Cranial Solutions · Auckland & Christchurch
Concussion PCS / TBI
Still dealing with head pressure, headaches or brain fog after concussion?Explore what could be contributing to symptoms that have not settled.
Concussion Treatment in Auckland: How Do the Approaches Differ?
What does each practitioner actually do? Compare the treatment you can expect from each approach. Individual practitioners may offer additional services.
Neurologist
Treatment: Neurological examination, investigations where indicated, medical management and referrals.
Focus: Neurological testing and diagnosis
Concussion physiotherapist
Treatment: Vestibular, balance, visual and cervical rehabilitation, with graded activity.
Focus: Rehabilitation and exercise
Chiropractor
Treatment: Cervical and spinal mobilisation or manipulation, soft-tissue care and exercises.
Focus: External neck and spinal treatment
Functional neurology chiropractor
Treatment: Eye-movement, balance, coordination and sensory exercises; sometimes cervical treatment.
Focus: Nervous-system rehabilitation
Osteopath
Treatment: Hands-on techniques for the cranium, face, jaw, neck and wider musculoskeletal system.
Focus: External cranial, neck and body treatment
Cranial Solutions — NasalRX
Treatment: Controlled balloon inflations within selected nasal passages, combined with cranial, facial, cervical, pelvic and other biomechanical assessment where relevant.
Focus: Internal endonasal treatment and whole-body assessment
At Cranial Solutions, we also examine craniofacial, jaw and upper-neck mechanics, alongside the pelvis and other influencing body regions, to consider whether additional structural care is appropriate.
The NasalRX difference: internal access, with a whole-body perspective
External manual treatments work through the skin and surrounding tissues. NasalRX uses precision endonasal balloon inflations from within selected nasal passages. The anatomical assessment considers the nasal and facial framework, including relationships involving the sphenoid, maxilla, palatine bones, ethmoid and vomer, as well as the cervical spine, pelvis and other influencing regions.
Internal mobilisation is the intended treatment approach; direct repositioning of particular cranial bones and superior outcomes for concussion have not been established by adequate clinical studies. NasalRX does not replace medical assessment or evidence-based concussion rehabilitation.
Craniocervical Diagnosis · Advanced Biomechanics
We review your injury history and examine head, facial, jaw, nasal and upper-neck mechanics. Findings guide whether NasalRX Procedure, cervical care or a combined approach is appropriate, alongside any further medical investigation you need.
Already had other diagnoses or treatment?
Previous medical, vestibular, visual and rehabilitation findings are important to this discussion. We review them alongside your present head, facial and upper-neck symptoms and any recommendations for ongoing care.
Your next step
Ready to Discuss Your Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms?
The call is free, with no obligation.
Your Craniocervical Diagnosis, Explained
NasalRX Procedure (otherwise called Cranial Facial Release)
We review your injury history and examine the connected head, facial, jaw, nasal and upper-neck mechanics. This adds a craniocervical perspective alongside the medical and rehabilitation care you have already received.
Why Assess Structural Restrictions?
Within our clinical approach, restrictions and tension following injury are assessed in relation to your symptom pattern and examination findings. We follow changes in head pressure, neck comfort and everyday function without assuming one mechanism explains every persistent symptom.
NasalRX Procedure point of difference
Could Persistent Symptoms Involve Changes in Cranial Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics?
A concussion creates powerful forces through the head, face and neck. These forces affect more than the brain itself. They are transmitted through an interconnected system of cranial and facial bones, articulations, connective tissues and the dura, all within the physical environment through which blood, cerebrospinal fluid and lymphatic fluids circulate.
This is the focus of Cranial Solutions.
NasalRX Procedure is an endonasal technique designed to influence this environment from within the nasal passages. Using brief, controlled pressure, NasalRX Procedure works with the internal structures of the nasal and craniofacial complex to influence cranial and facial movement, mechanical restriction and the relationships between these structures and their dural attachments.
This is what makes NasalRX Procedure fundamentally different from conventional external manual therapy.
Cranial mechanics and fluid movement are closely connected
The brain and surrounding tissues depend upon a constantly changing fluid environment involving arterial blood flow, venous drainage, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), lymphatic drainage and the glymphatic system. These systems do not exist separately from the physical structures surrounding them.
NasalRX Procedure is designed to influence that physical environment by improving movement and reducing mechanical restriction within the craniofacial system.
Clinical Outcomes
The importance of the NasalRX Procedure lies in the physical changes observed in our clinic every day. Releasing locked cranial mechanics directly targets the underlying drivers of complex, recurring symptoms.
Observed Patient Outcomes Include:
- Pressure and Tension: Reduction in persistent intracranial pressure and craniofacial strain.
- Headache Frequency: Decrease in the severity, intensity, duration, and recurrence of head pain/migraines to clinical observation recording clearance of symptoms.
- Cognitive and Visual Symptoms: Resolution of brain fog, improved mental clarity, and reduced sensitivity to light.
- Ocular Mechanics: Easing of pain and restriction during directional eye movements
- Nasal Function: Clearer nasal airflow and restored structural balance - more significant change commonly recorded.
Initial responses are frequently observed following treatment, with continued mechanical changes consolidating across a structured course of care. Because every structural presentation is unique, responses develop as deep dural tension is systematically released throughout care.
When scans are normal
Why Can Symptoms Persist When Scans Are Normal?
One of the most frustrating experiences after a concussion is continuing to have very real symptoms while CT or MRI results are reported as normal.
These scans are extremely important for identifying structural injuries such as bleeding, fractures and other significant abnormalities. But a normal scan does not necessarily mean that every system affected by the injury has returned to normal function.
Concussion can involve changes in neurological, visual, vestibular and autonomic function that may not appear on routine structural imaging.
Clear Scans, Persistent Symptoms?
Routine CT and MRI scans are vital for ruling out structural damage, but they are not designed to assess movement, mechanical strain, or restricted fluid flow.
When a scan comes back clear, it simply means there is no visible tissue damage. It does not mean your symptoms are imaginary.
Concussion and whiplash force physical trauma through the cranial bones, face, upper neck, and protective dural membranes. When these interconnected structures lock up, they create physical compression that normal imaging misses.
Completing the Clinical Picture
For patients with clear scans who still suffer from lingering symptoms, we evaluate the subtle structural mechanics that standard imaging overlooks:
- Craniofacial Restriction: How locked cranial and facial bones restrict natural movement and fluid drainage.
- Dural & Connective Tension: How strain on the protective brain membranes creates persistent head pressure.
- Cervical & Head Mechanics: How upper neck misalignments interact with your brain's surrounding environment.
Assessing these physical factors provides the missing piece of the puzzle. Working alongside appropriate medical, visual, and vestibular care, we identify precisely where structural pressure remains and how releasing it can allow your recovery to move forward.
Cranial mechanics & dura
How Head Trauma Impacts Your Skull and Brain Membranes
The brain sits inside a protective connective tissue lining called the dura. This membrane attaches directly to key points along the base of your skull and face.
During a head injury or concussion, physical force travels through your skull, face, and neck. This impact creates underlying structural blocks that lock surrounding bones, pull on the dura membrane, and restrict natural movement. Releasing these physical restrictions is essential to relieving chronic head pressure and nerve strain.
Why does this matter?
The cranial cavity is a dynamic physical environment. Blood is continuously entering and leaving the head. Cerebrospinal fluid circulates around the brain and spinal cord. Lymphatic and glymphatic pathways contribute to fluid and waste movement. At the same time, the brain and its surrounding membranes exist within a complex system of pressure, movement and tissue tension.
This is why Cranial Solutions pays particular attention to cranial mobility, dural tension and restriction within the craniofacial system following concussion.
The aim is not simply to open the nose. It is to improve the mechanical environment in which the cranial structures, dura and associated fluid systems function.
Interactive cranial mechanics model
Explore the Cranial Mechanics
Use the control to explore how changes in cranial restriction and dural tension may influence the physical environment surrounding the brain.
Cranial Restriction & Dural Tension
Reduced movement through the cranial and facial articulations can alter mechanical relationships through the cranial base and dural attachments. Within this environment are important pathways associated with venous outflow, cerebrospinal fluid circulation and lymphatic and glymphatic fluid movement.
The NasalRX Procedure objective: use controlled endonasal pressure to influence restriction and movement within the craniofacial complex, improve cranial and facial mobility, reduce mechanical and dural restriction, and create a more favourable physical environment for associated structures and fluid systems.
This interactive illustration represents the biomechanical model used by Cranial Solutions. It demonstrates anatomical and mechanical relationships rather than directly measuring blood flow, CSF circulation, lymphatic drainage or glymphatic function in an individual patient.
When recovery has stalled
When Recovery Has Stalled
Persistent post-concussion symptoms can look very different from person to person. Some people feel that the initial concussion has improved, yet they are left with a collection of symptoms that simply haven't returned to normal.
- persistent head pressure or headache
- brain fog or difficulty thinking clearly
- fatigue and reduced mental stamina
- sensitivity to light
- discomfort or restriction with directional eye movement
- dizziness or a sense of disequilibrium
- facial, jaw or cranial tension
- disrupted sleep
- reduced tolerance for exercise or busy environments
- changes in nasal breathing
- feeling that the head or face has remained physically “different” since the injury
Often it is the combination of symptoms that is important.
A person may have already rested, returned gradually to activity, received medical diagnosis or undertaken vestibular, visual, cervical or other rehabilitation yet still feel that something has not fully resolved.
Uncovering Your Specific Mechanical Restrictions
This is where our diagnosis becomes crucial to your recovery. At Cranial Solutions, we look specifically for mechanical restrictions within the cranial, facial, and nasal structures that may have persisted following your original injury.
We evaluate how these structures move and interact rather than assuming every persistent symptom has the same cause. We then tailor treatment using advanced biomechanics to resolve the specific restrictions identified.
Depending on your findings, your treatment plan may involve:
- Internal Joint Alignment: Releasing deep cranial and facial strain through controlled endonasal inflation.
- Muscle, Tendon, Ligament & Joint Care: Targeted manual therapy to resolve outer structural and neck restrictions.
- Combined Structural Care: An integrated approach combining both methods to restore complete balance and fluid movement.
By addressing your exact structural blueprint, we focus on removing the precise physical blocks standing between you and your recovery.
Why a Minor Impact Can Trigger Severe Symptoms
A recent concussion is rarely the whole story. Lingering symptoms are often the cumulative result of past injuries—including previous concussions, sports hits, whiplash, or falls.
Even if old injuries seemed to heal, they often leave behind underlying structural blocks in your skull, face, or neck. When a new bump occurs, it hits an already compromised frame—re-igniting old mechanical strain and causing symptoms that refuse to clear.
Uncovering Your Complete Injury History
At Cranial Solutions, we evaluate far more than just your latest concussion. We look at your total mechanical history, including:
- Prior Head & Neck Traumas: Past impacts, whiplash events, or facial injuries, regardless of how long ago they occurred.
- Incomplete Structural Recovery: How thoroughly your head and upper neck actually recovered from earlier injuries.
- Pre-Existing Restrictions: The mechanical baseline and structural strain that existed before your recent event.
The Crucial Question
Has your latest injury, or the combined effect of past impacts, left an unaddressed structural restriction that is still driving your symptoms today?
By mapping and treating this complete mechanical picture, we focus on resolving the underlying physical strain so your body can finally recover.
Integrated care
Targeted Care for Complex Post-Concussion Recovery
Persistent post-concussion symptoms rarely stem from just one area. For some individuals, the upper neck and cervical spine drive the ongoing pressure. For others, locked cranial bones, facial strain, or deep internal nasal restrictions are the core issues. Frequently, it is a combination of both.
We do not apply a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach to concussion recovery. Your treatment plan is built entirely around your individual structural findings and may include:
- Targeted Cervical Care: Easing mechanical strain and misalignments in the upper neck.
- The NasalRX Procedure: Releasing deep cranial, facial, and internal nasal restrictions.
- Combined Structural Protocol: An integrated approach addressing both the neck and cranial mechanics simultaneously.
Supporting Your Recovery
Post-concussion symptoms can also involve visual, vestibular, autonomic, and exercise-tolerance factors. Where necessary, vestibular rehabilitation, visual diagnoses, graded exercise protocols, or further medical evaluations play a vital role in your overall management.
The NasalRX Procedure and our cervical protocols do not replace these therapies. Instead, we pinpoint and resolve the underlying cranial, facial, and neck restrictions that may be stalling your progress, creating the structural foundation needed to support your recovery.
Location & Care
Cranial Solutions provides structural diagnosis and care for persistent post-concussion symptoms at our clinical locations in Auckland and Christchurch.
Diagnosis
Targeted, Individualised Care
Your structural findings dictate your treatment. Depending on what we find, care may involve targeted cervical therapy, The NasalRX Procedure, or an integrated combination of both.
Where persistent post-concussion symptoms involve broader sensory or balance systems, we coordinate care alongside visual, vestibular, and rehabilitation specialists to support complete recovery.
Research context
How Head Trauma Impacts Fluid Movement & Recovery
Recent research into concussion and brain injury highlights the importance of fluid dynamics around the brain, including cerebral blood flow, fluid movement, and natural waste clearance systems.
These fluid pathways do not operate in isolation. They depend on a healthy physical environment made up of the dura (the brain's protective membrane), the cranial base, the facial structures, and the upper neck.
Following a concussion or past head and neck trauma, physical restrictions can form across these interconnected areas. When the cranial bones, internal nasal passages, or upper cervical spine become locked, they alter the mechanical environment surrounding these vital fluid pathways.
Our Clinical Rationale
At Cranial Solutions, our goal is simple: improve movement, reduce physical restriction, and support the natural structural environment around your brain.
Through targeted endonasal inflation, The NasalRX Procedure addresses deep structural restrictions from within the nasal passages, while our cervical protocols release mechanical strain from the neck below.
While research continues to explore how structural care directly influences fluid dynamics, our focus remains on observable clinical outcomes. We systematically evaluate your physical response to treatment, looking for key improvements such as:
- Reduced head pressure and facial tightness
- Decreased headache frequency and intensity
- Improved mental clarity and reduced brain fog
- Restored visual comfort and clearer nasal breathing
By removing remaining mechanical blocks, we help create the ideal structural foundation to support your recovery.
Want to Learn More?
For a deeper look into fluid mechanics, dural tension, and the science behind our structural approach, read our detailed article:
Concussion, CSF & the Glymphatic System: What Does the Research Show?
Suitability
Is The NasalRX Procedure Right for You?
The NasalRX Procedure is not automatically recommended simply because you have had a concussion or continue to experience persistent post-concussion symptoms.
The primary consideration is whether our clinical diagnosis reveals a specific structural or mechanical block contributing to how you feel. We evaluate your cervical spine, cranial and facial mechanics, internal nasal structures and complete injury history to determine if a physical restriction is present.
Key Symptoms We Assess
The NasalRX Procedure may be appropriate when we identify mechanical restrictions in the head, face or nasal passages that align with your symptoms, particularly if you experience:
- Head Pressure & Pain: Persistent intracranial tightness, chronic headaches or strain around the base of the skull.
- Craniofacial Tension: Tightness through the face, sinuses, jaw or a feeling that your head has felt physically different since your injury.
- Visual & Sensory Strain: Sensitivity to light, discomfort or a pulling sensation when moving your eyes in specific directions.
- Restricted Airway: Decreased nasal breathing or ongoing internal nasal congestion.
Addressing the Bigger Picture
The physical blocks we identify may stem from your recent concussion, an accumulation of earlier injuries or an older structural pattern triggered by a new impact.
Finding a restriction is only the first step. What matters most is establishing whether that restriction directly connects to your symptoms and whether releasing it produces measurable clinical change.
Depending on your specific findings, your care plan may include The NasalRX Procedure, targeted cervical care or an integrated protocol combining both to resolve the underlying mechanical strain.
Safety and Suitability
Because NasalRX Procedure is a physical endonasal treatment, suitability is assessed before treatment begins.
Recent cranial, facial or nasal trauma, previous fractures, recent nasal or sinus procedures, bleeding concerns, medications affecting bleeding or clotting, and other relevant medical factors may require additional consideration or medical clearance.
Where symptoms or examination findings suggest that further medical investigation is needed, that takes priority.
For a detailed explanation of the procedure, safety considerations, what treatment feels like and how treatment is usually scheduled, see NasalRX Procedure Safety & What to Expect.
Ready to Find Out Whether There Is a Mechanical Component?
If persistent symptoms have continued after concussion, we can assess whether restriction involving the neck, cranial structures, face or internal nasal structures may be part of the picture.
Next step
The Next Step Is a Diagnosis
If you have persistent symptoms following concussion and feel that your recovery has stalled, the next step is to determine whether there is still a mechanical component worth addressing.
The purpose of the initial consultation is to connect the history, symptoms and physical findings and determine whether cervical treatment, NasalRX Procedure, or a combination of both is appropriate for you.
Post-Concussion Diagnosis is available at Cranial Solutions in Auckland and Christchurch.
Learn how NasalRX Procedure works and read NasalRX Procedure Safety & What to Expect.
Optional supporting treatment
Where might Class 4 laser fit after concussion?
Laser may be discussed as an optional adjunct for suitable associated symptoms after assessment. Researchers are investigating how light influences cell activity, circulation and the tissues surrounding the brain.
Animal studies have measured meningeal drainage effects, and a study in healthy adults detected short-term CSF responses. [17] [16] These findings suggest plausible intracranial mechanisms; they do not establish concussion recovery benefits from this clinic's Class 4 treatment.
Laser does not replace medical assessment or an individual concussion rehabilitation plan.
Explore Class 4 laser for cranial treatment →
Read the detailed research · Understand dural anatomy and referred pain
Frequently Asked Questions
Information on this page is educational and is not intended to replace appropriate medical diagnosis following a head injury. New or worsening neurological symptoms after a head injury require prompt medical diagnosis. Individual outcomes vary and suitability is determined during consultation.
Your next step
Ready to Discuss Your Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms?
The call is free, with no obligation.
What does the supporting research tell us?
Concussion can affect thinking, balance, vision, sleep and mood. CDC guidance describes symptoms and danger signs; it does not establish that NasalRX treats traumatic brain injury or restores brain drainage.
CDC: concussion symptoms and danger signsOur procedure descriptions explain the clinic’s approach. Anatomy and physiology studies alone do not establish treatment effectiveness. Read the research references and their context.
Do you assess persistent post-concussion symptoms in Auckland and Christchurch?
We offer complementary diagnosis of craniofacial, jaw, nasal and upper-neck findings in Papatoetoe and Kaiapoi. This sits alongside medical concussion diagnosis and rehabilitation; an elective appointment is not acute head-injury care.
Auckland: Papatoetoe
Cavendish Medical Hub (Foot Institute)175 Cavendish Drive, Papatoetoe 2104Auckland persistent post-concussion symptom diagnosis, clinic details and directions
Christchurch area: Kaiapoi
ENC House, Level 1143 Williams Street, Kaiapoi 7630Christchurch persistent post-concussion symptom diagnosis, clinic details and directions
Appointments are with Dr John Gibson. Read his qualifications and clinical background, compare diagnosis and treatment fees, or email info@cranialsolutions.nz with a question before booking.