reflux and you know, this or that. And there's some patients, you know, we're trying to, we were, we noticed they're on fight or flight mode, and there's that strong pulse in the stomach, you know, abdominal artery, and this and that. And and then even though we're giving them the digestive treatment, it's not getting better. So instead, when we switch gears, um, you know, and we and we checked their their neck again, and we went into some of their symptoms of whether or not they they um were I think they were in a car accident and they did hit their head, you know, and that's when some of these symptoms started happening too.

SPEAKER_00: 21:54

So so and you also have had good results treating tinnitus too, which is super tricky and hard to to deal with.

SPEAKER_01: 22:06

Yeah, we we've we've got our we've got a pretty good system down. Um it took a while to develop. A lot of it came from how we would start palpating the head um and palpating the skull, like above the ear and then behind the ear. And um we we look at tinnitus, so so we actually have pretty good results with it. And a lot of ENT doctors are just surprised that that anyone would even say they get any results with tinnitus. Um, but I find that there's like two different categories, in my opinion. Like there's there's like uh an autoimmons response to like sugar and alcohol and stuff like that that that can the next day cause like tinnitus like symptoms or or can cause tinnitus. And then there's other kinds where there's high impact loud noises, could be explosions, could be, could be at a rock concert, you know. So those are like two different etiologies.

SPEAKER_00: 23:11

So so you're saying like in younger people, not necessarily somebody that's dealing with hearing loss and tinnitus, but perhaps somebody that's younger that gets a concussion, all of a sudden they have tinnitus. You're seeing yeah, good results.

SPEAKER_01: 23:25

Yeah, we're seeing pretty good results. We'll we'll check around the auricular area above and around it, and we use different points related to the two meridians there around the sand gel and gallbladder meridians. And we also use uh we have some pretty good herbal formulas for that as well, which also helps to basically like get the circulation cleared through this area too.

SPEAKER_00: 23:52

So when you run your fingers like through somebody's scalp and around their ears, you're feeling specific bumps or lines or ridges or yeah, we're feeling different ridges that are abnormally there.

SPEAKER_01: 24:08

Some of them can be very large, almost like some of them can be even half a ping pall size thick and very soft, very movable. Um if we feel those, then we'll we'll suspect uh possibly like tinnitus, um, or depending on the location, there could be some dizziness too. So but yeah, and it's usually pretty accurate. Like it usually um we use it the way the way many acupuncturists would use, like pulse reading and tongue diagnosis. So we we do a skull palpation diagnosis for that. So but it just helps me fine-tune um which which acupuncture points I may use to get the results and stuff. So yeah. And it's neat because it gets better too. It actually it's malleable.

SPEAKER_00: 25:02

Like it gets better. You mean like the the bumps you're feeling on their scalp actually go down with time in addition to the snitis getting better?

SPEAKER_01: 25:10

Yeah, exactly. When they when they start to clear up, the symptoms starts to clear up too. So and it can it can be better within a few sessions, too.

SPEAKER_00: 25:21

So awesome. So where can where can people find you?

SPEAKER_01: 25:27

So I'm located in uh in Manhattan, New York, and in the Hamptons. Um it's uh theshoeclinic.com and we're on Instagram. Um my my personal Instagram is called Jade Shaman. Um just a play on words, nothing nothing too heroic about that. So um and we have shoe clinic on uh Instagram as well. So but yeah, if you're ever curious, give us a call. And um and we do we do all sorts types of stuff. We do wobby brain scanning, we we have a really sophisticated lightbed, um, and we have a whole team of experts that you can work with too.

SPEAKER_00: 26:13

So fantastic. Well, thank you for coming back on the show and chatting with me again about acupuncture and herbs and you're welcome.

SPEAKER_01: 26:22

Your podcast is amazing. My my patients who I don't even tell them, but they come in talking about an episode or trying to ask me questions about it, and I have to have to rebrush up and stuff. So it's it's been great. I think it's been a great benefit to all the the patients and practitioners. And uh, I hope you I hope you keep going on it and keep I don't know, it's amazing how many interesting guests you find. And and you know, of course, none of them back twice like me, but all right.

SPEAKER_00: 26:56

Well, I I'll I'll send you the I'll send you that uh the mug.

SPEAKER_01: 27:02

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00: 27:03

Yes, thank you. Have a good night. Until next time. All right. Medical disclaimer. This video or podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is formed. The use of this information and materials included is at the user's own risk. The content of this video or podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and consumers of this information should seek the advice of a medical professional for any and all health related issues. A link to our full medical disclaimer is available in the notes.