Episode 84
Spencer Zimmerman:
Brain Trauma Effects: How They Change Your Brain-Body Connection and Health
Dive into the hidden world of brain trauma and learn how it affects the important brain-body connection in this exciting episode. Join me and Dr. Spencer Zimmerman as he talks about how head injuries can change our overall health and well-being. Learn to spot common symptoms and take steps towards better brain health. Don't miss this chance to find the missing piece in your journey to feeling better!
First Aired on: Apr 24, 2023
Episode 84
Spencer Zimmerman:
Brain Trauma Effects: How They Change Your Brain-Body Connection and Health
Dive into the hidden world of brain trauma and learn how it affects the important brain-body connection in this exciting episode. Join me and Dr. Spencer Zimmerman as he talks about how head injuries can change our overall health and well-being. Learn to spot common symptoms and take steps towards better brain health. Don't miss this chance to find the missing piece in your journey to feeling better!
First Aired on: Apr 24, 2023
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
Dr. Zimmerman's passion for brain health stems from his personal experiences with his wife, who, after two car accidents, discovered that she had been unknowingly suffering from symptoms similar to those of his patients. It is essential to recognize that many people have undiagnosed head injuries from accidents or sports that may be impacting their health.
There are two categories of head trauma symptoms:
Advanced testing methods, such as video oculography or video nystagmography, are recommended for a thorough evaluation. Brain injuries often make individuals more visually dominant, which means balance is greatly improved with eyes open. Simple balance testing techniques can be used to assess the brain's connection.
Factors like stress can lead to poor sleep, blocking the glymphatic system - the brain's cleanup process. This results in a "toxic soup" within the brain. The worse the inflammation and energy crisis, the worse the brain's connectivity, which impacts each aspect of health.
There is a direct connection between brain health and autoimmunity. Gut health is essential for healing autoimmunity, but alterations in brain health can impact gut functions like acid and enzyme production and motility. If activities like reading or computer work tire you more than physical exertion, consider testing for brain health.
There are two categories of head trauma symptoms:
- Immediate symptoms from the time of injury, such as brain fog, headaches, mood changes, and word-find challenges.
- Resiliency challenges within the body, similar to autoimmune issues, where you can no longer tolerate things you used to.
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- ADHD and focus issues
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep disturbances
- Memory issues
- Trouble with word-find
Advanced testing methods, such as video oculography or video nystagmography, are recommended for a thorough evaluation. Brain injuries often make individuals more visually dominant, which means balance is greatly improved with eyes open. Simple balance testing techniques can be used to assess the brain's connection.
Factors like stress can lead to poor sleep, blocking the glymphatic system - the brain's cleanup process. This results in a "toxic soup" within the brain. The worse the inflammation and energy crisis, the worse the brain's connectivity, which impacts each aspect of health.
There is a direct connection between brain health and autoimmunity. Gut health is essential for healing autoimmunity, but alterations in brain health can impact gut functions like acid and enzyme production and motility. If activities like reading or computer work tire you more than physical exertion, consider testing for brain health.
One Step to Take
Check your balance with eyes open and closed on both firm and soft surfaces to get a better understanding of your brain's connectivity and health.
Other Resources:
Connect with Spencer Zimmerman
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson: [Page//00:00:00] Welcome back to The Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson, and today we're joined by Dr. Spencer Zimmerman, founder of the Idaho Brain and Body Institute, where they help patients struggling with neurological, psychological, and body-based symptoms and conditions. In today's episode, we're talking about the often missed impact of concussions and traumatic brain injuries on autoimmune symptoms [Page//00:01:00] and the body.
Dr. Zimmerman, explains how the gut-brain connection is a two-way street, and how including a functional neurology evaluation in your health plan may just be the missing piece you've been looking for.
Dr. Zimmerman, welcome to the podcast.
Spencer Zimmerman: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited to discuss our brain , and the connection between our brain and autoimmunity. It sounds strange to even think there might not be a connection because you know, it is an important part of the body. Um, but I first would love to know, you know, how you came. Into kind of the, the functional medicine, anti-aging world, um, because I think most of us don't dream of that when we're kids.
So share a little bit of your journey with us.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, so whenever I was in schooling, I was this really big y person. It's like, well, what? What's happening? What's going on? And I found a [Page//00:02:00] group that did what's considered functional neurology or chiropractic neurology, and they were treating traumatic brain injuries. You know, people from all over the world would be flying in.
And you, I'd see these results that I'm like, what? Like there's no way someone could be recovering this fast despite being to so many different provider. And it morphed into a, well, that's cool that you understand the brain, but you understand how the brain can impact other things, but how also those things could sabotage the brain.
And unknowingly, as we're going through the process, I knew my wife had been dealing with headaches and stuff, which had improved a lot. You know, once she got off gluten stopped, you know, with a lot of the caffeine and the those drinks. But, Eventually, you know, as I'm coming home every day and I'm just like, wow, this happened, this happened, this happened.
She's like, that's not normal. Um, and turns out she had suffered concussions previously in car accidents at around the age of 13, again in high school and after graduation. [Page//00:03:00] And not one of these was diagnosed. And so a lot of the things that were common to her that she had accepted as her normal were actually a result brain injuries that were never diagnosed or treated, which we can jump into as much as you want on, you know, some of the symptoms she had that others may be experiencing as well.
Julie Michelson: Absolutely. Let's start there because I, I, I do think there's this kind of epidemic of undiagnosed brain injury. Um, especially I'm in my fifties. I grew up riding horses. I was a competitive equestrian. Um, and unless you lost consciousness, Or were vomiting or had really extreme, you know, post-injury symptoms.
Nobody used the word concussion. Nobody used the word injury, you know, it was like, oh, I bumped my head. Um, so let, let's kind of talk like what, what is the, your criteria for how do we [Page//00:04:00] know? I mean, it sounds kind of silly to say how do we know if we have a head injury that could have impacted our health, but I, I do think some of this normal growing.
I have boys like, you know, it is things that we just discount and don't think of as possibly impacting our health later on.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, and this has really broken down into two categories. It's the first category. What are something that happens to you that starts impacting you at that moment and, and you kinda keep dealing with, right? So let's say you get in a car accident, you're told you have a whiplash injury, but yet you have brain fog, you've got headaches, problems with word finding.
You notice some mood changes. Well, at that point in time it's probably more than just a whiplash injury. Um, cuz your more severe whiplash injuries have a lot of brain-based issues with it. So it's really more of a combo, like a whiplash and concussion. But then the other side is what [Page//00:05:00] is up happening with the resiliency within the body?
So it's the same thing with autoimmune, right? So the things that impact you early on may not, you know, may really destroy you five, 10 years down the road. And you're like, but I could previously tolerate that. Why? What's happening? And it's because your body will do everything it can to keep you functioning in this.
At the expense of your future. And so there's really two ways of looking at it. You know, with that being said, and ultimately that's what it comes down to, not only symptoms, but don't become beholden to the symptoms. Testing really tells you. It's same thing in the autoimmune world. It's like, Hey, you show autoimmune markers.
I don't care if you don't have pain yet. I know where you're
Julie Michelson: This is the time to, yeah. Yeah. Amazing, amazing. And, and I kind of alluded to it, but I, I wanna throw out there, because I [Page//00:06:00] think this is another thing that, that really wasn't ever considered back in my day, in my younger years, um, is this the kind of cumulative effect, right? So you maybe, you know, hit your head and don't notice anything. But if you're active, or like you said, car accidents, what? It doesn't really matter. Um, this kind of, we now know that, you know, shocker, the brain is delicate. Um, and so I, I think sometimes people don't, can, you know, they're looking for that big. Thing, and maybe it was a couple of, of little bumps I shared with you before, before we hit record.
Um, in hindsight, I, I know I, I definitely suffered concussions, you know, getting tossed off of horses for years. I, I laugh my, my. Helmet. For those of those of you listening on audio, those air quotes around helmet as a, as a young kid was [Page//00:07:00] literally cardboard wrapped in velvet. It was, you know, a hunt cap is what we used, call it.
I grew up showing hunter jumpers and I, I still have it. It's because it's so ridiculous that that's what we, you know, it looked pretty, that's what we wore on our head. So I know I had, uh, sustained con concussions as a, as a kid. Um, and then I got hit, didn't get thrown off a horse, but got hit front of the head January of 2020 and I, I couldn't even work for three months at all.
And it's, it's definitely something that I can still, much like my RA symptoms have been gone for years because I do the things. To keep my inflammation down. And now that's on the list probably before I would ever feel joint pain if I were inflamed. I, I feel it in my brain right away. And so I know that, that I don't have that resiliency.
Um, and, and I [Page//00:08:00] do, uh, you know, a lot to continually improve brain health and, and protect, protect my brain. But let's connect this. The, again, the brain body connection, which sounds so funny to say cuz you know, it is so clearly connected. But I wanted to cover, I'm gonna throw, I just threw two questions at the same time.
One are kind of some of what are those symptoms and, and what is that testing a and is it all? Head related, you know, is it all technician? Is it all, or, you know, what's this connection with the rest of, how come when I get inflamed, you know, I can feel my brain and my joints. What's, what's going on there?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, so whenever we look at the symptoms that many people can have for not only months, but years following a concussion or a traumatic brain injury, fatigue is up there at like 70%. Headaches are also up there at [Page//00:09:00] about, you know, 60 70% with A D H D focused concentration issues. Those are like the top three leading ones, but there's a lot that persists even at the 50% rate, depression, anxiety.
Sleep issues, brain fog, problems with word finding, um, you know, memory. And really this list can go on and on. Now when you're looking at testing for a concussion and a brain injury, your concussions, your imaging is going to be normal because you're looking at smaller damage that's not picked up on routine imaging that can be readily accessible.
So you have to look at the functionality of the. Because when we look at concussions, there's really three big things that happen. Um, is one, the brain doesn't connect them. Little it should. Two is the brain goes through an energy crisis. It doesn't produce and use energy the same way, which is critical to know.
Cause a lot of people I get who come in with old brain [Page//00:10:00] injuries, they don't even know it's that they come in, you know, thinking like, I swear it's gotta be my thyroid, it's gotta be my hormones, it's gotta be my adrenals. And it's. Your brain uses 25 to 30% of the entire body's energy. It is the most energy demanding organ you have.
So if your brain isn't healthy and efficient, chronic in fatigue is an expectation, not a, oh, it's something else. And then lastly is your brain gets inflamed. So, which we'll talk more about how that ties in, but going back to how your brain. When we're looking at how the brain's connecting, some of the best ways to look at this is through balance and eye movements.
So your eyes are really a window into the health of your brain. Now, this can be tracking a target, you know, such as something left and right, up and down, doing it at different speeds. Also, shifting your eyes between like, you know, my thumbs. Same thing up and down. Keeping your eyes still on a stationary.
Now on the best level [Page//00:11:00] possible, this testing's gonna be done using computerized technology such as Video O or video Niag, mamography. This is gonna provide really good information and data, and the majority of the people that do this test, they do substantially worse than they believe they would. So I'll ask people, I'm like, oh, how?
How do you, how'd you do? I think I did really well. And then I show them their recording and I'm like, Ooh. Like that was really. And this goes back to the compensation that we talked about initially, is your brain is going to compensate for you. And so you will think you're doing okay, but then ultimately down the road you, you break.
Now with balance, one of the things we know with concussions and traumatic brain injuries is you become much more visually dominant. And so doing your balance and only considering it with your eyes open is going to be very misleading and it's gonna prevent you from really knowing where you stand. So you should be doing both eyes open and [Page//00:12:00] eyes closed on a firm surface, but also on a perturb surface.
So there's like balanced pad, yoga pads, you know, that are a couple inches. Also one foot in front of the other. Eyes open, eyes closed. One-legged stance should be able to do that. Eyes closed for 15 seconds on a firm surface. Now really walking through the whole balance side, you can spot check yourself at home and see how you're doing.
Odds are many of you, as you do this, are gonna be shocked at how you do. Um, disclaimer, please have someone buy you, you know, because
Julie Michelson: You may be surprised at your balance issues, and I am already terrified and you know, I'll be doing this as soon as we stop recording and I already know it's gonna be horrible. It's or definitely not gonna be what I would hope because I, I, I know. Oh no, I compensate. So I'm looking forward to seeing just how disastrous it is.
Spencer Zimmerman: You know, [Page//00:13:00] which is another level because one of the mistakes we make in the functional medicine space is we do so much with nutritional supplements and labs that it's like, well, what are you doing to tell your brain to connect better? Right? Like, you wouldn't take supplements to get stronger. You understand?
You'd have to work out those muscles. But with the brain, we overcomplicate the brain cuz we're like, oh, well the brain's super complex, but how are these eye movements gonna strengthen my brain? It's like, well if, I mean, if you wanna see all the pathways and what happens for that to occur? It's just like going to the internet and being like, I mean, I just typed some, hit some keys.
It's like, yeah, but everything that happens on the back end is super complex
Julie Michelson: Right. Doesn't mean you don't go hit the keys though.
Spencer Zimmerman: Correct, and, and let's not take for granted how something that seems simple can have such a profound impact on the backend. [Page//00:14:00] So really, you know, balance and eye movements are two the most important things. Um, also there's some different stuff with cognition and even on the other side there's even brainwave testing saying what's happening with the balance of your brain waves?
Do you have a normal range or have you shifted out of. Excessive or deficiencies in a variety of different brain wave.
Julie Michelson: Wow, you this, you've already given my brain's going a million miles an hour. Oh my God. I, I'm a data geek too, and I, I do firmly believe because I know we compensate. Um, And thank goodness we can, you know, we, we are until we can't, we compensate. Um, but I, I also love data and I love to uncover weaknesses that can be strengthened.
I'm assuming you're not just diagnosing people and telling them, so sorry, you have an old brain injury. I'm, I'm [Page//00:15:00] guessing that there are some steps people can take and, and that your patients improve.
Spencer Zimmerman: Correct. Yep. It's, you know, it's about going back to always break down into just two things. Um, one, how's your brain connecting? And two, what would sabotage the ability to connect it
Julie Michelson: Ah.
Spencer Zimmerman: so we can take those issues that we find in the balance in the eye movements, and we can use that to create a customized plan for you.
Right? Like, let's say you go to the gym and you're working out and you're like, oh, here's my weakness. You know what areas you need to bias to bring balance back into your workout and your strength. We can do the same thing with your testing to say, Based upon this, we know these parts of the brain control it.
Let's use this to do it. But then on the other side, what's gonna sabotage it? It's like, where are your labs at? You know, like what hap, where's your thyroid? Where's your hormones? Do you have anemia? You know, if you have autoimmunity, [Page//00:16:00] what are your triggers for autoimmunity? What happens when you get stressed?
What happens if you lose an hour or two of sleep? Because. We know it's really important with your immune system is that your lymphatics, you know, remove all these waste your brain. Its lymphatic system is known as the lymphatic. It's most active when you're in the proper stages of sleep. But a lot of people with concussions and old brain injuries, they don't sleep as well.
So your brain basically stays as this toxic soup, which is going to prevent it from shifting to a reparative. So, you know, mentioned a little bit earlier about inflammation in the brain. You've got two sides with your immune cells in the brain that are known as microglia. I really think about this like a hurricane.
Okay? I grew up where there's hurricanes. So when there's a hurricane, it does a lot of damage. Now it leaves. So the first priority is let's clean up the debris, let's remove everything, destroy everything. That just cannot be. That is what should happen first. [Page//00:17:00] Now, in a healthy brain that only is persisting for about two weeks, and then you shift into a reparative state, what are things that may have damaged but that we don't have to throw away?
Let's fix it. Let's repair it. That is what should happen. But if you're not sleeping well, if you've got autoimmune flares happening, right? If your gut health such complete train wreck, then now all of a sudden your brain is going to be more likely to stand that inflammatory. And the thing is, the worse your inflammation, the worse your energy crisis, the worse your connectivity.
But it's each and every one impacts the other one. So it's about figuring out with your testing and a proper evaluation, what lever should be pulled when, which is really important. Cuz I did mention gut health, um right, because cuz everyone's really big on the gut brain access and it's like, But, but they're only talking about it from like the
Julie Michelson: One direction, right.[Page//00:18:00]
Spencer Zimmerman: versus the instant you have a traumatic brain injury.
The instant you have a stroke, you not only have a breach in your blood-brain barrier, but you have a leaky gut at that moment. You no longer can fire down from your brain through the vagus nerve and control the lining of your gut.
Julie Michelson: I want you to repeat that and, and because, and this is so important. This is exactly what happened to me actually. You know, you can do all the work, right? And understand your flares and triggers and get your, your systemic inflammation down. Get to a point where I was, where you're totally symptom free for years, have a brain injury.
And yes, I was immediately dealing with, um, and actually that's, that's what obviously I knew this, I knew was a significant brain injury. But it was about two days later when I realized, like this [Page//00:19:00] was unlike any brain injury I've ever experienced. I'm in trouble. Like I am really in trouble here. Um, and it did, and I You just thank you.
I did. I had no idea how that worked. But all of a sudden, you know, I, I had to, uh, food sensitivities I had, and now I get it, that, oh my gosh, if that injury triggered leaky gut, that's where now I'm, I'm not starting at ground zero, but I'm have to readdress now all of those things. And from gut healing, I'm still working on it.
It's been over two years, so, Um, oh, over three. See my math skills I that I can't believe it's been three years since 2020. Um, but that is like, if listeners get one takeaway, that's amazing to learn. Um, just that impact of [Page//00:20:00] what that brain injury can do. Especially when we're talking to a community that has this sensitive balance.
Right? And we know the gut health is driving all of that, so that's incredible.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, and it's, you know, if, if you're doing gut-based protocols and you feel you're like trapped, and that's like the second you start pulling back, you start getting all these symptoms, you're, you're missing the other part of the picture. Once again, the brain, you know, the brain. Tells the gut, Hey, I want you to produce stomach acid under the appropriate stomach acid.
You can now activate your digestive enzymes, which is now gonna let you break down food. You also need your brain to signal the gallbladder to let's excrete bile to help further with digestion, right? Let's help with motility. Let's help maintain the intestinal lining. You also get a lot of anti-inflammatory output as the brain signals down, so, [Page//00:21:00] You know, it's, once again, it's both routes.
Like yes, alterations in your gut can ultimately wreak havoc on your brain. But don't forget that alterations in brain health from concussions, traumatic brain injuries, strokes, whatever it is, can really do a number to your.
Julie Michelson: So for people listening that are in that space where they're, you know, very aware, like you said, of the significance of gut health and, and you know, perhaps have done or doing protocols to heal gut. And repair and kind of clo close that all back up don't necessarily have the things we were talking about before the bra.
I mean, they may, after this podcast list do some of the, the balance and and eye movement things and see, um, but if they're not aware like, oh, I have this, you know, maybe they are [Page//00:22:00] now, they're like, Ooh, how about that time I hit my head or got in that car accident and didn't hit my head, but got whiplash.
But if they're not having what they think of as brain symptoms, how do they check in? Or is it back to that same testing you were talking about before? Like how do they know if, if brain is playing a part of their autoimmune symptoms?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, you can go back to not only the testing, but you can say what makes you tired, right? Like, 30 minutes of physical activity or 30 minutes of being on a computer or reading a book, which one wears you out more? If like, I know for a fact whenever I do my eye movement testing, it's 30 minutes. When people tell me they're tired from that, I'm like, great.
I know for a fact I will not fix your fatigue until we get your brain to be more e.
Julie Michelson: Okay.
Spencer Zimmerman: that's just a guaranteed thing. The other thing which really impacts our brain is stress, right? So if [Page//00:23:00] you say, oh, when I get stressed, I become foggy, or my concentration's off, then we know your brain's being impacted from it, and it's, you know, it's just like we know in the gut realm, right?
Like you don't need digestive issues to have a bad gut.
Julie Michelson: right?
Spencer Zimmerman: So, Don't wait to have a lot of brain issues to get your brain evaluated. I mean, Alzheimer's is fastest, one of the fastest growing things. Parkinson's is the fastest growing brain disease, and yet most people are like, well, I mean, I was good. I can't think of anything that caused it, but yet I have it.
It's like, well, you understand it's probably been in the works for at least 20 years, and so let's spot it early on, even if you think you're okay. Same thing in the rheumatoid arthritis, any autoimmunity. Let's spot it. When you're in this silent phase where we're sh, there's markers of your body misbehaving, [Page//00:24:00] but you don't yet have to feel it because your journey will always be easier at that time point.
Then it will be when you're further down the road.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That is, that's amazing advice. Um, so how do you, like, what do people look for? I, and maybe I'm wrong. I, I think what you do is fascinating and I also think you're pretty unique. And so, um, How, how do people find somebody that can even do the assessments or find a practitioner that's incorporating brain evaluation with whole body, whole health evaluation?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, there's, there's not necessarily a ton of people that do the full body and so you may need to co-manage. Right. I'm one of those where it was through the training I did, which is why I went back even after chiropractic school and got my nurse practitioner degree. Cuz I really want to be able to tie in all the loops for the patients that I work with.
[Page//00:25:00] But you may need a great functional provider on the functional medicine side, but then you need a provider that does functional neurology. Because a lot of them, you know, some of them have been trained through the care institute and other places. Um, now not everyone that does functional neurology really focuses on like traumatic brain injuries and concussions.
So you've, and you'll know when you talk to them, you'll see stuff on their website and you're like, Ooh, whoa. They're using that, you know, video Olo graph, the V N G, um, they're using the balance platforms and they're going to be able to go from the rehab side of your brain. And once again, when you marry the rehab side of, you know, the, we call it the functional neurology with functional medicine, then you just do so much better than if you only do one on its own.
Julie Michelson: Sure cuz it's a two-way street.
Spencer Zimmerman: Mm-hmm.
Julie Michelson: That's incredible. And. Having the conversations I have and doing the work that I do, and not [Page//00:26:00] ever having had this conversation before, I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe these dots haven't been connected before. Like it's, it makes so much that, and obviously I have plenty of experience living it and feeling it.
Um, and, and again, raising three kids who were busy, athletic, you know, Potentially danger seeking kind of humans. It's brain health has been really through the past, I would say 10 years at least, forefront in our family. Um, and I'm, I mentioned before, before we hit record, I'm a Recode 2.0 Bren Protocol, Alzheimer's coach.
Um, so I, I like to think I'm pretty up on brain health, but even I really hadn't. Thought of it, you know, as a driver of some of these other things. I, I really only thought of it as like, these are the symptoms for brain [Page//00:27:00] health. Um, so you totally changed my life so far today. Thank you.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Unbelievable. Um, and I know, I think I saw might have been stalking you a little bit and so I, I know you're not just practicing locally, right.
You also do some virtual. Is that accurate?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, so I'm mostly in Idaho. I'm also able to work with those in Florida. But for those with the concussions and traumatic brain injuries, normally they are flying in to see me from other states, um, now
Julie Michelson: And what are your thoughts on flying post-concussion or brain injury? I'm curious.
Spencer Zimmerman: Um, if that's what you need to do to get the proper care, it's worth the trade off. But there are those with concussions and traumatic drainages, when they do it, there's gonna be this lag phase of probably two to three days where you feel like you just got recu. But the same thing is true when people go into higher elevation, [Page//00:28:00] right?
So where I'm at, we're like 2,400. Elevation. But if people go up and they're like, oh, I went to 4,000. I started getting more foggy. I started getting a headache and stuff like that. I'm like, okay, we know oxygenation is going to be a big player for you.
Julie Michelson: Interesting Fascinat. It's just fascinating. It's amazing. So where does you know what is. A step listeners can take. I, you know, I warned you before, I always ask for, for one thing, anybody listening can do. I already know some of the things I'm gonna be doing, but I, I do tend to, again, I like data and so I wanna know all the things going on in my body.
But what do, what do you recommend? Um, just even in general, it doesn't have to be specific to identifying, you know, a, a brain problem, but what's one step? You mentioned earlier, and I, I swear, I think listeners. [Page//00:29:00] Must feel like I pay my guests to mention gluten at some point in the podcast. Um, because sometimes when we're having conversations that people think is not gonna come up, it still always comes up.
Um, so it could be anything in the spectrum of, you know, protecting overall health and, and emphasizing this brain connection to way street. Uh, what are, what does a step listeners can.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah. And. From more of an angle that you probably haven't had before, you know? Cause I understand where probably a lot of people focus on the podcast is. It really is just like, check your balance. Do one foot in front of the other, eyes open, eyes closed. Get a semi firm old pillow, old couch cushion. Do that, do it also with your feet together.
Eyes open, eyes closed, and see how you do. And you know, if you're like, oh wow, I was moving a. You may want to get an evaluation cuz there's a [Page//00:30:00] lot of research out there on balance and cognitive health
Julie Michelson: Hmm.
Spencer Zimmerman: we do preventative stuff, right? It's like, oh, we're worried about colon cancer. Hey, let's get colon
Julie Michelson: Right. Screening. We screen all kinds of things. Yeah.
Spencer Zimmerman: And that's the hardest thing on the concussion side is I get a lot of people come in and they're like, oh, well I was good before this. I was like, where you, or you just think you were
Julie Michelson: Right. Were you able to
Spencer Zimmerman: a baseline,
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Spencer Zimmerman: get a proper baseline. So that way if something does happen, you're going to, you know where to get back to.
And you may find out during that baseline that you actually have some issues that need to be addressed. And when you do. You feel better?
Julie Michelson: Well, and like you said, turn, turn the bus around now. I mean, this is, this is the time. Oh, whatever. Wherever you are, whoever you are, this is the time. Like later is [Page//00:31:00] never a good time to be addressing wellness. And, and so, um, I love the idea of like just checking in and checking balance. It's not something we don't tend to get up and.
Well, some people brush your teeth on one foot, but, but we don't get it. We're not checking in, right? Like if joints hurt, we know joints hurt. If your gut's upset, you know, gut's upset if, if you have brain fog, you know the days it's worse. The days it's better, but you may not think to check balance. So, yeah, that's in incredible advice.
I have, you know, a million other things I can ask you, but you, you gave us such amazing gold, um, for people that are listening on the go, which is how I tend to listen to podcasts. Where's the best place for them to find you?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, the best place to find me is at IdahoBrainandbody.com or on really any social media, Dr. S Zimmerman, z i [Page//00:32:00] a m m e r m e N. That's gonna be TikTok Instagram. Um, might even have some longer videos on YouTube if you're like, Ooh, I wanna see what your testing looks like. I've got concussion videos on that where I show you some of those results, and so you can be like, Ooh, that's what it looks like.
That's what the data looks like.
Julie Michelson: Amazing guys. Check him out. Like I said, I was, I was stalking some of your social earlier and, um, I, I learned so much from you in this one short conversation. Uh, I feel like I'm leaving with a lot of homework, so I really, really appreciate you taking the time. To share what you're doing with us. And, and I see huge up levels in, in the future as more and more people are connecting the, the dots between brain health and, and health.
And um, I know when I say it, I kind of chuckle cuz I'm like, that's so obvious. Why, why are we not talking about this all the time? [Page//00:33:00] Um, so really thank you so much for joining.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, thanks for having.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening. Remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did and learned as much as I did. And if you're not already, follow me on Instagram at julie dot Michaelson and tune in next week to listen to the next episode.
Dr. Zimmerman, explains how the gut-brain connection is a two-way street, and how including a functional neurology evaluation in your health plan may just be the missing piece you've been looking for.
Dr. Zimmerman, welcome to the podcast.
Spencer Zimmerman: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am so excited to discuss our brain , and the connection between our brain and autoimmunity. It sounds strange to even think there might not be a connection because you know, it is an important part of the body. Um, but I first would love to know, you know, how you came. Into kind of the, the functional medicine, anti-aging world, um, because I think most of us don't dream of that when we're kids.
So share a little bit of your journey with us.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, so whenever I was in schooling, I was this really big y person. It's like, well, what? What's happening? What's going on? And I found a [Page//00:02:00] group that did what's considered functional neurology or chiropractic neurology, and they were treating traumatic brain injuries. You know, people from all over the world would be flying in.
And you, I'd see these results that I'm like, what? Like there's no way someone could be recovering this fast despite being to so many different provider. And it morphed into a, well, that's cool that you understand the brain, but you understand how the brain can impact other things, but how also those things could sabotage the brain.
And unknowingly, as we're going through the process, I knew my wife had been dealing with headaches and stuff, which had improved a lot. You know, once she got off gluten stopped, you know, with a lot of the caffeine and the those drinks. But, Eventually, you know, as I'm coming home every day and I'm just like, wow, this happened, this happened, this happened.
She's like, that's not normal. Um, and turns out she had suffered concussions previously in car accidents at around the age of 13, again in high school and after graduation. [Page//00:03:00] And not one of these was diagnosed. And so a lot of the things that were common to her that she had accepted as her normal were actually a result brain injuries that were never diagnosed or treated, which we can jump into as much as you want on, you know, some of the symptoms she had that others may be experiencing as well.
Julie Michelson: Absolutely. Let's start there because I, I, I do think there's this kind of epidemic of undiagnosed brain injury. Um, especially I'm in my fifties. I grew up riding horses. I was a competitive equestrian. Um, and unless you lost consciousness, Or were vomiting or had really extreme, you know, post-injury symptoms.
Nobody used the word concussion. Nobody used the word injury, you know, it was like, oh, I bumped my head. Um, so let, let's kind of talk like what, what is the, your criteria for how do we [Page//00:04:00] know? I mean, it sounds kind of silly to say how do we know if we have a head injury that could have impacted our health, but I, I do think some of this normal growing.
I have boys like, you know, it is things that we just discount and don't think of as possibly impacting our health later on.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, and this has really broken down into two categories. It's the first category. What are something that happens to you that starts impacting you at that moment and, and you kinda keep dealing with, right? So let's say you get in a car accident, you're told you have a whiplash injury, but yet you have brain fog, you've got headaches, problems with word finding.
You notice some mood changes. Well, at that point in time it's probably more than just a whiplash injury. Um, cuz your more severe whiplash injuries have a lot of brain-based issues with it. So it's really more of a combo, like a whiplash and concussion. But then the other side is what [Page//00:05:00] is up happening with the resiliency within the body?
So it's the same thing with autoimmune, right? So the things that impact you early on may not, you know, may really destroy you five, 10 years down the road. And you're like, but I could previously tolerate that. Why? What's happening? And it's because your body will do everything it can to keep you functioning in this.
At the expense of your future. And so there's really two ways of looking at it. You know, with that being said, and ultimately that's what it comes down to, not only symptoms, but don't become beholden to the symptoms. Testing really tells you. It's same thing in the autoimmune world. It's like, Hey, you show autoimmune markers.
I don't care if you don't have pain yet. I know where you're
Julie Michelson: This is the time to, yeah. Yeah. Amazing, amazing. And, and I kind of alluded to it, but I, I wanna throw out there, because I [Page//00:06:00] think this is another thing that, that really wasn't ever considered back in my day, in my younger years, um, is this the kind of cumulative effect, right? So you maybe, you know, hit your head and don't notice anything. But if you're active, or like you said, car accidents, what? It doesn't really matter. Um, this kind of, we now know that, you know, shocker, the brain is delicate. Um, and so I, I think sometimes people don't, can, you know, they're looking for that big. Thing, and maybe it was a couple of, of little bumps I shared with you before, before we hit record.
Um, in hindsight, I, I know I, I definitely suffered concussions, you know, getting tossed off of horses for years. I, I laugh my, my. Helmet. For those of those of you listening on audio, those air quotes around helmet as a, as a young kid was [Page//00:07:00] literally cardboard wrapped in velvet. It was, you know, a hunt cap is what we used, call it.
I grew up showing hunter jumpers and I, I still have it. It's because it's so ridiculous that that's what we, you know, it looked pretty, that's what we wore on our head. So I know I had, uh, sustained con concussions as a, as a kid. Um, and then I got hit, didn't get thrown off a horse, but got hit front of the head January of 2020 and I, I couldn't even work for three months at all.
And it's, it's definitely something that I can still, much like my RA symptoms have been gone for years because I do the things. To keep my inflammation down. And now that's on the list probably before I would ever feel joint pain if I were inflamed. I, I feel it in my brain right away. And so I know that, that I don't have that resiliency.
Um, and, and I [Page//00:08:00] do, uh, you know, a lot to continually improve brain health and, and protect, protect my brain. But let's connect this. The, again, the brain body connection, which sounds so funny to say cuz you know, it is so clearly connected. But I wanted to cover, I'm gonna throw, I just threw two questions at the same time.
One are kind of some of what are those symptoms and, and what is that testing a and is it all? Head related, you know, is it all technician? Is it all, or, you know, what's this connection with the rest of, how come when I get inflamed, you know, I can feel my brain and my joints. What's, what's going on there?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, so whenever we look at the symptoms that many people can have for not only months, but years following a concussion or a traumatic brain injury, fatigue is up there at like 70%. Headaches are also up there at [Page//00:09:00] about, you know, 60 70% with A D H D focused concentration issues. Those are like the top three leading ones, but there's a lot that persists even at the 50% rate, depression, anxiety.
Sleep issues, brain fog, problems with word finding, um, you know, memory. And really this list can go on and on. Now when you're looking at testing for a concussion and a brain injury, your concussions, your imaging is going to be normal because you're looking at smaller damage that's not picked up on routine imaging that can be readily accessible.
So you have to look at the functionality of the. Because when we look at concussions, there's really three big things that happen. Um, is one, the brain doesn't connect them. Little it should. Two is the brain goes through an energy crisis. It doesn't produce and use energy the same way, which is critical to know.
Cause a lot of people I get who come in with old brain [Page//00:10:00] injuries, they don't even know it's that they come in, you know, thinking like, I swear it's gotta be my thyroid, it's gotta be my hormones, it's gotta be my adrenals. And it's. Your brain uses 25 to 30% of the entire body's energy. It is the most energy demanding organ you have.
So if your brain isn't healthy and efficient, chronic in fatigue is an expectation, not a, oh, it's something else. And then lastly is your brain gets inflamed. So, which we'll talk more about how that ties in, but going back to how your brain. When we're looking at how the brain's connecting, some of the best ways to look at this is through balance and eye movements.
So your eyes are really a window into the health of your brain. Now, this can be tracking a target, you know, such as something left and right, up and down, doing it at different speeds. Also, shifting your eyes between like, you know, my thumbs. Same thing up and down. Keeping your eyes still on a stationary.
Now on the best level [Page//00:11:00] possible, this testing's gonna be done using computerized technology such as Video O or video Niag, mamography. This is gonna provide really good information and data, and the majority of the people that do this test, they do substantially worse than they believe they would. So I'll ask people, I'm like, oh, how?
How do you, how'd you do? I think I did really well. And then I show them their recording and I'm like, Ooh. Like that was really. And this goes back to the compensation that we talked about initially, is your brain is going to compensate for you. And so you will think you're doing okay, but then ultimately down the road you, you break.
Now with balance, one of the things we know with concussions and traumatic brain injuries is you become much more visually dominant. And so doing your balance and only considering it with your eyes open is going to be very misleading and it's gonna prevent you from really knowing where you stand. So you should be doing both eyes open and [Page//00:12:00] eyes closed on a firm surface, but also on a perturb surface.
So there's like balanced pad, yoga pads, you know, that are a couple inches. Also one foot in front of the other. Eyes open, eyes closed. One-legged stance should be able to do that. Eyes closed for 15 seconds on a firm surface. Now really walking through the whole balance side, you can spot check yourself at home and see how you're doing.
Odds are many of you, as you do this, are gonna be shocked at how you do. Um, disclaimer, please have someone buy you, you know, because
Julie Michelson: You may be surprised at your balance issues, and I am already terrified and you know, I'll be doing this as soon as we stop recording and I already know it's gonna be horrible. It's or definitely not gonna be what I would hope because I, I, I know. Oh no, I compensate. So I'm looking forward to seeing just how disastrous it is.
Spencer Zimmerman: You know, [Page//00:13:00] which is another level because one of the mistakes we make in the functional medicine space is we do so much with nutritional supplements and labs that it's like, well, what are you doing to tell your brain to connect better? Right? Like, you wouldn't take supplements to get stronger. You understand?
You'd have to work out those muscles. But with the brain, we overcomplicate the brain cuz we're like, oh, well the brain's super complex, but how are these eye movements gonna strengthen my brain? It's like, well if, I mean, if you wanna see all the pathways and what happens for that to occur? It's just like going to the internet and being like, I mean, I just typed some, hit some keys.
It's like, yeah, but everything that happens on the back end is super complex
Julie Michelson: Right. Doesn't mean you don't go hit the keys though.
Spencer Zimmerman: Correct, and, and let's not take for granted how something that seems simple can have such a profound impact on the backend. [Page//00:14:00] So really, you know, balance and eye movements are two the most important things. Um, also there's some different stuff with cognition and even on the other side there's even brainwave testing saying what's happening with the balance of your brain waves?
Do you have a normal range or have you shifted out of. Excessive or deficiencies in a variety of different brain wave.
Julie Michelson: Wow, you this, you've already given my brain's going a million miles an hour. Oh my God. I, I'm a data geek too, and I, I do firmly believe because I know we compensate. Um, And thank goodness we can, you know, we, we are until we can't, we compensate. Um, but I, I also love data and I love to uncover weaknesses that can be strengthened.
I'm assuming you're not just diagnosing people and telling them, so sorry, you have an old brain injury. I'm, I'm [Page//00:15:00] guessing that there are some steps people can take and, and that your patients improve.
Spencer Zimmerman: Correct. Yep. It's, you know, it's about going back to always break down into just two things. Um, one, how's your brain connecting? And two, what would sabotage the ability to connect it
Julie Michelson: Ah.
Spencer Zimmerman: so we can take those issues that we find in the balance in the eye movements, and we can use that to create a customized plan for you.
Right? Like, let's say you go to the gym and you're working out and you're like, oh, here's my weakness. You know what areas you need to bias to bring balance back into your workout and your strength. We can do the same thing with your testing to say, Based upon this, we know these parts of the brain control it.
Let's use this to do it. But then on the other side, what's gonna sabotage it? It's like, where are your labs at? You know, like what hap, where's your thyroid? Where's your hormones? Do you have anemia? You know, if you have autoimmunity, [Page//00:16:00] what are your triggers for autoimmunity? What happens when you get stressed?
What happens if you lose an hour or two of sleep? Because. We know it's really important with your immune system is that your lymphatics, you know, remove all these waste your brain. Its lymphatic system is known as the lymphatic. It's most active when you're in the proper stages of sleep. But a lot of people with concussions and old brain injuries, they don't sleep as well.
So your brain basically stays as this toxic soup, which is going to prevent it from shifting to a reparative. So, you know, mentioned a little bit earlier about inflammation in the brain. You've got two sides with your immune cells in the brain that are known as microglia. I really think about this like a hurricane.
Okay? I grew up where there's hurricanes. So when there's a hurricane, it does a lot of damage. Now it leaves. So the first priority is let's clean up the debris, let's remove everything, destroy everything. That just cannot be. That is what should happen first. [Page//00:17:00] Now, in a healthy brain that only is persisting for about two weeks, and then you shift into a reparative state, what are things that may have damaged but that we don't have to throw away?
Let's fix it. Let's repair it. That is what should happen. But if you're not sleeping well, if you've got autoimmune flares happening, right? If your gut health such complete train wreck, then now all of a sudden your brain is going to be more likely to stand that inflammatory. And the thing is, the worse your inflammation, the worse your energy crisis, the worse your connectivity.
But it's each and every one impacts the other one. So it's about figuring out with your testing and a proper evaluation, what lever should be pulled when, which is really important. Cuz I did mention gut health, um right, because cuz everyone's really big on the gut brain access and it's like, But, but they're only talking about it from like the
Julie Michelson: One direction, right.[Page//00:18:00]
Spencer Zimmerman: versus the instant you have a traumatic brain injury.
The instant you have a stroke, you not only have a breach in your blood-brain barrier, but you have a leaky gut at that moment. You no longer can fire down from your brain through the vagus nerve and control the lining of your gut.
Julie Michelson: I want you to repeat that and, and because, and this is so important. This is exactly what happened to me actually. You know, you can do all the work, right? And understand your flares and triggers and get your, your systemic inflammation down. Get to a point where I was, where you're totally symptom free for years, have a brain injury.
And yes, I was immediately dealing with, um, and actually that's, that's what obviously I knew this, I knew was a significant brain injury. But it was about two days later when I realized, like this [Page//00:19:00] was unlike any brain injury I've ever experienced. I'm in trouble. Like I am really in trouble here. Um, and it did, and I You just thank you.
I did. I had no idea how that worked. But all of a sudden, you know, I, I had to, uh, food sensitivities I had, and now I get it, that, oh my gosh, if that injury triggered leaky gut, that's where now I'm, I'm not starting at ground zero, but I'm have to readdress now all of those things. And from gut healing, I'm still working on it.
It's been over two years, so, Um, oh, over three. See my math skills I that I can't believe it's been three years since 2020. Um, but that is like, if listeners get one takeaway, that's amazing to learn. Um, just that impact of [Page//00:20:00] what that brain injury can do. Especially when we're talking to a community that has this sensitive balance.
Right? And we know the gut health is driving all of that, so that's incredible.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, and it's, you know, if, if you're doing gut-based protocols and you feel you're like trapped, and that's like the second you start pulling back, you start getting all these symptoms, you're, you're missing the other part of the picture. Once again, the brain, you know, the brain. Tells the gut, Hey, I want you to produce stomach acid under the appropriate stomach acid.
You can now activate your digestive enzymes, which is now gonna let you break down food. You also need your brain to signal the gallbladder to let's excrete bile to help further with digestion, right? Let's help with motility. Let's help maintain the intestinal lining. You also get a lot of anti-inflammatory output as the brain signals down, so, [Page//00:21:00] You know, it's, once again, it's both routes.
Like yes, alterations in your gut can ultimately wreak havoc on your brain. But don't forget that alterations in brain health from concussions, traumatic brain injuries, strokes, whatever it is, can really do a number to your.
Julie Michelson: So for people listening that are in that space where they're, you know, very aware, like you said, of the significance of gut health and, and you know, perhaps have done or doing protocols to heal gut. And repair and kind of clo close that all back up don't necessarily have the things we were talking about before the bra.
I mean, they may, after this podcast list do some of the, the balance and and eye movement things and see, um, but if they're not aware like, oh, I have this, you know, maybe they are [Page//00:22:00] now, they're like, Ooh, how about that time I hit my head or got in that car accident and didn't hit my head, but got whiplash.
But if they're not having what they think of as brain symptoms, how do they check in? Or is it back to that same testing you were talking about before? Like how do they know if, if brain is playing a part of their autoimmune symptoms?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, you can go back to not only the testing, but you can say what makes you tired, right? Like, 30 minutes of physical activity or 30 minutes of being on a computer or reading a book, which one wears you out more? If like, I know for a fact whenever I do my eye movement testing, it's 30 minutes. When people tell me they're tired from that, I'm like, great.
I know for a fact I will not fix your fatigue until we get your brain to be more e.
Julie Michelson: Okay.
Spencer Zimmerman: that's just a guaranteed thing. The other thing which really impacts our brain is stress, right? So if [Page//00:23:00] you say, oh, when I get stressed, I become foggy, or my concentration's off, then we know your brain's being impacted from it, and it's, you know, it's just like we know in the gut realm, right?
Like you don't need digestive issues to have a bad gut.
Julie Michelson: right?
Spencer Zimmerman: So, Don't wait to have a lot of brain issues to get your brain evaluated. I mean, Alzheimer's is fastest, one of the fastest growing things. Parkinson's is the fastest growing brain disease, and yet most people are like, well, I mean, I was good. I can't think of anything that caused it, but yet I have it.
It's like, well, you understand it's probably been in the works for at least 20 years, and so let's spot it early on, even if you think you're okay. Same thing in the rheumatoid arthritis, any autoimmunity. Let's spot it. When you're in this silent phase where we're sh, there's markers of your body misbehaving, [Page//00:24:00] but you don't yet have to feel it because your journey will always be easier at that time point.
Then it will be when you're further down the road.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That is, that's amazing advice. Um, so how do you, like, what do people look for? I, and maybe I'm wrong. I, I think what you do is fascinating and I also think you're pretty unique. And so, um, How, how do people find somebody that can even do the assessments or find a practitioner that's incorporating brain evaluation with whole body, whole health evaluation?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, there's, there's not necessarily a ton of people that do the full body and so you may need to co-manage. Right. I'm one of those where it was through the training I did, which is why I went back even after chiropractic school and got my nurse practitioner degree. Cuz I really want to be able to tie in all the loops for the patients that I work with.
[Page//00:25:00] But you may need a great functional provider on the functional medicine side, but then you need a provider that does functional neurology. Because a lot of them, you know, some of them have been trained through the care institute and other places. Um, now not everyone that does functional neurology really focuses on like traumatic brain injuries and concussions.
So you've, and you'll know when you talk to them, you'll see stuff on their website and you're like, Ooh, whoa. They're using that, you know, video Olo graph, the V N G, um, they're using the balance platforms and they're going to be able to go from the rehab side of your brain. And once again, when you marry the rehab side of, you know, the, we call it the functional neurology with functional medicine, then you just do so much better than if you only do one on its own.
Julie Michelson: Sure cuz it's a two-way street.
Spencer Zimmerman: Mm-hmm.
Julie Michelson: That's incredible. And. Having the conversations I have and doing the work that I do, and not [Page//00:26:00] ever having had this conversation before, I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe these dots haven't been connected before. Like it's, it makes so much that, and obviously I have plenty of experience living it and feeling it.
Um, and, and again, raising three kids who were busy, athletic, you know, Potentially danger seeking kind of humans. It's brain health has been really through the past, I would say 10 years at least, forefront in our family. Um, and I'm, I mentioned before, before we hit record, I'm a Recode 2.0 Bren Protocol, Alzheimer's coach.
Um, so I, I like to think I'm pretty up on brain health, but even I really hadn't. Thought of it, you know, as a driver of some of these other things. I, I really only thought of it as like, these are the symptoms for brain [Page//00:27:00] health. Um, so you totally changed my life so far today. Thank you.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Unbelievable. Um, and I know, I think I saw might have been stalking you a little bit and so I, I know you're not just practicing locally, right.
You also do some virtual. Is that accurate?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, so I'm mostly in Idaho. I'm also able to work with those in Florida. But for those with the concussions and traumatic brain injuries, normally they are flying in to see me from other states, um, now
Julie Michelson: And what are your thoughts on flying post-concussion or brain injury? I'm curious.
Spencer Zimmerman: Um, if that's what you need to do to get the proper care, it's worth the trade off. But there are those with concussions and traumatic drainages, when they do it, there's gonna be this lag phase of probably two to three days where you feel like you just got recu. But the same thing is true when people go into higher elevation, [Page//00:28:00] right?
So where I'm at, we're like 2,400. Elevation. But if people go up and they're like, oh, I went to 4,000. I started getting more foggy. I started getting a headache and stuff like that. I'm like, okay, we know oxygenation is going to be a big player for you.
Julie Michelson: Interesting Fascinat. It's just fascinating. It's amazing. So where does you know what is. A step listeners can take. I, you know, I warned you before, I always ask for, for one thing, anybody listening can do. I already know some of the things I'm gonna be doing, but I, I do tend to, again, I like data and so I wanna know all the things going on in my body.
But what do, what do you recommend? Um, just even in general, it doesn't have to be specific to identifying, you know, a, a brain problem, but what's one step? You mentioned earlier, and I, I swear, I think listeners. [Page//00:29:00] Must feel like I pay my guests to mention gluten at some point in the podcast. Um, because sometimes when we're having conversations that people think is not gonna come up, it still always comes up.
Um, so it could be anything in the spectrum of, you know, protecting overall health and, and emphasizing this brain connection to way street. Uh, what are, what does a step listeners can.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah. And. From more of an angle that you probably haven't had before, you know? Cause I understand where probably a lot of people focus on the podcast is. It really is just like, check your balance. Do one foot in front of the other, eyes open, eyes closed. Get a semi firm old pillow, old couch cushion. Do that, do it also with your feet together.
Eyes open, eyes closed, and see how you do. And you know, if you're like, oh wow, I was moving a. You may want to get an evaluation cuz there's a [Page//00:30:00] lot of research out there on balance and cognitive health
Julie Michelson: Hmm.
Spencer Zimmerman: we do preventative stuff, right? It's like, oh, we're worried about colon cancer. Hey, let's get colon
Julie Michelson: Right. Screening. We screen all kinds of things. Yeah.
Spencer Zimmerman: And that's the hardest thing on the concussion side is I get a lot of people come in and they're like, oh, well I was good before this. I was like, where you, or you just think you were
Julie Michelson: Right. Were you able to
Spencer Zimmerman: a baseline,
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Spencer Zimmerman: get a proper baseline. So that way if something does happen, you're going to, you know where to get back to.
And you may find out during that baseline that you actually have some issues that need to be addressed. And when you do. You feel better?
Julie Michelson: Well, and like you said, turn, turn the bus around now. I mean, this is, this is the time. Oh, whatever. Wherever you are, whoever you are, this is the time. Like later is [Page//00:31:00] never a good time to be addressing wellness. And, and so, um, I love the idea of like just checking in and checking balance. It's not something we don't tend to get up and.
Well, some people brush your teeth on one foot, but, but we don't get it. We're not checking in, right? Like if joints hurt, we know joints hurt. If your gut's upset, you know, gut's upset if, if you have brain fog, you know the days it's worse. The days it's better, but you may not think to check balance. So, yeah, that's in incredible advice.
I have, you know, a million other things I can ask you, but you, you gave us such amazing gold, um, for people that are listening on the go, which is how I tend to listen to podcasts. Where's the best place for them to find you?
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, the best place to find me is at IdahoBrainandbody.com or on really any social media, Dr. S Zimmerman, z i [Page//00:32:00] a m m e r m e N. That's gonna be TikTok Instagram. Um, might even have some longer videos on YouTube if you're like, Ooh, I wanna see what your testing looks like. I've got concussion videos on that where I show you some of those results, and so you can be like, Ooh, that's what it looks like.
That's what the data looks like.
Julie Michelson: Amazing guys. Check him out. Like I said, I was, I was stalking some of your social earlier and, um, I, I learned so much from you in this one short conversation. Uh, I feel like I'm leaving with a lot of homework, so I really, really appreciate you taking the time. To share what you're doing with us. And, and I see huge up levels in, in the future as more and more people are connecting the, the dots between brain health and, and health.
And um, I know when I say it, I kind of chuckle cuz I'm like, that's so obvious. Why, why are we not talking about this all the time? [Page//00:33:00] Um, so really thank you so much for joining.
Spencer Zimmerman: Yeah, thanks for having.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening. Remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did and learned as much as I did. And if you're not already, follow me on Instagram at julie dot Michaelson and tune in next week to listen to the next episode.
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My Guest For This Episode
Connect with Spencer Zimmerman
Spencer Zimmerman
Dr. Zimmerman is a Clinician and Founder at Idaho Brain and Body Institute, where we help individuals struggling with neurological, psychological, and body based symptoms and conditions. He's refined his unique method over the past 9 years and have worked with over 1,000 patients. He's am a contributing author and featured on podcasts talking about the role of the brain in our health. He's uniquely cross trained as both a Chiropractor and Nurse Practitioner. He's a Diplomate in Chiropractic Neurology, a Peptide Certified Provider through A4M, training in Functional Medicine and Functional Immunology. Our brain defines who we are and what we can become in life, but unfortunately it is one of the least evaluated parts of our health despite playing a role in everything.
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