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Love Your Brain
Dr. Christopher Croswell discusses traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, and how to love your brain.
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Learn more about Christopher Croswell, MD
Christopher Croswell, MD
Dr. Christopher A. Croswell is a neurologist. He received his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine.Learn more about Christopher Croswell, MD
Transcription:
Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte, and we're talking about traumatic brain injuries or TBIs and loving your brain. Our expert today is Dr. Christopher Croswell, a neurologist at Reid Health. So to start us off here today, doctor, can you tell us just what is a TBI?
Christopher Croswell, MD: So traumatic brain injury is a blow to the head that results in physical, cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Causes can include closed head injuries from motor vehicle accidents or falls or penetrating injuries such as a gunshot wound. So the injuries can have quite a wide variety of outcomes, such as a mild concussion with complete recovery to severe permanent disability or even death. Traumatic brain injuries are actually one of the leading causes of death and disability around the world.
Caitlin Whyte: So we're talking today about Love Your Brain. What does that mean?
Christopher Croswell, MD: So Love Your Brain is a six-week program that uses yoga as a foundation to provide support to those who have been affected by a traumatic brain injury. So a professional snowboarder, Kevin Pearce, and his family are the ones that who developed this. And he was actually involved in a significant accident that caused a life-threatening traumatic brain injury just prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Caitlin Whyte: Oh, wow.
Christopher Croswell, MD: When he was going through the recovery of the whole traumatic event, he and his family both realized there wasn't a lot of opportunities for support system and things like that for the general population, even for him. So that's why they worked on developing the program.
Caitlin Whyte: So how is Love Your Brain beneficial to the patient?
Christopher Croswell, MD: Yoga and meditation has been proven to reduce mental fatigue and to improve focus, strength, balance, memory self-esteem, and even sleep quality. In addition to yoga, Love Your Brain also uses facilitated group conversation and class themes to build community and cultivate resilience for participants to reach their full potential.
Some participants know that they've developed a more positive sense of themselves and their capability to manage negative emotions. And many participants also report that Love Your Brain has a positive impact on their life and improve their recovery overall, even if it was many years after the initial traumatic brain injury occurred.
Reid Health has recently joined Love Your Brain as a clinical affiliate and offers the program here in Richmond. It's a six-week program that is completely free for those who've had suffered a traumatic brain injury. After the core class is completed, all participants have the option to sign up for a TBI-friendly class after, and it only costs $8 per session.
Caitlin Whyte: Oh, that's wonderful. Well, doctor, we appreciate your time today and all the work you do. This program sounds pretty incredible. And thank you for listening. You can call (765) 983-3092 to learn more. That's (765) 983-3092. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all of the other Reid Health podcasts. This has been Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Stay well.
Caitlin Whyte: Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte, and we're talking about traumatic brain injuries or TBIs and loving your brain. Our expert today is Dr. Christopher Croswell, a neurologist at Reid Health. So to start us off here today, doctor, can you tell us just what is a TBI?
Christopher Croswell, MD: So traumatic brain injury is a blow to the head that results in physical, cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Causes can include closed head injuries from motor vehicle accidents or falls or penetrating injuries such as a gunshot wound. So the injuries can have quite a wide variety of outcomes, such as a mild concussion with complete recovery to severe permanent disability or even death. Traumatic brain injuries are actually one of the leading causes of death and disability around the world.
Caitlin Whyte: So we're talking today about Love Your Brain. What does that mean?
Christopher Croswell, MD: So Love Your Brain is a six-week program that uses yoga as a foundation to provide support to those who have been affected by a traumatic brain injury. So a professional snowboarder, Kevin Pearce, and his family are the ones that who developed this. And he was actually involved in a significant accident that caused a life-threatening traumatic brain injury just prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Caitlin Whyte: Oh, wow.
Christopher Croswell, MD: When he was going through the recovery of the whole traumatic event, he and his family both realized there wasn't a lot of opportunities for support system and things like that for the general population, even for him. So that's why they worked on developing the program.
Caitlin Whyte: So how is Love Your Brain beneficial to the patient?
Christopher Croswell, MD: Yoga and meditation has been proven to reduce mental fatigue and to improve focus, strength, balance, memory self-esteem, and even sleep quality. In addition to yoga, Love Your Brain also uses facilitated group conversation and class themes to build community and cultivate resilience for participants to reach their full potential.
Some participants know that they've developed a more positive sense of themselves and their capability to manage negative emotions. And many participants also report that Love Your Brain has a positive impact on their life and improve their recovery overall, even if it was many years after the initial traumatic brain injury occurred.
Reid Health has recently joined Love Your Brain as a clinical affiliate and offers the program here in Richmond. It's a six-week program that is completely free for those who've had suffered a traumatic brain injury. After the core class is completed, all participants have the option to sign up for a TBI-friendly class after, and it only costs $8 per session.
Caitlin Whyte: Oh, that's wonderful. Well, doctor, we appreciate your time today and all the work you do. This program sounds pretty incredible. And thank you for listening. You can call (765) 983-3092 to learn more. That's (765) 983-3092. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all of the other Reid Health podcasts. This has been Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Stay well.