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The Concussion Repair Manual: A Practical Guide to Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injuries
Concussion -- the biggest name in today's high-impact sports.
As more and more high-profile athletes come forward to share their stories of invisible suffering after head injuries, we as a culture are finally acknowledging this silent epidemic.
The Concussion Repair Manual is written as a user’s guide for those suffering after head traumas and those that support them. It is one-part “textbook,” packed with the leading research on medical technologies for healing the injured brain, and one-part “workbook,” offering a step-by-step method for making and tracking a personalized recovery regimen.
Dr. Dan Engle's background and passion for concussion repair stem from a three-decade investigation into the many modalities for healing his own traumas. When the usual medical treatments didn’t help, he explored what was possible, found what worked and put them into this manual - " the best of the best " in the medical arena for recovering from sports-related head injury.
As more and more high-profile athletes come forward to share their stories of invisible suffering after head injuries, we as a culture are finally acknowledging this silent epidemic.
The Concussion Repair Manual is written as a user’s guide for those suffering after head traumas and those that support them. It is one-part “textbook,” packed with the leading research on medical technologies for healing the injured brain, and one-part “workbook,” offering a step-by-step method for making and tracking a personalized recovery regimen.
Dr. Dan Engle's background and passion for concussion repair stem from a three-decade investigation into the many modalities for healing his own traumas. When the usual medical treatments didn’t help, he explored what was possible, found what worked and put them into this manual - " the best of the best " in the medical arena for recovering from sports-related head injury.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 17, 2017
94 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 5, 2021
The Concussion Repair Manual does come with quite a bit of good, but I would definitely say I’m a little disappointed.
First, a bit of background. Less than a month ago I lost control of my car on a windy, icy, treacherous mountain highway. It was a violent, hard crash that should have been far worse. I drifted broadside into the concrete meridian, slamming my head through the side airbag and into the window. This would mark my third concussion in three years.
At the time of the accident I was still dealing with a chronic headache, the final noticeable remnant of my post concussion syndrome from the last severe blow to the head. That time it was an innocent fall at work, only my head cracked open on a rock.
A year before that I “got my bell rung” during some Muay Thai sparring.
Those were the last three. Knowing what I know now, I can identify at least a half dozen other incidents in my childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood that I would qualify as a traumatic brain injury. And there may be another dozen on top of those.
My awareness and sincerity in treating myself has grown in an astounding way. I bought this book thinking it would offer more information into my condition and more resources than I’ve employed currently.
The good news is that it has offered some critical insight. Perhaps the biggest positive comes in the author’s perspective. Dr. Dan Engle spins his own journey through recovery in an invigorating and inspirational light. Depression and anxiety and other aspects of mood disorder can be crippling when dealing with the immediate aftermath of a head injury, so this attention to the silver lining is paramount and greatly appreciated.
Dr. Engle also provided a wealth of proactive measures throughout, including a guide to objectively track and assist those going through recovery.
Unfortunately this book feels much more akin to “a beginner’s guide” to concussion recovery. Over my years of worsening post concussion symptoms following subsequent head injuries I’ve learned a lot and enacted a lot. Most of what’s covered in the book I’ve been doing.
Rather than a deeper dive into the science behind a concussion I instead came across typos, formatting errors, and personal conjecture that detracted heavily from the material. The result is a level of uncertainty and indifference, compounded by the restrictively expensive nature of some of the suggested treatments.
Perhaps most disappointing for me is the lack of any dedicated passages to recent positive findings in the uses of cannabinoids, psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. For an author who is on the forefront of concussion recovery and who has spent time around traditional aboriginal cultures who employ such means in their spiritual practice, it’s unfortunate that nothing of the sort found its way into this book. I know this is due to the controversial nature of such substances and the problems that would come with publishing them, but it still comes as a disappointment.
All in all The Concussion Repair Manual serves as an extraordinary introduction to those with no knowledge of general health principles and/or history with traumatic brain injury. But this also means it falls incredibly short for those looking for a deeper dive, or those with an already vast toolkit for concussion recovery.
First, a bit of background. Less than a month ago I lost control of my car on a windy, icy, treacherous mountain highway. It was a violent, hard crash that should have been far worse. I drifted broadside into the concrete meridian, slamming my head through the side airbag and into the window. This would mark my third concussion in three years.
At the time of the accident I was still dealing with a chronic headache, the final noticeable remnant of my post concussion syndrome from the last severe blow to the head. That time it was an innocent fall at work, only my head cracked open on a rock.
A year before that I “got my bell rung” during some Muay Thai sparring.
Those were the last three. Knowing what I know now, I can identify at least a half dozen other incidents in my childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood that I would qualify as a traumatic brain injury. And there may be another dozen on top of those.
My awareness and sincerity in treating myself has grown in an astounding way. I bought this book thinking it would offer more information into my condition and more resources than I’ve employed currently.
The good news is that it has offered some critical insight. Perhaps the biggest positive comes in the author’s perspective. Dr. Dan Engle spins his own journey through recovery in an invigorating and inspirational light. Depression and anxiety and other aspects of mood disorder can be crippling when dealing with the immediate aftermath of a head injury, so this attention to the silver lining is paramount and greatly appreciated.
Dr. Engle also provided a wealth of proactive measures throughout, including a guide to objectively track and assist those going through recovery.
Unfortunately this book feels much more akin to “a beginner’s guide” to concussion recovery. Over my years of worsening post concussion symptoms following subsequent head injuries I’ve learned a lot and enacted a lot. Most of what’s covered in the book I’ve been doing.
Rather than a deeper dive into the science behind a concussion I instead came across typos, formatting errors, and personal conjecture that detracted heavily from the material. The result is a level of uncertainty and indifference, compounded by the restrictively expensive nature of some of the suggested treatments.
Perhaps most disappointing for me is the lack of any dedicated passages to recent positive findings in the uses of cannabinoids, psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. For an author who is on the forefront of concussion recovery and who has spent time around traditional aboriginal cultures who employ such means in their spiritual practice, it’s unfortunate that nothing of the sort found its way into this book. I know this is due to the controversial nature of such substances and the problems that would come with publishing them, but it still comes as a disappointment.
All in all The Concussion Repair Manual serves as an extraordinary introduction to those with no knowledge of general health principles and/or history with traumatic brain injury. But this also means it falls incredibly short for those looking for a deeper dive, or those with an already vast toolkit for concussion recovery.
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August 17, 2022If somebody with the author's credentials didn't write this book, I would have likely not bothered to finish it. A lot of unhelpful throwing of phrases like "inflammation", "neurotoxicity", "toxins" "lymphatic drainage" without explaining WHAT these concepts are and why they are relevant. This is all the more necessary, given how these are phrases that new-age, scientific self-help guides have unhelpfully misused. Anything that wishes to distinguish itself from this credibly must describe why the concepts they are invoking are relevant.
Moreover, data was extrapolated from clinical trials in a way that was not convincing and clumsy.
Again, that is not to say the data in the book is not correct - it is - and the book is helpful as an overview of what does work. But the problem is that I know this works due to my reading, not the book itself.
Moreover, data was extrapolated from clinical trials in a way that was not convincing and clumsy.
Again, that is not to say the data in the book is not correct - it is - and the book is helpful as an overview of what does work. But the problem is that I know this works due to my reading, not the book itself.
February 5, 2021
I suffered a concussion 5 months ago and I was experiencing post concussion symptoms which was scary and new for me. This was a great book to understand all the different techniques to recover. I learned a lot. I also thought it was a good read because the author had his own traumatic brain injury that he overcame so a lot of these techniques he’d tried out on himself. He said “the journey of healing any condition is a potential road to becoming ones best self” and it is true. I was so upset at first but putting things in perspective I’ve learned and grown from this and have implemented many good things in my life as a result.
July 15, 2018
Either therapies that require a doctor or very expensive nutritional supplements. Even suggests cerebrolysin which if googled gets you strange packages from Russia. Not what I had hoped for after the jre podcast.
I tried most things already. If you are new to this, then give it a go. Nice starter book.
I tried most things already. If you are new to this, then give it a go. Nice starter book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2020
I’m a true skeptic with a lot of the suggestions but I appreciate the effort to kinda try to be scientific with it. Best thing this book did is point out how pathetic research into TBI recovery is. Personally, hasn’t changed my recovery. A lot of the novel therapies are for rich people with money to waste if it don’t work.
December 10, 2024
.. looking at the neuro-biological ramifications, the type, severity, and frequency of the injury dictates how much tissue damage occurs. With major brain trauma, the connective tissue of the meninges tears, and the damaged tissues release reactive oxygenspecies (ROS) in such massive amounts that cells-including astrocytes making up the blood-brain barrier-begin to die.
November 19, 2017
Interesting read, with many seemingly novel approaches to TBI-related pain reduction and symptom management. Skeptical about some of the suggestions, but enough in here that could be useful that I think the book is worth reading.
November 22, 2019
A good summary of current evidence on many different treatments for Concussion. I found this book helpful in my own recovery. It was easy to read, well laid out, and provided the scientific references for the recommendations.
January 14, 2020
This is a really good resource and one I especially need, sadly. Recommended for anyone experiencing too many TBIs and/or concussions.
January 13, 2023
Worth multiple re-reads.
Times read = 1.5x
Re-read = 2.5x
Times read = 1.5x
Re-read = 2.5x
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews